Tyson’s Range of Meat Alternatives to Hit Retail in September

Tyson

During its third-quarter earnings call, meat giant Tyson Foods said it is preparing to launch a new chicken meat alternative called Raised & Rooted into retail next month, writes Noosh. At the same time, the company also reported strong sales in beef and pork.

Tyson revealed that retail volume was up 3.8% in Q3 with net sales improving nearly 8.3% to USD10.9bn, a USD834m increase from Q3 last year. The company expects its 2019 sales to reach about USD43bn. While beef and pork are doing well – Tyson’s beef category grew in sales and volume with a record operating margin of 6.1% and pork is expected to exceed at 6% profit margin in 2019 – chicken is underperforming despite increase sales volume in Q3.

But Tyson is also looking to take a share of the growing alternative meat segment. Formerly an investor in startup Beyond Meat, Tyson cut ties with the brand in April of 2019. Not long after, the company introduced the Raised & Rooted line, a line of plant-based nuggets and blended burgers. However, these products are not 100% plant-based since they include additional egg whites and beef.  Hence, Tyson will market the range using the “made with plants” tag line.

During the most recent call, Tyson revealed the nuggets will debut in 4,000 stores by the end of September, and they will also be available for foodservice distribution.