Beyond Meat quietly dropped its first product, frozen chicken strips, as burgers took off

Beyond Meat makes plant-based meat substitutes, mainly sold fresh in grocery stores and restaurants.

Beyond Meat's science can beat meat on fresh patties, so frozen chicken, its original product, was worth dropping to focus there.

Ethan Brown licensed a chicken formula developed over 20 years by University of Missouri professors Harold Huff and Fu-Hung Hsieh. Beyond Chicken Strips launched in 2012 and were in Whole Foods stores nationwide by 2013, with Bill Gates and Biz Stone among investors.

A shortage appeared in grocery stores early in 2019, then in mid-April an FAQ page said the strips were not delivering the same plant-based meat experience as more popular products. Critics including Mark Bittman called them bland and not very chicken-like.

Beyond Meat discontinued the strips, its first product. Its CFO said frozen product revenue fell 5% in the quarter, and 90% of revenue came from fresh products; the company promised to relaunch chicken with an updated formula.

The frozen strips drew lukewarm reviews and did not match the realism of the fresh Beyond Burger

About 90% of revenue came from fresh products, so the strips were immaterial to growth

Restaurant chains were lining up to add fresh plant-based items, giving fresh a clearer growth path

Investors valued the underlying fresh-meat technology more than any single product

A company can retire its founding product without hurting investors if a newer line proves its core technology; analysts judged the strips immaterial.

As of 29 July 2019 Beyond Meat had given only one sentence to the strips in its first earnings report and had promised a future relaunch with an improved formula, while Wall Street remained optimistic about growth.