Meat replacement producer Beyond Meat expects sales in the third quarter to be lower than forecast due to the increasing uncertainty caused by the delta variant of the coronavirus.
Doubt and caution
The Los Angeles-based company expects net sales of between 120 and 140 million dollars (100-120 million euros) for the current quarter. This is considerably lower than analysts’ estimates of 153 million dollars (130 million euros), Reuters reports.
According to CEO Ethan Brown, restaurants and retailers have become much more cautious. They are placing “more conservative orders” as a result of their staffing difficulties and the growing uncertainty caused by the delta variant.
Beyond Meat said that sales of meat substitutes in restaurants and other food outlets finally grew again during the second quarter. As a result, revenues rose 31.8 % to 149 million dollars (125 million euros) in the period until 3 May, which was better than expected. However, the loss was also higher than expected.