Beyond Meat Taking On The Beef Industry Case Solution

The company’s products were aimed at having the look, taste, and experience of actual meat products. The new products were subject to several taste tests, which helped the company develop products that could be an exact replica of meat-based products, even healthier with lower carbs and fat and additional nutrients such as omega-3. Therefore, new product development and investment in the development process is a core competency of the company. This supports the company’s strategy to place its products on the meat shelves rather than in the vegan section. While vegetarians comprise only 5% of the population in the US, the company was set to targeting the meat-consuming population. Through this unique resource, the company also attracted many fast-food chains and grocery stores to sell these products. 

2. Utilise the VRIO Framework to evaluate and conclude on the sustainability of its strategic capabilities

Beyond Meat was a company that had envisioned a future with plant-based meat products in the food industry. While many vegan food companies had focused on developing products that were tasty, Beyond Meat targeted the meat-consuming audience by providing alternatives that seemed like an exact replica of meat. Following are the strategic capabilities of Beyond Meat, which will be analysed through the VRIO Framework:

i. Targeting the meat-consuming population

This strategic capability is the focal point of growth for Beyond Meat. While the vegan population comprises 5% of the US population, the company targeted the bigger audience by providing them plant-based replicas of meat products. This strategic capability is, therefore, valuable for the company. Other companies had not focused on the nutritional value of plant-based products. Therefore, this resource is also rare but not inimitable since vegan companies also launched similar products. The company is also investing in R&D and manufacturing facilities to organize the company's strategy. Since this resource is imitable, the company holds a temporary competitive advantage. This shortcoming can be overcome by investing in the R&D and marketing of the products.