Beyond Meat pushes forward with repositioning in face of plummeting revenues
The plant-based company’s struggles have worsened, not improved.
The company is pushing ahead with repositioning into the high-protein drinks category, hoping diversification can go a ways towards shielding it from weak demand in plant-based.
The primary reason for the losses seen is the low demand for plant-based meat.
According to CEO Ethan Brown, this lack of demand is largely driven by consumer scepticism around the products, which, he suggests, was not as strong several years ago.
‘There are no bad additives, only bad humans’: Experts urge fairer view of processed foods
Top Chinese food science leaders have urged consumers and industry to make fairer judgements of processed foods and additives, calling the sector badly misunderstood.
“We have to acknowledge that additives have been part of China’s food industry for thousands of years even if the term for them was not coined until the 1970s — without the use of ingredients such as salt and calcium sulphate/gypsum, the food sector and indeed the economy would not be where it is today,” Professor Sun Baoguo, food science professor and China’s only food science academician in government science consultancy body Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) told the floor at the recent Food Ingredients China (FIC) event in Shanghai, China.
“Unfortunately as our food industry grows, so are public misunderstandings about additives and this is starting to cause a delay in the advancement of the processed foods industry. The fact is that proper food additives are actually good, not bad — what is bad can only be human error and lack of discipline in its usage, which should not be blamed on the additives or the processed foods.”
Tee Yih Jia targets plant-based growth with Asian-Western fusion
Tee Yih Jia is betting on Asian-Western fusion to grow its ALTN plant-based range, diverging from Western-style formats amid slowdown in the plant-based category
“Since the launch of ALTN in the turn of the decade, numerous brands have come and gone with more than 10 different plant-based brands in retail shelf space at its peak [locally]. However, in the competitive “survival of the fittest” retail landscape, time and our track record has proven that product quality still wins customers over,” Tan told FoodNavigator.
The plant-based sector has experienced slower traction in recent years. Major players like Beyond Meat saw a decline in net revenue in Q1 2025; Quorn, owned by Philippines-based Monde Nissin Corporation, recorded a 5.8% sales decline over the same period.
Gut health, clean label foods surge in China market
Chinese consumers are driving demand for natural, gut-friendly and plant-based ingredients, mirroring global trends and boosting innovation in functional products
There is also a shift towards plant-based ingredients, which are widely known to deliver health benefits and clean label appeal.
“The demand for natural ingredients was not so great 10 years ago, but in the recent five years or so, the demand for natural colourants and clean label ingredients such as juice concentrates and fruit powders has risen sharply in the past five years. These plant-based ingredients are increasingly being used to replace artificial additives in food and beverage formulations,” ZNatural Trading Manager Zoe told us.
China regulates plant-based colours: What brands must know
Here’s how China’s new industry standard on food colouring can benefit consumers and influence the APAC food and beverage industry.
A new industry standard, jointly developed by the China National Food Industry Association (CNFIA) and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), mandates that food colourings be made from fruits, vegetables, plants, or algae normally consumed as food.
Effective from May 1, 2025, it also requires colourings to be produced solely through physical methods – ruling out chemical solvents – and to retain the natural colour, flavour, and nutrients of their source materials.
