Beyond Meat's plant-based jerky is here. | Beyond Meat
PepsiCo and Beyond Meat just announced the debut of their vegan jerky.
It’s the first product from the companies’ joint venture, “PLANeT Partnership,” and will be available in stores nationwide by the end of March.
The Beyond Meat jerky is “marinated and slow-roasted,” available in three different sized packs, and comes in three different flavors: Original, Hot & Spicy, and Teriyaki. Each serving contains 10g of protein per serving, but no cholesterol, no soy, and no GMOs.
“We are thrilled to introduce the first product from […] our joint venture with Beyond Meat and PepsiCo,” says Dan Moisan, CEO of PLANeT Partnership. “The nationwide launch of Beyond Meat Jerky will make plant-based meat accessible to millions of households.”
Moisan adds: “It tastes great, it’s a good source of protein, and it’s convenient to eat whether you’re on the go, at the office, or out on adventures.”
Blogger Amber Criste first leaked the new product in a video shared to YouTube back in January, where she described the Beyond Meat x PepsiCo vegan jerky as “good” and very close to beef.
“It’s one of those things where it’s like ‘maybe this tastes a little too real, can I handle this,’ but it’s nice and kind of spicy, and really chewy,” says Criste in her video.
PepsiCo and Beyond Meat first announced their PLANeT Partnership collaboration one year ago with a view to “develop, produce and market” innovative snacks and beverages made with plant-based protein. PepsiCo is one of the single largest companies in the world by market value, while California’s Beyond Meat is a leading brand in the plant-based meat industry.
In a release published in January 2021, PepsiCo’s Chief Commercial Officer Ram Krishnan said: “Plant-based proteins represent an exciting growth opportunity for us, a new frontier in our efforts to build a more sustainable food system and be a positive force for people and the planet.”
It’s worth noting that, despite PepsiCo’s relative progressiveness when compared to rivals such as Coca Cola, activists and advocates have repeatedly criticized the company for its poor working conditions. (U.S. workers were striking as recently as last summer.)
Pepsi’s astronomical environmental impact, which includes everything from deforestation in the supply chain to its excessive water useage, has also come under close scrutiny.
Overall, PepsiCo’s 2019 carbon footprint was almost 60 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, and the company was recently named one of the world’s top plastic polluters for the fourth year in a row alongside Coca-Cola and Unilever.
Learn more about PepsiCo’s plans for carbon neutrality—and if they go far enough—here.
This post was last modified on July 25, 2022 8:23 pm