EL SEGUNDO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Beyond Meat®, a leader in plant-based meat, announced today the addition of Leonardo DiCaprio as an investor and advocate.
“I am thrilled to officially welcome Leonardo DiCaprio to the Beyond Meat family,” said Ethan Brown, CEO of Beyond Meat. “His investment and role as an advocate reflects a shared vision that meat made directly from plants, like our Beyond Burger, has enormous benefits for human health, the climate, natural resources, and animal welfare. Leo was helpful early on in providing feedback on our burgers as we readied them for launch, and I look forward to continuing to collaborate as we bring delicious, satiating products to a rapidly increasing consumer base.”
Mr. DiCaprio commented on his decision to join Beyond Meat as an investor and advocate, saying: “Livestock production is a major contributor to carbon emissions. Shifting from animal meat to the plant-based meats developed by Beyond Meat is one of the most powerful measures someone can take to reduce their impact on our climate.”
Mr. DiCaprio will help Beyond Meat as it becomes a leading plant-based solution to the world’s growing demand for protein in the form of meat.
"The company's ability to create appealing, healthy meat directly from plants will go a long way in helping every day consumers take action on climate change,” continued Mr. DiCaprio.
This summer, the breakthrough Beyond Burger increased its distribution by sevenfold, expanding to 2,000+ stores and landing the revolutionary product in the meat case at the country’s two biggest grocery chains, Kroger and Albertsons Companies. To meet the swelling mainstream consumer demand for plant-based options, The Beyond Burger launched in over 600 top-performing Kroger-owned stores spanning 15 states and four of Kroger’s key banners: Fred Meyer, King Sooper, Kroger and Ralphs. Albertsons Companies also expanded The Beyond Burger’s availability to more than 1,000 locations across their Safeway, Vons, Pavilions, Haggen, Carrs and Albertsons stores. Since launching to sell-out demand at Whole Foods in May 2016, the Beyond Burger has continued to gain mainstream momentum in meat cases nationwide. For the latest store list, visit the Beyond Meat blog.
The Beyond Burger is also making groundbreaking strides outside of the meat case, joining the menu at one of the fastest-growing national burger concepts. After conducting tests at eight locations around the country, BurgerFi announced it would launch the Beyond Burger system-wide at each of its 101 restaurants on Labor Day (September 4th). BurgerFi offers vegan and non-vegan builds of the burger, creating more choices for consumers looking for a burger with benefits. In addition, Epic Burger, a trend-setting better-burger outfit based in Chicago, followed suit at all eight locations, and has reported selling more than 10,000 burgers in the first two months. The Beyond Burger is also available at Veggie Grill and dozens of other foodservice outlets across the country.
The Beyond Burger is the first-ever plant-based burger to satisfy like a traditional beef burger, but with 20g of protein, no cholesterol, and no GMOs, soy or gluten. It is currently sold in more than 2,500 grocery stores and restaurants nationwide, with more partners joining daily.
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, 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.
