Introduction

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Introduction

Introduction

The Company

Beyond Meat, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), is one of the fastest growing food companies in the United States, offering a portfolio of revolutionary plant-based meats. The Company builds meat directly from plants, an innovation that enables consumers to experience the taste, texture and other sensory attributes of popular animal-based meat products while enjoying the nutritional and environmental benefits of eating the Company’s plant-based meat products. The Company’s brand commitment, “Eat What You Love,” represents a strong belief that there is a better way to feed our future and that the positive choices we all make, no matter how small, can have a great impact on our personal health and the health of our planet. By shifting from animal-based meat to plant-based meat, we can positively impact four growing global issues: human health, climate change, constraints on natural resources and animal welfare.

On September 7, 2018, the Company changed its name from Savage River, Inc. to Beyond Meat, Inc. On January 14, 2020, the Company registered its subsidiary, Beyond Meat EU B.V., in the Netherlands. On April 28, 2020, the Company registered its subsidiary, Beyond Meat (Jiaxing) Food Co., Ltd. (“BYND JX”), in the Zhejiang Province in China.

The Company’s primary production facilities are located in Columbia, Missouri, and research and development and administrative offices are located in El Segundo, California. In addition to its own production facilities, the Company uses co-manufacturers in various locations in the United States, Canada and the Netherlands. In the second quarter of 2020, the Company acquired its first manufacturing facility in Europe located in Enschede, the Netherlands. This facility completed operational testing of dry blend production in late 2020 and is expected to begin commercial trial runs in the second quarter of 2021. In addition, in June 2020 the Company announced the official opening of a new co-manufacturing facility to be used for Beyond Meat production built by the Company’s distributor in the Netherlands. In the third quarter of 2020, the Company and BYND JX entered into an investment agreement and related factory leasing contract to design and develop manufacturing facilities in the Jiaxing Economic & Technological Development Zone to manufacture plant-based meat products under the Beyond Meat brand in China. Renovations in the leased facility commenced at the end of 2020 with trial production expected in the first quarter of 2021 and full-scale end-to-end production expected by the end of the second quarter of 2021.

The Company sells to a variety of customers in the retail and foodservice channels throughout the United States and internationally primarily through distributors who purchase, store, sell, and deliver the Company’s products. In addition, the Company sells directly to customers in the retail and foodservice channels who handle their own distribution. In the third quarter of 2020, the Company launched an e-commerce site to sell its products direct to consumers.

As of December 31, 2020, approximately 90% of the Company’s long-lived assets were located in the United States.

Initial Public Offering

On May 6, 2019, the Company completed its initial public offering (“IPO”) of common stock in which it sold 11,068,750 shares. The shares began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on May 2, 2019. The shares were sold at a public offering price of $25.00 per share for net proceeds of approximately $252.4 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions of $19.4 million and issuance costs of approximately $4.9 million payable by the Company. Upon the closing of the IPO, all outstanding shares of the Company’s convertible preferred stock automatically converted into 41,562,111 shares of

common stock on a one-for-one basis, and warrants exercisable for convertible preferred stock were automatically converted into warrants exercisable for a total of 160,767 shares of common stock.

Secondary Public Offering

On August 5, 2019, the Company completed a secondary public offering (“Secondary Offering”) of common stock in which it sold 250,000 shares and the selling stockholders sold 3,487,500 shares. The shares were sold at a public offering price of $160.00 per share for net proceeds to the Company of approximately $37.4 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions of $1.5 million and issuance costs of approximately $1.1 million payable by the Company. Total Secondary Offering issuance costs paid in 2019 were approximately $2.2 million, of which approximately $1.1 million was capitalized to reflect the costs associated with the issuance of new shares and offset against proceeds from the Secondary Offering. The Company did not receive any proceeds from the sale of common stock by the selling stockholders.

COVID-19

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. The global spread and unprecedented impact of COVID-19 continues to create significant volatility, uncertainty and economic disruption. The Company’s operations and its financial results including net revenues, gross profit, gross margin and operating expenses were negatively impacted by COVID-19 in 2020. The extent of COVID-19’s effect on the Company’s operational and financial performance will depend on future developments, including the duration, spread and intensity of the pandemic (including any resurgences), impact of the new COVID-19 variants and the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, and the level of social and economic restrictions imposed in the United States and abroad in an effort to curb the spread of the virus, all of which are uncertain and difficult to predict considering the rapidly evolving landscape. As a result, it is not currently possible to ascertain the overall impact of COVID-19 on the Company’s business, results of operations, financial condition or liquidity. While the ultimate economic impact of COVID-19 continues to be uncertain, the Company expects that the adverse impact of COVID-19 on its business operations and results of operations, including its net revenues, gross profit, gross margin, earnings and cash flows, will continue into 2021. Future events and effects related to COVID-19 cannot be determined with precision and actual results could significantly differ from estimates or forecasts.

Emerging Growth Company Status

Upon the completion of the Company’s IPO, the Company elected to be an Emerging Growth Company (“EGC”), as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (“JOBS Act”). Effective December 31, 2020, the Company lost its EGC status and is now categorized as a Large Accelerated Filer based upon the current market capitalization of the Company according to Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. As a result, the Company must comply with all financial disclosure and governance requirements applicable to Large Accelerated Filers.