Meaty profit in protein

The champagne corks will be popping like a 21-gun salute for investors in Beyond Meat’s early May Nasdaq IPO, with the shares they had bought for $25 closing at an eyewatering $138 on Friday.

The short sellers have started to raise the speculative eyebrow, with one tweeting that the hype has become “beyond stupid”. But the story has captivated retail investors, who appear to be driving demand for the stock.

The Californian company makes the point that meat is just a combination of protein, fat, trace minerals and water, which it reckons it can replicate without going down the wasteful route of involving a flatulent quadruped.

Its boffins concocted a mixture of pea protein, canola oil, water and additives, and the end result has received excellent reviews from carnivores and vegans alike. The company is producing burgers, sausages and mince, and while an invitation to a vegan braai may take a while to get the thumbs-up in traditional farming communities, it’s going down a storm in California. Perhaps the most compelling story is the environmental impact.

One of its burgers uses 99% less water, 93% less land and 46% less energy and produces 90% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than a traditional beef burger. It says that 51% of greenhouse gas is a product of livestock rearing and processing, which suggests that sticking Beyond Meat on the Weber might make more of a difference than buying a Tesla.

Short sellers have started to raise the speculative eyebrow, with one tweeting that the hype is ‘beyond stupid’