Beyond Meat Enters Whole-Food Plant-Based Category with Veggie Sun Sausages

Californian vegan giant Beyond Meat is diversifying its product line with new whole-food plant-based Sun Sausages as consumers clamour for healthier products.

One of the largest plant-based meat brands in the world is now betting on veggies. Beyond Meat has unveiled Sun Sausage, a new range of links made from vegetables, grains and pulses.

The three-strong lineup is the latest in a series of product launches that increasingly focus on health, just as the Californian company make moves to restructure its debt after sales declined for eight consecutive quarters.

The Sun Sausages – a reference to the fact that “you’re eating sun-powered, wholesome and nourishing plant-based ingredients” – come in packs of four in cajun, pesto and pineapple-jalapeño flavours, with each link featuring 12g of protein from a variety of sources. The whole-food plant-based sausages also contain 46% less fat than the recently revamped lineup of Beyond Sausages (which are meant to replicate pork).

“Our goal is and always has been to make delicious and healthy plant-based protein options,” a company spokesperson told Green Queen. “For Beyond Sun Sausage, we wanted to offer consumers something that was new and unique, without being constrained to trying to mimic beef, pork or poultry.”

Beyond Meat joins the whole-food plant-based party

The new sausages source their protein from yellow peas, brown rice, red lentils and faba beans, which are complemented with avocado oil (a fixture in all of Beyond Meat’s latest products), oat bran and fibre, methylcellulose, natural seasonings, and a casing made from sodium alginate. Depending on the flavour, the links also contain vegetables like red bell pepper, spinach, pineapple and jalapeño.

More and more brands are catering to consumers who want more natural ingredients from whole-plant sources. Research has shown that whole-food protein saw the sharpest rise in consumption among Americans between 2022 and 2023, with 28% eating them ‘somewhat’ or ‘much more’. Putting the ‘plant’ back in ‘plant-based’ was also among Whole Foods Market’s top 10 food trends for this year.

Fellow industry giant Lightlife introduced Tempeh Protein Crumbles earlier this year to offer a “clean” alternative to minced meat. And even in foodservice, Smashburger has embraced jackfruit-based burgers, Dave’s Hot Chicken rolled out its first meat-free options with cauliflower sliders and bites, and Kernel, the new robot restaurant chain by Chipotle founder Steve Ells, spotlights whole foods too.

That said, each of the new Beyond Sun Sausage flavours contains over 20 ingredients. As the debate over ultra-processed foods surges on, many consumers associate long ingredient lists with overprocessing and, subsequently, ill health.

“We’re proud and excited by the super clean and simple ingredient list of Beyond Sun Sausage. With protein from sun-powered legumes and healthy fats from avocado oil, this product offers something truly unique and different from other products on the market,” the spokesperson said.

They added that the product – much like its other recent offerings – has been certified by the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Heart-Check programme and the American Diabetes Association’s Better Choices for Life initiative.

A poll by the International Food Information Council this year found that health is the biggest motivation for Americans to eat vegan or vegetarian food, with 55% citing it. A quarter of people also suggested they had health concerns about consuming animal protein. “Consumers can feel confident that not only will it taste great, but it’s great for their health too,” they said.

Notably, the Sun Sausages contain just 1g of saturated fat per link, and 320mg sodium (30% lower than its vegan pork sausages). These are the two elements Americans are trying to limit the most in 2024 (44% and 50%, respectively) – and the foods consumers are avoiding most to lower saturated fat are beef (46%) and pork (44%).

Is the Beyond Sun Sausage a marker of things to come?

In the last five months, Beyond Meat has reformulated several of its products. It rolled out the latest iteration of its flagship burger and mince in February, its line of beef crumbles with a new recipe in May, and the revamped sausages a month later.

The product innovation has been prolific, but is there any concern about choice paralysis among consumers? “We are proud of our emphasis on health-focused innovation, and are excited to introduce Beyond Sun Sausage as it addresses the consumer interest in new, clean and healthy plant-based protein options,” the spokesperson said when asked about this.

“Beyond Sun Sausage brings bold, culinary-forward flavours that can enhance any dish – from breakfast scrambles and frittatas to pastas, pizzas and more – it’s a convenient, healthy clean protein option for consumers,” they added, describing the target consumer as “anyone who’s looking for new, clean and healthy sources of absolutely delicious protein”.

The Sun Sausage range will retail for $9.99 and is launching exclusively at Sprouts Farmers Market stores nationwide, but the company hinted at “additional availability updates in the future”.

Beyond Meat did not respond to Green Queen’s questions about whether this is the first of a series of whole-food products (like veggie burgers), or whether it will be placed next to plant-based meats or in a separate aisle in the supermarket.

It opens up a new base of competitors for Beyond Meat, which has for so long been fighting for market share with the likes of Impossible Foods, Maple Leaf Foods, MorningStar Farms, and Gardein in the US. Now, it will also count whole-food plant-based startups like Actual Veggies, Karana, The Jackfruit Company, NoBull Burger and Caju Love as challengers.

The shift comes a week after it was reported that Beyond Meat is in talks with bondholders to restructure its debt, following a financially turbulent period for the Nasdaq-listed business. In Q1 2024, its revenues narrowed by 18% year-on-year, though it was slightly higher than analysts’ expectations. The company did not respond to our request for comment on the balance sheet restructuring.

As it looks to improve its market performance, Beyond Meat has doubled down on the health focus, with an upcoming ad campaign set to highlight the nutritional benefits of the Beyond IV platform, and a new Serve Love cookbook released alongside the Beyond Sausage in collaboration with the AHA.

“We are excited to continue introducing our tastiest and most nutritious products yet that have garnered the support of the leading health organisations, while also continuing to educate consumers on the health benefits of our products,” the brand told Green Queen last month.