Beyond Meat Files Trademark for Vegan Milk, Eggs, Jerky, and Seafood

Plant-based giant Beyond Meat just filed for the trademark for the name Beyond Milk for its upcoming line of dairy-free milk. The California-based tech company filed for this trademark on August 12th, according to documents within the US Patent and Trademark Office [USPTO]. Alongside the Beyond Milk patent, the company also filed for 108 trademarks including Beyond Crab, Beyond Shrimp, Beyond Tuna, Beyond Eggs, and Beyond Jerky. Other more general trademarks included Beyond Bowls, Beyond Brunch, and Beyond Deli. The company filed most of the trademarks as "intent to use," meaning that Beyond Meat expects to need these brands for future products.

The Beyond Milk patent filed detailed that the company intends to cover “making milkshakes, coffee or tea beverages with milk or milk substitutes.” Beyond Meat’s success stems from its plant-based protein alternatives such as its vegan hamburger or sausage products, but the growing plant-based milk industry inspired the company to expand its product line.

Even though Beyond Meat has not released any information about the Beyond Milk range, the company has spent recent years developing new products across several food categories. Earlier this year, the company expanded its plant-based product line to include vegan chicken. The new plant-based Beyond Chicken Tenders entered the national market as Beyond Meat teamed up with more than 400 restaurants to debut this new product. The company’s continued success alongside positive consumer response could motivate Beyond executives to enter other plant-based markets.

This year, Label Insight – a company under data company NielsenIQ – just released a study that observed how consumers are shopping regarding plant-based milk and protein. The report found that milk alternative sales rose 13.5 percent from June 2020 to July 2021. Compared to the cow milk industry’s 1.2 percent decline, plant-based milk sales are beginning to undercut the dominant animal-based milk industry.

The Label Insight data showed that oat milk sales jumped 118 percent over the last year, indicating that consumers, in general, are interested in plant-based milk alternatives. As more consumers begin purchasing dairy-free milk alternatives, more companies are jumping to incorporate plant-based milk into their product offerings.

Beyond Meat’s markets shares experienced a 5 percent decline since January, currently valuing at $118 per share. The decline puts pressure on the company to expand its brand, giving shareholders and investors more reason to invest in the plant-based giant. Beyond Meat aims to undercut the consumption and production of animal-based food products on the market, providing consumers with delicious alternatives to conventional food products.

Specifically, the rapidly rising oat milk market allowed for Swedish plant-based milk company Oatly to successfully file and complete its IPO this May. The company–which can be attributed to the worldwide popularization of oat milk–revealed its first earnings report that showed its second quarter is up 53 percent as compared to the same period last year.

Earlier this month, Bloomberg Intelligence [BI] released a report that found that the plant-based food market would surpass $162 billion by 2030, multiplying 4 times the current valuation of $30 billion. The report attributed the growth to plant-based giants such as Beyond Meat and its counterparts including Impossible Foods, Oatly, and more.

Within the study, BI detailed that the vegan dairy market would take up 10 percent of its global market shares within the next decade. The significant spike would encourage other companies including Beyond Meat to develop its vegan dairy sectors, especially since its direct rival, Impossible Foods, already debuted its first plant-based Impossible Milk last October. Beyond Meat’s CEO Ethan Brown discussed the companies future, explaining how the company would adapt to growing demand and increased production.

“Specific investments and activities include: the establishment of more localize production with closer proximity to our highest priority markets; more integrated end-to-end production processes across a greater proportion of our manufacturing network; scale-driven efficiencies in procurement and fixed-cost absorption; further diversification of our core protein ingredient supply chain; continued improvements in throughput across our manufacturing network; certain product and process innovations reformulations; and packaging optimization,” Brown said in May during an Earnings Call, laying out his plans for the company’s betterment.

Earlier this year, the USDA published a report that found that plant-based milk sales are cutting into the cow milk industry. The report shows a correlating effect of consumers changing their dietary preferences, making milk alternatives look more appealing to more companies worldwide. Beyond Meat has yet to officially advertise its development of plant-based milk, but with a patent in progress, consumers can likely expect the company to reveal its primary products in the near future.