By JORDAN STRICKLER

Kentucky Correspondent

SPRINGDALE, Ark. — One of the fastest-rising stocks on the market – soaring 468 percent since its initial public offering (IPO) in early May, with a market value of about $8.3 million – Beyond Meat is one of the up-and-coming leaders in the ever-growing meat replacement business.

Substitute meats are touted for health and environmental benefits; Beyond Meat, for example, estimates its plant-based burgers use 99 percent less water and generate 90 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than ordinary beef. However, a meat company that sold its stake in Beyond Meat last year is now jumping into the market.

Tyson Foods, the nation's largest meat producer with a market value roughly three times Beyond Meat's, has announced it is launching imitation chicken nuggets later this summer with blended burger patties – made of pea protein and Angus – in the hopper for this fall. Tyson's new products will debut under its Raised and Rooted brand.

“Today’s consumers are seeking more protein options, so we’re creating new products for the growing number of people open to flexible diets that include both meat- and plant-based protein,” said Noel White, president and CEO of Tyson Foods. “For us, this is about ‘and’ – not ‘or.’

“We remain firmly committed to our growing traditional meat business and expect to be a market leader in alternative protein, which is experiencing double-digit growth and could someday be a billion-dollar business for our company.”

Tyson had invested a total of $34 million between 2016 and 2017 in Beyond Meat and had held a 6.5 percent ownership stake in it last November when the latter filed for its IPO. However, Credit Suisse analyst Robert Moskow said he does not believe Tyson's entrance will have a large impact on Beyond Meat's bottom line, and maintained a Neutral rating on Beyond Meat's stock.

“Although competing hybrid burgers offer less saturated fat than the 100 percent plant-based products from Beyond and Impossible (Foods), they simply don’t taste as good, in our experience,” he said.

After the announcement by Tyson, shares of Beyond Meat fell 4 percent. While it does not currently offer any plant-based chicken products, Beyond Meat is working on improved versions of its chicken strips, which were pulled from grocery stores earlier in the year.

The meat alternative business is a booming industry, with research from Bernstein predicting the alternative meat category is headed down a similar path to plant-based beverages like almond milk, potentially growing to a $40.5 billion market by 2030. The financial services company Barclays estimates the market for alternative meat could grow by 1,000 percent over the next 10 years, reaching $140 billion.

The expansion is mostly fueled by climate change and animal welfare concerns, along with a general interest in health and wellness. "Sustainability is increasingly more relevant as consumers, especially Millennials and Gen Z, have become more aware of the damage that food production has caused to the planet," Barclays wrote in a May report.

Beyond Meat made an announcement June 12 that fast-food chain Tim Hortons will offer its line of breakfast sandwiches. In May, a Beyond Meat rival, Impossible Foods, announced it would be introducing the “Impossible Whopper,” which now graces the menus at Burger King restaurants.

The privately-held Impossible just completed a $300 million round of funding, bringing total funding for the company to $750 million. McDonald's, White Castle, Red Robin, and Del Taco all have meatless alternatives available.

"If the alternative meat category develops along a similar path to plant-based beverages, then the total addressable market could be approximately $40.5 billion in the U.S. within a decade," said Alexia Howard, a food analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein and Co.

“While most Americans still choose meat as their primary source of protein, interest in plant and blended proteins is growing significantly,” said Noelle O’Mara, Tyson Foods’ chief marketing officer. “These products appeal to a broad cross-section of consumers who enjoy food from a variety of protein sources, and we expect interest to continue to grow across protein types."

As of 2018, Beyond Meat had accounted for 2 percent of the meat alternative market. MorningStar Farms, owned by Kellogg, is currently the largest player, with a 17 percent market share; however, that is down 33 percent from 2013.

Kraft Heinz’s Boca brand has also withered, falling from a 7 percent share of the market in 2013 to only 4 percent last year. And Nestle is planning on launching its own plant-based burger this fall.