Beyond Enters The Phytosphere And Whey's Capacity Woes

0:05Brad Avery:Welcome to the CPG Week podcast by BevNet and Nosh. I'm Brad Avery here with my co-host Lukas Southard. If you're enjoying the show, please subscribe on your listening platform of choice. Lukas, I have here Lappos Limoncello Spritz, another non-L cocktail. And the thing I love about this category is you can enjoy a nice refined flavor while working and recording a podcast with the CPG Week. your buddy. That is a plus. I also actually received some of those Lappos. They're quite good. I had one, I think, two nights ago. And just like their take on the Negroni, they're very refreshing. They feel very elevated.

0:48You know, feels like a cocktail, but without the baggage of feeling like you're drinking alcohol in the middle of the day.

0:55Brad Avery:I find that the Limoncello Spritz drinks a bit like a lemonade, which doesn't connect necessarily to our top story of the week, but it certainly makes it easier to dive in. The company, formerly known as Beyond Meat, has been transforming its strategic approach this year, from launching beverages back in January to its rebrand as Beyond, the plant protein company. Now they're launching a plant-powered CPG portfolio dubbed the Phytosphere. That's Phyto with a P-H. The project brings the alt meat maker into new categories, such as protein powders, with a line called Beyond Star Matter, and savory protein bars, named Beyond Star Cut.

1:36Brad Avery:The aforementioned beverage, a protein drink line called Beyond Immerse, is also being folded into this new portfolio, which is aiming to bring Beyond's plant-based expertise, quote, into new products, formats, and occasions. I love the use of all the outer space imagery and star illusions. Brad, I feel like you recently talked to Beyond CEO. Can you tell me a little bit about that conversation? Yes. Back in May, I spoke with Beyond CEO Ethan Brown about the company's new direction. He told me that in addition to needing to turn around their slumping plant-based meat sales, he wanted to restage the business.

2:15Brad Avery:So as you noted, that kind of space age theming of these new products very intentional with this. Brown felt that the company had been subjected to a smear campaign that was taking aim at the core meat alternative product safety and efficacy and media articles. And he told me that products like Beyond Immerse were helping to reintroduce the brand to people who maybe were subject to that smear campaign. Those are his words. So the look of this new Phytosphere line definitely marks a departure from their previous packaging. And certainly I would feel is part of that project. Brad, while I respect the effort to write the Beyond ship and point it to the stars, I believe, this all seems to be a bit of a distraction for the company.

3:04I would imagine that launching new products and moving into beverage is making the company stretched even more thin than it already has been. And it seems to be counterintuitive when they're trying to get their costs in line.

3:21Brad Avery:I think that's a fair point. The positive side, the case for this innovation is that they've been struggling with sales. This category has been struggling with sales, plant-based meat and alternatives. And one of the other products that is being included in this Phytosphere is Beyond Veggie, which is a more traditional black bean style veggie burger as well. So they are going away from this original science, we're going to replace meat kind of approach that I believe this category got introduced to people as. and by shifting it, they're hoping to bring sales back in. The thing about trying to reduce costs is that, well, they also need to raise revenue at the same time.

4:06Brad Avery:Is it a distraction? You could argue that. A different operator could take a different approach. They've also brought Beyond Immerse into retail. They launched with Big Geyser back in the spring. In May, I spoke with Jerry Rita, the head of Big Geyser, and he was quite bullish on this, believing it hits all the right marks for the category. So I think there's two schools of thought there. And Lucas, I'm sure someone could very well make a similar case to what you just brought up. I think Beyond's focus is let's renew some energy among consumers and start getting some more revenue in because they need to do both, quite frankly.

4:47And I do understand that this is a repositioning the brand into a more broader trend towards protein and launching new products that meet the consumers and the demand that is coming out of protein in a lot of different forms. and that actually is a great segue to a feature that our colleague Shauna Golden just wrote, kind of looking into the whey protein supply chain. Now, it's no secret that we're all bulking up these days and protein consumption has been on the rise in recent years. And in saying that, Shauna wanted to see how the raw ingredients that are fueling this demand for protein is really playing out in the supply chain and in pricing.

5:39Google searches for protein climbed 56.2 % year over year last year, while 61 % of Americans reported increasing their protein intake in 2024. And this is data from market researcher SPAT. Now whey protein is made from a byproduct of cheese production. So its production is directly linked to the demand for cheese. that incongruence in the supply chain had the price of whey protein climb to around$13 per pound in late June and July of this year. That's more than double the mid$5 range that was seen during the third quarter of 2025. Now, since then, the market has softened a bit, but WPC-80, which is a dry protein containing at least 80 % of pure protein by weight, is now generally trading between$11 and$12.

6:33So still markedly higher than it was in Q3 of last year.

6:39Brad Avery:Lucas, what does this mean for brand sourcing and pricing? Well, as you would imagine, when the raw ingredient price goes up, the brands have to raise their prices as well. That makes sense. And so Shauna referenced comments made during Bellring Brand's third quarter earnings recently. And the CEO of Bellring said that the company would take double-digit price increase for its premier protein shakes and additional pricing for its powders to offset the price hikes in whey protein. Now, in order to build a more sustainable supply chain, many brands are seeking other sources of protein from other parts of the dairy industry or plants.

7:20As you just referenced with Beyond, there is demand for plant-based proteins and leaning into that, especially as the price for whey protein remains high, is not a bad plan. Yet, the problem is whey remains the, quote, gold standard of protein for things like its bioavailability, digestion, and muscle recovery. Referencing back to our conversation last week about David Protein, which recently launched a protein milkshake beverage, that brand is using ultra-filtered lactose-free milk and its proprietary EPG fat-to-protein system to add more of this muscle-building strength to its new beverage line.

8:10Yeah, there's so many different opinions on what is the best and most efficacious.

8:16Brad Avery:But when you talk about things like clear soda, for example, I've spoken with some who say that we use whey protein, it's superior. Products that use collagen and others are not giving the full benefit. So I think the real protein heads out there that are deep in the wheeze on this, when I'm talking about consumers, are going to care. And that makes this pretty significant. Well, speaking of protein, Battle Bars, the veteran-founded protein bar brand, is getting a refresh. The near-decade-old Chicago-based company has reformulated its flagship protein bars to remove erythritol and increase protein to 20 grams per bar, up from 17 grams.

9:01Brad Avery:Packaging updates also include dropping the skull that was prominently featured in the brand's logo, a move that founder Alex Witt told me was intended to help broaden the appeal of Battle Bar's brand to women, who are now 70 % of its audience. Brands founded by veterans have a history of leaning into military aesthetics or more hardened visual looks. Just look at Jocko Fuel or Black Rifle Coffee Company. But Witt sees Battle Bars as a brand that can help consumers fight their daily battles. So moving away from some of that harder imagery helps to communicate that to consumers. It's an interesting comparison with another vet-founded brand that is now refreshing its look.

9:43Brad Avery:Energy drink Echelon has been also broadening its product's appeal by shifting away from the military channel to mainstream retail outlets. And our colleague, Marty Caballero, covered the company's latest moves in an article on BevNet this week. So battle bars may be targeting women, but in the story Marty wrote, Echelon said it's focused on speaking to young men, and it's trying to create a more authentic approach with LTO flavors like goth girl spit that play on internet memes and gamer culture. Yeah. I will say I have no idea what goth girl spit is a reference to, but I just, I love the way it sounds.

10:28The kids are not all right. Yeah. The kids are not all right, Lucas. Well, more power to them. One last bit of news from the week has big food fighting against Big Sugar. General Mills, Kelanova, Mars, and McKee Foods have sued a cohort of major U.S. sugar companies, including Domino Foods, United Sugar, and American Crystal Sugar, among others, for artificially raising the cost of sugar through an information-sharing agreement that was orchestrated by Intermediary Commodity Information, Inc. PepsiCo, Hershey, Albertsons, Kroger and others have all filed similar suits this summer, alleging there was a deliberate and systemic exchange of sensitive information to keep granulated sugar prices artificially elevated.

11:18Now, in a juicy plot twist that stinks of corporate espionage, the law firm representing Domino Sugar had conversations with some of the same CPG brands suing Domino, offering to represent them against Big Sugar. Those CPG companies have filed a motion to block the law firm from representing Domino because the firm had extensive conversations with those CPG companies and accessed confidential purchasing information when it was being considered as the plaintiff's counsel. We'll be tracking how this and other similar cases in the battle against Big Sugar are progressing on Nosh and BevNet.

11:57Brad Avery:That's what we call a conflict of interest. You could say that just a little bit, right?

12:30Brad Avery:Reach operators, sales leaders, supply chain pros, and retail buyers spending more time with candidates and less on mismatches. At cpgjobs.com, post your opening. Use code TASTERADIO26 and save on the listing. Your inbox should reflect the parts of CPG that matter to you. Choose from BevNet's seven free newsletters covering beverage, food, beer, spirits, careers, education, and more. Sign up and select your favorites at cpgmedia.com slash newsletter. Well, it's finally getting a little colder for September, but still a little unseasonably warm. Still, that hasn't stopped me from enjoying a nice pumpkin spice latte.

13:15Brad Avery:Lucas, are you a pumpkin spice guy? I am far from it. I actually really dislike the pumpkin spiced everything. According to the Food Institute report, citing Data Central, 47 % of consumers either love or like pumpkin spice. In comparison, 87 % of consumers either love or like apple and 59 % like or love pumpkin, no spice. Well, I'm with the apple folks on this one. I'm much more of an apple guy. I love going apple picking with my kids. I think it's a fun, weird pastime that we do here in New England. And I have been noticing that there has been quite a few apple LTOs across both food and beverage.

14:02Just last week, we put in our new product gallery, new apple flavors from Olipop, Culture Pop, and Prota. so if i am standing in the beverage aisle looking at all the seasonal flavors i am always going to choose an apple flavor over the pumpkin spice now there's no hate against the pumpkin spice folks teach their own we heard you we heard you you said you hate their own you know we said you judge them i i do judge them but i do it in my head not outwardly i mean there's got to be some juice behind it because every year we get a lot of pumpkin spice stuff but i'm glad to see that apple is getting a little bit of love on store shelves.

14:44Brad Avery:No, I tried that Olipop flavor, which is actually a caramel apple soda flavor. Oh, OK. Well, you've got a wild blend. I will say it's unique. I haven't had anything quite like it. It tastes like caramel apple. You need both. You need you need apple and you need pumpkin. Just like at Thanksgiving. I like having an apple pie along with the pumpkin pie because I don't need the pumpkin pie. Well, if you've got opinions on this matter, if you want to yell at Lucas, please let us know. We want to hear it. Thank you for listening. I don't want to hear it. I want to hear from the listeners. I don't want to hear them yelling at me.

15:22I want to hear other things. But yes, please yell away, folks.

15:26Brad Avery:If you'd like to gossip about Lucas's hatred of Pumpkin Spice to me, reach out. We'd love to hear from you. Like or subscribe to the podcast on your listening platform of choice. Thank you for listening. We'll be back next week.