Published - Apr 13, 2022 @ 12:28 PM (EET)

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Beyond Meat's (NASDAQ:BYND) stock rallied on Tuesday morning, gaining over 6% following news that the plant-based retailer is diversifying and pushing deeper into its chicken segment through new partnerships.

The stock, however, has since gone cold, trading below the flat line by 1:15 pm EDT.

The company is expanding its chicken tenders to over 8,000 retail sites, including pre-selected Albertsons (ACI), CVS Health (CVS), Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM), and Whole Foods (AMZN) locations.

In addition, Beyond further mentioned expansion into all of the nearly 3,000 Kroger (KR) stores throughout April.

The Beyond Chicken Tenders deliver the same crispy, juicy, and flavorful chicken tender experience with 50% less saturated fat than the leading brand of the traditional breaded chicken nuggets, and no antibiotics, hormones, or cholesterol.

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"Building on the positive momentum of our recent chicken launches, we're excited to significantly expand the availability of our Beyond Chicken Tenders by showing up in more places for our consumers ... making delicious, nutritious, and sustainable plant-based meat more accessible than ever before." - Chief Growth Officer, Deanna Jurgens at Beyond Meat.

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WHY IT MATTERS

Beyond Chicken Tenders set foot in 2021 in retail outlets like Walmart, Jewel-Osco, Safeway NorCal, Harris Teeter, Giant Food, and ShopRite, following a successful debut in restaurants across the country.

Following surging demand in earlier phases of the pandemic, many consumers have lost interest in meat substitutes, reducing Beyond Meat's fourth-quarter sales to supermarket partners by 20% in the U.S.

However, Beyond management believes that demand will pick up again as the company ramps its product-launch pace in 2022.

More shelf life is good news for Beyond as it looks to rebound off a disappointing 2021 and aim toward a marketing win.  Over the past 52 weeks, Beyond shares have slid over 60%, giving up over 30% on the year alone.

Although the latest news is not moving the needle much, the retail expansion may signal faster growth for Beyond Meat and increase its turnaround potential.

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