Blue Apron’s stock pops after partnering with Beyond Meat, but can it salvage the company’s stock?
As part of the partnership, Blue Apron announced it will include Beyond Meat’s new, meatier, plant-based 4-ounce Beyond Burger in two of its Signature Two-Serving Plan meals this August, and will continue to feature the company’s products on future menus “as part of its commitment to bring home cooks a diverse selection of ingredients, flavors and cuisines.”
Some are calling the partnership a Hail Mary for the struggling meal kit company, which has seen its stock downward spiral since it debuted on Wall Street in 2017. And while some investors’ initial response to the deal was optimistic, the company’s stock price since fell 19.2% over the next two days from $10.47 on Tuesday afternoon to $8.46 Thursday afternoon.
In addition, the strategic play barely made a dent in the more than 90% drop Blue Apron’s stock has suffered since it launched.
Beyond Meat, on the other hand, has seen its shares rise more than 580% since its public listing in May, making it on of the most successful US initial public offerings in 2019 despite still not making a profit.
In both cases, the companies and the partnership appear to be riding the wave of consumer interest in plant-based meat alternatives, which climbed 9.6% in US retail sales in the year ending April 21, according to SPINS data released by The Good Food Institute and the Plant Based Foods Association.
According to the data, the strongest growth came from higher-value ‘next generation’ refrigerated plant-based meat products, which were up 37% to $212 million and of which Beyond Burgers are an example.
While these figures are strong, the growth of plant-based meat has slowed slightly from the previous year when sales grew by 25%, according to the data.
