Current Cattle Markets Daily Headlines for November 11, 2020

americancattlemarkets

6 years ago

McDonald’s to launch its own plant-based burger, the McPlant, after Beyond Meat test

McDonald’s will be testing a new plant-based sandwich in 2021, the McPlant.
- The sandwich was co-created by Beyond Meat and McDonald’s and will feature all the classic toppings, which usually include lettuce and tomato.
In 2019, the fast-food company tested a P.L.T. burger, which stands for plant-lettuce-tomato, with Beyond Meat. The test ended without further announcement about a partnership.
According to a Beyond Meat spokesperson, Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat have a competitive edge due to innovation. Their products on grocery store shelves today most likely won’t be the same products consumers see on the shelves in a couple years.

Pizza Hut is planning to become the first national pizza chain to offer a plant-based meat pizza on a national scale.
The company will be launching the Beyond Italian Sausage Pizza and the Great Beyond Pizza as part of an agreement with Beyond Meat.
- The pizzas feature plant-based crumbles that mimic pork sausage.
These plant-based options will be available nationwide at all traditional Pizza Hut locations in the near future.
Beyond Meat is hoping this new partnership will help their financial situation since the company reported on Monday a loss of $19.2 million in the third quarter versus a profit of $4.1 million in the same period one year ago.

On Monday, Tyson Foods announced that it would be introducing its Raised and Rooted plant-based protein brand to Europe.
- This is the fist expansion of the brand outside of the U.S.
The company will be offering five varieties of plant-based alternative proteins; Light & Crispy Battered Nuggets, Crunchy Breaded Nuggets, Garlic & Herb Dipping Fries, Hot & Spicy Popcorn and Extra Crunch Tortilla Nachos.
- All products are made with lava bean and/or pea protein.
Tyson launched this new product line in the U.S. back in June of 2019, and since then Tyson’s plant-based nuggets and tenders are sold in 10,000 stores and online.
Tyson has been investing in alternative proteins since 2016. The company originally acquired a 5 percent stake in Beyond Meat in October 2016, but then sold those shares in April 2019 when it decided to compete in the alternative meat realm itself.

Earlier this week, USCA released a statement saying that they support the producer’s right to vote in a national beef checkoff referendum. The organization believes the beef checkoff program should be accountable to the people it intends to serve.
With that being said, USCA is respectfully asking the petitioners if the petition drive is successful and a vote to terminate the beef checkoff program occurs, do the petitioners plan to establish a new checkoff under the 1996 Commodity Checkoff Act?
According to Chuck Kiker, USCA’s Checkoff Committee Chairman, the organization agrees with the petitioners that a properly functioning checkoff program would not fund nearly 80 percent of a policy organization’s annual budget, the NCBA.
USCA is concerned that a vote to do away with the beef checkoff program will only do away with the national component of the beef checkoff.
- This will cause the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and oversight by USDA to be terminated, leaving the state beef councils and Federation of State Beef Councils, who will still have the ability to be funded with state dollars, stated Kiker.
In closing, Kiker said he hopes that our cattle organizations can work together to bring about meaningful reform to the beef checkoff program.