Beyond Meat Sparked a Run on Peas and a Protein Revolution

For investors, Beyond Meat’s May 2019 stock market foray was the most successful initial public offering since the 2008 financial crisis. For the food industry, it was the start of an obsession with one key ingredient: the humble yellow pea.

Flush with cash, Beyond Meat soon brought the newest version of its pea-based vegan Beyond Burgers to supermarkets across the U.S., added Beyond Beef to the store lineup, and tested Beyond Sausage with its biggest partner yet, Dunkin’. By the end of that summer, pea protein prices had more than doubled from a year earlier, says Morten Toft Bech, founder and chief executive officer of Meatless Farm Co., a British maker of plant-based meats. Copycats quickly followed, and now pea protein is being used to make fake chicken, seafood, cheese, and even rice.