EL SEGUNDO, CALIF. — From Beyond Meat comes Beyond Sausage, a plant-based alternative that looks and cooks like pork sausage in Original Bratwurst, Hot Italian and Sweet Italian varieties. With more protein and less fat than traditional links, Beyond Sausage is made with pea, fava bean and rice protein with trace amounts of beet for color, coconut oil for juiciness and an algae-based casing. Like the company's Beyond Burger, Beyond Sausage features a proprietary approach to braiding and binding proteins, fats, minerals and water to recreate the architecture of meat.
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| Ethan Brown, c.e.o. of Beyond Meat |
“I love Beyond Sausage first and foremost because it’s truly so enjoyable to eat but also because I see it as an advance in our team’s relentless march toward a perfect build of meat from plants,” said Ethan Brown, chief executive officer of Beyond Meat. “Though we aren’t there yet, I’m encouraged by the progress we’ve made with Beyond Sausage and look forward to hearing what the consumer thinks.”
Earlier in December, Beyond Meat announced the close of a $55 million fundraising round led by Cleveland Avenue, L.L.C., a venture capital firm founded by former McDonald’s Corp. chief executive officer Don Thompson, with additional investment from Tyson Foods, Inc. The company said it plans to use the funding to more than triple its production footprint, support research and development and expand sales and distribution.
Introduced last year, the Beyond Burger looks, cooks and tastes like ground beef but is made from plants, with no bioengineered ingredients, soy or gluten. The product debuted last year and is now sold in more than 5,000 stores and served in nearly 4,000 restaurants, hotels and food service outlets.
Beyond Sausage will debut at the Whole Foods Market Pearl Street store in Boulder, Colo., where the Beyond Burger first launched last year.
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| Red Elk Banks, vice-president of Whole Foods Market’s Rocky Mountain region |
