Tyson buys a stake in Beyond Meat

Beyond Meat sells plant protein that “looks, feels, tastes and acts like chicken without the cluck,” as the product packaging for its faux chicken reads. That was good enough for poultry giant Tyson Foods Inc., which acquired a 5% stake in the El Segundo-based vegan start-up Monday.

For Beyond Meat, whose products are in 7,500 stores nationwide, the fresh capital would boost product development and distribution while still leaving it an independent, privately held company, according to the company’s founder and chief executive, Ethan Brown.

“I’m pleased to welcome Tyson as an investor and look forward to leveraging this support to broaden availability of plant protein choices to consumers,” Brown said of the deal. Further terms of the investment were not disclosed. For Tyson Foods, the move is a fast way into a rapidly growing alternative-foods segment, which could account for as much as a third of worldwide protein consumption by mid-century with a market value of as much as $108 billion, according to Lux Research.

“It meets our desire to offer consumers choices and to consider how we can serve an ever-growing and diverse global population, while remaining focused on our core prepared foods and animal protein businesses,” said Monica McGurk, executive vice president of strategy and new ventures at Tyson and president of its Tyson Foodservice division.

Other major food companies have made similar moves into the growing vegan and organic markets, in part to burnish their sustainability images.