Beyond Meat’s new product doesn’t taste like meat - deliberately
The brand’s latest Beyond Sun Sausage focuses on the flavors of its healthy ingredients like yellow pea, brown rice and faba bean instead of trying to taste ‘meaty’.
Credit: Beyond Meat
Alternative meat company Beyond Meat first caught the food industry’s attention back in 2018 with the release of its ‘bleeding’ burgers made using pea protein along with beet juice for a juicy and ‘bloody’ effect.
Ever since, the brand has remained a household name for its meaty products which have featured on the menu at the likes of Taco Bell, McDonald’s, and Pizza Hut.
But now, Beyond Meat is debuting what it calls a new “flavor-forward” product that was designed to specifically not taste like meat.
The Beyond Sun Sausage is the first product of its kind by the company, as a result of Beyond wanting to highlight plant-based meats that focus on healthy and “wholesome” ingredients.
The sausages are made from vegetables, fruits, and legumes, including bell peppers, spinach, yellow peas, brown rice, red lentils, and faba beans. The result is a protein packed meat alternative that represents a new avenue for a brand that is known for its meat-tasting products.
Beyond explains that the sausages are not intended to replicate beef, pork, or poultry but rather be “its own delicious, satisfying protein option”.
Credit: Beyond Meat
Available in three different flavors - Cajun, Pesto and Pineapple Jalapeño - the versatile sausages can be used in everything from pastas, salads, and sandwiches to frittatas, bowls and pizzas.
“We’re thrilled to introduce a completely new innovation to the plant-based category with the addition of our wholesome, flavor-forward Beyond Sun Sausage,” said Dariush Ajami, Chief Innovation Officer at Beyond Meat, who also confirmed that the product is now available at all Sprouts Farmers Market stores across the US.
With health a focus of the product’s development, the Beyond Sun Sausage contains 12g of clean protein and just 1g of saturated fat. As a result, it is also certified as a heart-healthy food by the American Heart Association’s Heart-Check program and the American Diabetes Association's Better Choices for Life program.
Credit: Beyond Meat
The product’s launch follows a recent shift in the wider food industry that has seen consumers place more importance on health and clean ingredients. Brands are responding to the demand by using more natural and less-processed ingredients.
Several of Beyond Meat’s core products like the Beyond Burger and Beyond Beef recently underwent a health-focused reformulation for example, where the saturated fat in the products was substantially reduced by switching to avocado oil.
Fellow plant-based meat pioneer Impossible Foods is also targeting the increasing consumer appetite for healthier foods. The brand recently revamped its brand identity to show how its meaty products are made from simple plant-based ingredients. This included the launch of the “Impossible Ranch” that grows and harvests crops such as soybeans, sunflowers, and coconut trees, and which all represent key ingredients in Impossible’s plant-based beef, chicken, and pork products.
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