Beyond Meat opens new research facility
The new site, which is seven times larger than the previous facility, is home to nearly 100 employees and is the new home to Beyond Meat’s Manhattan Beach Project, which is designed to bring together the world’s best scientists, engineers, food technologists, chefs and managers.
Ethan Brown, Beyond Meat CEO and founder, said: “The use of science and technology to build meat directly from plants, coupled with a commitment to all natural and non-GMO ingredients, is the core of our company. At Beyond Meat, we strive to understand meat at new levels, and then rebuild it using amino acids, lipids and minerals from plants. What the animal has done throughout history –organise plant material in the form of muscle or meat – we believe we can do more efficiently to the benefit of human health, the environment and animal welfare.
“The path to the perfect build of meat from plants is both long and steep, but with every iteration we are getting closer and closer. I am so pleased to join our special group of scientists, engineers, chefs and managers in announcing the opening of our new state-of-the-art Innovation Center.”
The new facility is designed to support the company’s innovation plan, one designed to deliver a new product to the marketplace on an annual basis. It is broken into eight distinct labs and footprints. “The new home to the Manhattan Beach Project allows us to reimagine the use of existing technologies for a better understanding of the complexity of meat,” said Dr Dariush Ajami, VP of research & development at Beyond Meat. “The Innovation Center gives us a leg up as we apply this knowledge in our efforts to perfectly build meat directly from plant materials, using only natural ingredients and without genetic modification.”
The new facility also features a test kitchen that will be used to host chefs and culinary experts. The kitchen will offer a gourmet-style space where chefs can experiment and test Beyond Meat products and new innovations such as the Beyond Breakfast Sausage, which was recently previewed at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago.
The continued growth of the Manhattan Beach Project will create close to 50 new jobs over the next year. As part of its recruiting efforts, Beyond Meat is working with universities and research centres in the US and abroad to identify the best and brightest scientists and engineers in their respective fields.
Earlier this month, Beyond Meat opened a second production facility in Missouri.
