Beyond Meat: Changing Customer Behavior in Food Consumption
Description of Assignment:
To prepare for this assignment, read the questions below and then skim the case once to get an overview.
Afterward, re-read the case more carefully for details so that you can answer the questions completely in detail.
Find the case linked in course modules.
The purpose of the case is to understand the key issues while eliminating any extraneous details. Like real business situations, the cases give you more information than you need. You need to understand what information is relevant for a given context.
Make sure you are not using any outside material to help you with this case. Use only the facts given in this case and your understand from class readings and discussion. Do not surf the web for outside answers, look at other sources, or share your work/collaborate with other students in the course. This is an independent assignment and as the honor code applies suspected similarity in work will be referred to the Academic Integrity Committee (AIC).
Some of these questions, like in real business situations do not have clear answers but require you to develop a position and argument that can be defended to defend your position. However, there are answers that are better reasoned than other answers.
Make sure that you can FACTUALLY defend your answers using facts from the case.
In marketing, we use quantitative proof if available in the case to make a case. Therefore, cite facts from the case to draw conclusions and recommendations. This means you're required to use APA in-text citation and referencing in your submission. Incorrect APA use or a Turn It In similarity score of 15% or higher will be flagged and reviewed for plagiarism by the Academic Integrity Committee (AIC).
Assignment Questions:
1. How do Beyond Meat (BM) products compare to animal meat?
2. How is BM reaching its target market?
3. Should BM target commercial enterprises and large food chain companies such as Chipotle Mexican Grill and Taco Bell, or should it target retail consumers?
4. How can B< develop and maintain its competitive advantage and protect its company profile?
5. Should the company diversify overseas, or should it concentrate on the US market?
Requirements:
1. Your submission can be no longer than 4-pages single-spaced typed Microsoft Word document using Times New Roman 12-point font ONLY.
2. You may not exceed 4 pages, anything longer will not be graded. This page limit does not include your cover page, reference page, and appendix.
3. Assignments submitted as a PDF or using Apple’s Pages will NOT be accepted and will earn a zero (0). Only Microsoft Word files will be accepted.
4. Use sub-headers and bullet points to break out your topics.
5. Use visuals to illustrate your point. Please create an appendix for all your visuals.
6. Make sure that you include each question above (and numbers 1 to 5), along with your answer, as it is easier to follow/read.
Weighting (% of final grade): 40%
Assignment Due: October 17 at 11:59 PM EST
Assignments must be submitted through myCourses. Late assignments (up to 48 hours late) will have 1 letter grade (-10 pts) deducted from score. Assignments submitted more than 48 hours late will be scored 0/F.
Beyond Meat: Changing Customer Behavior in Food Consumption – Case Analysis
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Beyond Meat: Changing Customer Behavior in Food Consumption – Case Analysis
1 How do Beyond Meat (BM) products compare to animal meat?
The case fails to explicitly state whether BM products have a similar taste and texture to the animal meat products they mimic. However, a careful analysis of the provided facts supports the conclusion that BM’s products closely mimicked their animal meat equivalents. According to Rezk et al. (2019), BM’s partners from the University of Missouri had invented a process for producing meat alternatives whose fibers were similar to animal “muscle fibres [sic]” (p. 4). Besides, the authors repeatedly mention the company’s interest in improving their products’ taste to match the animal meats they mimic by investing more in research and development (R&D). Thus, it is safe to assume that the products closely mimic animal meat.
More importantly, BM products are superior to conventional meat in nutrition. According to Rezk et al. (2019), the products provide the same amount of proteins and 50% less fat as the conventional meats with which they compete. Similarly, the company’s products provide competitive prices compared to conventional meat. Moreover, the average retail price of BM’s meat alternatives is similar to that of the conventional meat they seek to replace. For instance, nine ounces of BM’s “…chicken strips sold for approximately $5.45” while eight ounces of “…organic chicken strips cost approximately $5.99 (Rezk et al., 2019, p. 4). These are competitive, if not better, prices.
Furthermore, BM’s products are more sustainable as their production requires fewer raw materials and energy. The industry is inefficient – “20 kilograms (kg) of grain intake were needed for only one kg of edible meat” and may take up to 5 and 15 months for poultry and livestock, respectively (Rezk et al., 2019, pp. 3-4). Meat alternatives take comparatively less time and raw materials to produce. Research shows that the conventional meat industry’s carbon footprint is quite substantial and detrimental to the environment (Rezk et al., 2019, p. 3).
2 How is BM reaching its target market?
The case fails to mention the company’s marketing channels explicitly. However, the authors stipulate that BM distributed its products to retail and non-retail or industrial segments, such as restaurants (Rezk et al., 2019, p. 5). The retail segment represents the bulk of its revenue sources, with product placement instrumental in the growth experienced within this segment. Although the mechanics of the company’s marketin...