'Bleeding' vegan burger to get UK launch in Tesco next month

A plant-based burger that “bleeds” from US brand Beyond Meat is to make its UK retail debut in Tesco in the first week of August.

The Beyond burger – the company’s flagship vegan-friendly product which sold out after its May 2016 launch in the US – will be stocked alongside meat in in 350 branches of Tesco, in time for Britons’ late summer BBQs.

Unlike controversial “lab-grown” meats being developed in the US, the Beyond burger is made entirely from plants, does not use animal stem-cells in production, and is not tested on animals. Each contains 20g of pea protein, coconut oil, potato starch, and uses beetroot juice to “bleed” a meaty red hue.

On a smaller scale, the Beyond Burger will also go on sale in London’s Honest Burgers chain alongside beef and chicken options.

Beyond Meat boasts that its product is stocked on the chilled meat counter alongside animal products at 8,000 US grocery stores. It is also on the menu at more than 10,000 restaurants.

“This strategy has proven extremely successful in the US, where we are now selling millions of burgers every month, and we are optimistic we’ll see a similar positive reaction in the UK,” said Seth Goldman, the Beyond Meat executive chairman. “We see the growing global demand for delicious, plant-based proteins and are excited to serve that demand in the UK.”

As more Britons drop meat from their diet for health or ethical reasons, manufacturers and retailers have been scrambling to cater for them. However, Goldman said the company was deliberately targeting the UK’s estimated 22 million “flexitarians” – those who enjoy meat but want to reduce their consumption – as well as vegans and vegetarians.

Goldman said that since Beyond burgers’ US launch in January 2017, there had been more inquiries and interest from the UK than any other country outside America. “The UK is a priority market for us – a tremendously exciting one with huge potential and this is just a start,” he added.

The UK launch follows Beyond Meat’s rise in the US, where the Los Angeles-based start-up attracted investment from Twitter founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, former McDonalds chief Don Thompson and the actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Tyson Foods, the largest US meat processing company, acquired a 5% stake in the company.

The first Beyond burgers sold out within an hour when they were launched in May 2016 in a store in Colorado. The manufacturer has recently tripled its factory and production space in Columbia, Missouri, to meet rapidly growing demand for the Beyond burger as well as other “lookalike” meat products including sausages and chicken strips.

Last week Sainsbury’s bolstered its vegan and vegetarian food offering by putting on sale two new plant-based products – burgers and mince – in the fresh meat aisles of 400 of its larger stores. They are made by Naturli’ Foods, which says it has struggled to keep up with demand since their January launch in Denmark.

Meanwhile, frozen food giant Iceland will in September follow its popular meat-free No Bull burgers, launched in April, with a new range of alternatives which include a “no-chicken chicken”.