Beyond Meat’s new product is not meant to copy meat

Beyond Sun Sausage is meant to be a new kind of protein substitute, with three flavor options—cajun, pesto, and pineapple jalapeño. The plant-based offering is made with a variety of vegetables, fruits and legumes, including spinach, bell peppers, yellow peas, brown rice, red lentils and faba beans, along with avocado oil.

“We’re thrilled to introduce a completely new innovation to the plant-based category,” Dariush Ajami, chief innovation officer at Beyond Meat, said in a statement. “Filled with clean, plant proteins … this launch further exemplifies our industry-leading commitment to raising the nutrition bar for plant-based meats and creating delicious, healthy products.”

The company is leaning into a healthier product as well, as Beyond Sun Sausage delivers 12 grams of protein per link, but has just 1 gram of saturated fat per serving and 0mg of cholesterol.

The company is rolling out the product in a limited fashion initially, selling it exclusively at Sprouts Farmers Markets across the country.

The rollout of the new product doesn’t mean Beyond Meat is moving out of the alt-meat industry, but the diversification comes as the public’s obsession with plant-based burgers has vanished (and funding for the startups that produce those products has fallen to its lowest level in nearly a decade).

Part of the reason for that is that while many people assumed plant-based burgers were much healthier than beef, pork, or poultry, they often weren’t. The products were also more expensive than the foods they were trying to replace, often by as much as 30%. Some consumers did not enjoy the taste, either.