Beyond Meat class action alleges company misrepresented production capabilities

Beyond Meat class action lawsuit overview:

• Who: Plaintiff Retail Wholesale Department Store Union Local 338 Retirement Fund filed a class action lawsuit against Beyond Meat Inc.
• Why: Beyond Meat allegedly misled investors about its production capabilities, leading them to pay inflated prices for the company’s stock.
• Where: The Beyond Meat production class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court.

Beyond Meat Inc. misled investors about its production capabilities, leading them to pay inflated prices for the company’s stock, according to a class action lawsuit filed May 11 in California federal court.

Plaintiff Retail Wholesale Department Store Union Local 338 Retirement Fund, a pension system that provides retirement benefits to certain New York and New Jersey employees, filed the Beyond Meat class action lawsuit on behalf of itself and others who purchased Beyond Meat common stock between May 5, 2020, and Oct. 13, 2022.

Beyond Meat produces plant-based meat substitutes. According to the Beyond Meat class action lawsuit, the company misled investors by touting the success of its product tests with prominent food retailers such as McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.

The company reportedly assured investors and partners it was capable of manufacturing its plant-based meat products at commercial scale, and blamed any delays on COVID-19.

However, certain Beyond Meat executives “profited enormously” by selling hundreds of thousands of shares of company stock at artificially inflated prices, according to the class action lawsuit.

“The truth began to emerge on October 22, 2021, when Beyond Meat announced that the company was reducing its third quarter net revenues by up to $34 million, or 25%,” and that its expenses and inventories were also increasing, the Beyond Meat class action lawsuit says.

Beyond Meat class action points to series of disclosures that caused stock price to drop

In response to these disclosures, Beyond Meat stock prices reportedly declined by $12.82 per share, the plaintiff says.

In November 2021, Beyond Meat reportedly announced a $1.8 million write-off of its unsold inventory, which led to the stock price dropping by another $12.55 per share. 

During this time, Beyond Meat reassured investors about the success of its partnerships and blamed its poor financial news on COVID-19.

On Nov. 17, 2021, an article published in Bloomberg reported on the Beyond Meat production delays, citing employees who said there were “significant internal problems” due to “confusion and misalignment” that contributed to the delays. In response to this news, Beyond Meat stock prices dropped again.

The next month, Taco Bell reportedly canceled a planned product test due to ongoing Beyond Meat quality concerns, leading to yet another stock price decrease. In October 2022, Beyond Meat announced several of its top executives were departing.

The plaintiff says it would not have purchased Beyond Meat stock at the price it paid had it known the stock prices had been artificially inflated by the company’s misleading assurances.

The class action asserts claims for violations of the Exchange Act.

Last year, Beyond Meat reached a settlement over allegations it falsely advertised its substitute meat products as providing an equivalent amount of protein as real meat.

What do you think about the Beyond Meat class action lawsuit? Tell us about it in the comments.

The plaintiff is represented by Jonathan D. Uslaner, Avi Josefson and Scott R. Foglietta of Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP.

The Beyond Meat production class action lawsuit is Retail Wholesale Department Store Union Local 338 Retirement Fund v. Beyond Meat Inc., et al., Case No. 2:23-cv-03602, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Western Division.

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