Beyond Meat Burgers Find New Beet in Safeway

Beyond Meat, a Bill Gates-backed company that crafts veggie versions of meat staples, is moving its Beyond Burger from a lightly traveled frozen aisle section into mainstream meat cases. The move comes as the brand establishes a presence in more than 280 Safeway locations. (And just in time for the summer BBQ grilling season.)

The vegan patties, to be sold in $5.99 two packs, are created with coconut oil, pea protein and yeast extract, and contain beets to give the illusion of blood. Beyond Meat’s Ethan Brown expressed the significance of realistic burgers and inner-store location.

“It’s a really important step in terms of reframing how we think about meat,” he told Bloomberg. “We assume that an animal has to be used for meat, and that’s just false.”

Despite the meat-case shakeup, the plant-based company has no apparent beef (we had to) with conventional meat companies. Beyond Meat investors include General Mills and Tyson Foods.

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