Will cultivated meat become a pioneer in "food"? Tracking the next "cultured/meat-related stocks"
Wall Street has greatly underestimated the listing of plant-based artificial meat Beyond Meat (ticker: BYND), and the miscalculation has come at a high cost.
Beyond Meat raised $240 million at an IPO price of $25 per share.
After the listing, it quickly doubled and is now trading above $70.
However, the company is only one of many artificial meat-related and non-animal protein product companies preparing for an IPO.
Many other non-animal protein product companies besides Beyond Meat are preparing for an IPO.
Such companies are also securing backing from existing large food companies like Tyson Foods (ticker: TSN) and Cargill.
Overview of the artificial meat market
Three terms are worth noting when discussing artificial meat.
Since there is some confusion around the terminology, we will generally use the term “non-animal protein products.”
Vegan— products that contain no animal-derived ingredients
Plant-based– proteins derived from plants, but some ingredients may include animal-derived components
Cultured– proteins produced by cultured microbes or grown in bioreactors through tissue culture
Note that microbes are usually genetically modified and use plant-derived materials like sugar, hence they are often called “plant-based.”
The market is crowded
With Beyond Meat’s listing success, traditional food companies and restaurant chains have shown increased interest in non-animal protein products, including plant-based meats.
Major players such as TGI Friday’s and Burger King have launched new products related to artificial meat.
Below are examples of companies developing non-animal protein products.
Not all of these companies will succeed, but some may go public successfully or be acquired by larger firms.
| Company | Products being developed | Main progress |
| Beyond Meat | Plant-based artificial meat and sausages | IPO successful; current valuation over $4 billion |
| Impossible Foods | Plant-based artificial meat and sausages, etc. | Burger King sells Impossible Foods’ plant-based meat in the “Impossible Whopper” |
| JUST (formerly Hampton Creek) | Plant-based eggs and mayonnaise, cultured meat | Conducting cultured meat development, marketing, and sales in partnership with Awano Food Group |
| Memphis Meats | Cultured meat and cultured poultry | Tyson Foods invested in 2018 |
| Clara Foods | Cultured proteins for food (egg whites) and beverages | Ingredient in April 2019 led Series B funding by Ingredion |
| Geltor | Cultured collagen (gelatin) | Sold collagen to cosmetics companies; entered food in 2020 |
| Finless Foods | Cultured seafood | Raised $3.5 million in 2018 to develop cultured bluefin tuna |
| Wild Earth | Cultured protein for dog food | Seen as a large potential market in the vegan dog food sector |
Source: authored by the writer
The market remains in the early-stage cradle
Beyond Meat has opened the path to listing, but this is only the beginning of investments in non-animal protein product companies.
With PSR (price-to-sales ratio) around 50x, the company’s very high valuation is expected to correct into the second half of 2019.
Investors may wait for a better entry point for Beyond Meat or look for the rise of the next promising company.
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