Beyond Meat has is set to increase its prices to get “back on track for growth”, after losses widened.
The vegan meat alternative brand posted a full-year loss of £65.4m ($82.7m) in the 12 months to 31 December – a big drop from last year’s £18.7m ($23.7m) loss.
Sales across the year plunged 18% to £271.6m ($343.4m) as its gross margin fell from -5.7% to an eye-watering -24.1%.
Its sales decline narrowed in the final quarter of the year to a 7.8% decrease, but losses spiralled to £66.3m ($83.9m) , compared to its losses of £2.9m ($2.9m) in the previous year.
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Despite the punishing results, Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown remained optimistic and said the company would be ramping up its prices following a year of cutting costs.
“Though varied across channels and product lines, we expect the overall impact of these pricing changes to meaningfully impact margin across the balance of the year,” said Brown, reported Reuters.
“We’re cautious in our optimism. We’ve obviously had some tough years, but by making these changes and creating the sustainable baseline…we’re going to create some room for ourselves to get back on track for growth.”
Last year, Beyond Meat slashed its sales forecast twice before and revealed it would cut a fifth of its non-production workforce as it faced “sector-specific and consumer headwinds”.
It comes amid a difficult year for the wider plant-based industry, where inflationary pressure and strained household budgets led to a wane in consumer demand for vegan products.
