EL SEGUNDO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Beyond Meat® is expanding its footprint in the meat-centric state of Illinois with distribution of its revolutionary Beyond Burger® in the meat section of 200 Jewel-Osco grocery stores. The ground-breaking burger's retail expansion in Chicago is a historic moment for Beyond Meat as Illinois will now be the third largest grocery market for the brand, behind California and Washington.
“Chicago has been, and continues to be, a terrific market for us”
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“Chicago has been, and continues to be, a terrific market for us,” said Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown. “I'm so pleased to see the Beyond Burger gaining so much traction there, and am thrilled to gain placement in the meat aisle at Jewel-Osco. The consumer's experience with the Beyond Burger needs to be as seamless as possible, including where they find it--in the meat section--and we applaud Jewel-Osco for thinking expansively about the future of protein.”
As a testament to the swelling demand, Epic Burger, Beyond Meat’s first restaurant partner in Chicago, sold over 20,000 Beyond Burgers across 8 locations since launching in July. That equates to 10% of Epic Burger’s sandwich and burger sales. The typical veggie burger makes up just 1% of such sales for burger chains that provide the option. What accounts for the difference is The Beyond Burger’s appeal to meat-lovers who seek to incorporate delicious plant-based options into their diet.
The addition of Jewel-Osco brings The Beyond Burger’s distribution footprint to 4,300 retailers, including the nation's two largest grocery chains Kroger and Albertsons, as well as 3,700 restaurants. Below is a list of retailers & restaurants in the Chicago and Illinois area who carry The Beyond Burger:
Retail
- Jewel-Osco (185 locations throughout IL)
- Whole Foods Market (18 locations throughout IL)
- Mariano's (26 locations throughout IL)
Restaurants
- Epic Burger (8 locations throughout Chicago)
- Veggie Grill (2 locations opening Dec 2017)
- Twin Peaks Restaurant (4 locations throughout IL)
ACCELERATING GROWTH
Beyond Meat’s rapid retail growth is coupled with major food service/restaurant wins, including an exclusive partnership with Sysco that, since launching in September, has produced 2,000 new food service outlets carrying The Beyond Burger. This includes restaurants, hotels, college campuses and professional sports teams’ training camps. Many of these restaurants are innovative, single-unit restaurants like Delilah LA, The Moonlighter in Chicago, The Distillery NYC and The Hamilton Inn in Jersey City, that seek to appeal to meat eaters and vegetarians alike by offering innovative, plant-based options. For the latest list of stores carrying The Beyond Burger, visit The Beyond Meat blog.
UNREAL TASTE. REAL INGREDIENTS
The Beyond Burger is the world's only burger that looks, cooks, and tastes like ground beef from cows but is made entirely from plants, without GMOs, soy, or gluten. The Beyond Burger packs more protein and iron than beef and is a cholesterol free food, with less saturated fat than beef. A 1/4lb Beyond Burger sold in grocery stores has 4 grams of saturated fat and 22 grams of total fat, compared to 9 grams of saturated fat and 23 grams of total fat in a 1/4 lb 80/20 beef burger.
ABOUT BEYOND MEAT
Based in Los Angeles, California, Beyond Meat is a privately held company with a mission of building meat directly from plants. Investors include Bill Gates, actor and activist Leonardo DiCaprio, Twitter co-founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams, Kleiner Perkins, former McDonald's CEO Don Thompson, Honest Tea founder Seth Goldman, Humane Society of the United States, and Tyson Foods. To stay up to date on the latest, visit www.BeyondMeat.com and follow @BeyondMeat, #BeyondBurger and #FutureOfProtein on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
