BEYOND MEAT, INC. (BYND) Business

ITEM 1. BUSINESS.

Overview

Beyond Meat is a leading plant-based meat company offering a portfolio of revolutionary plant-based meats and other innovative plant-based food and beverage products. We seek to deliver the power of plants to consumers through our plant-based meat products, 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 our plant-based meat products, and adjacent products that deliver taste and macronutrients from plants and plant-based ingredients. Our brand promise, “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.

To capture this market opportunity, we have developed three core plant-based product platforms that align with the largest meat categories globally: beef, pork and poultry. The primary components of animal-based meat—amino acids, lipids, carbohydrates, trace minerals and water—are not exclusive to animals and are plentiful in plants. We create our plant-based meat products using proprietary scientific processes that determine the architecture of the animal-based meat we are seeking to replicate and then we assemble it using plant-derived amino acids, lipids, carbohydrates, trace minerals and water. We are focused on continuously improving our products so that eventually they are, to the human sensory system, indistinguishable from their animal-based counterparts. We are focused on making our plant-based meat products nutritionally dense, with fewer negative attributes relative to their animal protein alternatives. Leveraging our over 17 years of experience in bringing the power of plants to consumers, we also intend to broaden our product portfolio to include plant-based foods and beverages that deliver taste and macronutrients with clean, limited ingredients.

As of December 2025, Beyond Meat branded products were available across mainstream grocery, mass merchandiser, club store and natural retailer channels, and various food-away-from-home channels, including restaurants, foodservice outlets and schools, with certain of our products available generally for a limited time exclusively through our Beyond Test Kitchen DTC channel, which we launched in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Research, development and innovation are core elements of our business strategy, and we believe they represent a critical competitive advantage for us. Through our Beyond Meat Rapid and Relentless Innovation Program, our team of scientists and engineers focuses on making continuous improvements to our existing product formulations and developing new products across our plant-based beef, pork and poultry platforms, including with a goal of further simplifying our ingredient lists. Our state-of-the-art Innovation Center within our Campus Headquarters brings together leading scientists from chemistry, biology, material science, food science and biophysics disciplines who work together with process engineers and culinary specialists to pursue our vision of perfectly building plant-based meat. We seek to leverage this deep expertise in plant materials to drive innovation as we look to broaden our product portfolio outside of plant-based meat.

Mission

We are a mission-driven business with long-standing core values. Our mission is to create meat from plants that is indistinguishable in taste and texture from its animal-based equivalent while working for the advancement of human health, climate, environment and animal welfare. We strive to operate in a transparent, socially responsible and environmentally sustainable manner and are committed to help solve the major health and global environmental issues which we believe are caused in part by an animal-based protein diet and existing industrial livestock production. We believe our authentic and long-standing commitment to these causes better positions us to build loyalty and trust with current consumers and helps to attract new ones. Our corporate culture embodies these values and, as a result, we enjoy a highly motivated and skilled workforce committed to our mission and our enterprise.

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Cost-Reduction Initiatives and Global Operations Review

A key component of achieving our long-term business strategy is to achieve cost leadership and continue driving the cost of our products down over time. In response to the difficult environment and the negative impact of certain factors on our business and the overall plant-based meat category, beginning in 2022 we pivoted our focus toward sustainable long-term growth supported by three pillars: (1) driving margin recovery and operating expense reduction through the implementation of lean value streams across our beef, pork and poultry platforms; (2) inventory reduction and cash flow generation through more efficient inventory management; and (3) focusing on near-term retail and foodservice growth drivers while supporting key strategic long-term partners and opportunities. For clarity, lean value streams represent organizing our teams and operational approach in such a way that increases cross-functional collaboration, transparency and ownership of key business processes and initiatives, with an overarching objective of eliminating waste throughout our organization. We believe, if implemented effectively, the use of a lean value stream approach could drive faster speed-to-market of new product launches over time, which in turn could accelerate our net revenue generation, cost of goods sold reduction and gross margin expansion efforts and enable further operating expense reductions, among others.

In 2023, we initiated our Global Operations Review, which involves narrowing our commercial focus to certain anticipated growth opportunities, and accelerating activities that prioritize gross margin expansion and cash generation. These efforts have to date included or resulted in, and may in the future include or result in, the exit or discontinuation of select product lines; changes to our pricing architecture within certain channels; cash-accretive inventory reduction initiatives; non-cash charges such as provision for excess and obsolete inventory and potential additional impairment charges, write-offs, disposals and accelerated depreciation of fixed assets, and losses on sale and write-down of fixed assets; further optimization of our manufacturing capacity and real estate footprint; workforce reductions; and the cessation of our operational activities in China in 2025.

As part of this review, on November 1, 2023, our board of directors approved a plan to reduce our workforce by approximately 65 employees, representing approximately 19% of our global non-production workforce (or approximately 8% of our total global workforce) (the “November 2023 RIF”). This decision was based on cost-reduction initiatives intended to reduce operating expenses.

On February 24, 2025, our board of directors approved a plan to reduce our workforce in North America and the EU by approximately 44 employees, representing approximately 17% of our global non-production workforce (or approximately 6% of our total global workforce) (the “February 2025 RIF”). The decision was based on cost-reduction initiatives intended to reduce operating expenses.

In addition, as part of our Global Operations Review, on February 24, 2025, our board of directors approved a plan to suspend our operational activities in China, which ceased as of the end of 2025. As part of this plan, we reduced our workforce in China by approximately 20 employees, representing approximately 95% of our China workforce (or approximately 3% of our total global workforce) (the “China RIF”). The decision to suspend our operational activities in China was based on cost-reduction initiatives intended to reduce operating expenses.

On August 6, 2025, management approved a plan to reduce our workforce in North America by approximately 40 employees, representing approximately 5% of our total global workforce (the “August 2025 RIF”). We recorded one-time cash charges of approximately $1.1 million in connection with the August 2025 RIF, primarily consisting of severance payments, employee benefits and related costs, in all cases, provided to departing employees. See Note 1, Introduction, to the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this report.

In the fourth quarter of 2025, through our transformation office and program (“Transformation Office”) led by our interim Chief Transformation Officer, we accelerated the work of our Global Operations Review and implemented further actions intended to, among other things, position the business for a more fundamental resizing of operating expenses, drive margin recovery, including through targeted investments in our facilities

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and supply chain cost-reductions, reduce inventory and associated carrying costs through SKU rationalization and the discontinuation of certain product lines, and preserve cash and monetize non-strategic or idle assets. In connection with these actions, in the fourth quarter of 2025, we recorded an incremental provision for excess and obsolete inventory in the amount of $2.4 million as a result of SKU rationalization and the decision to discontinue certain product lines. In addition, we identified certain property, plant and equipment that was no longer deemed core to our strategic objectives or required for our future operations and recorded these assets at estimated fair value, less estimated costs to sell, in Assets held for sale in our consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2025, resulting in non-cash charges of $45.6 million in loss on write-down of assets held for sale recorded in operating expenses in the fourth quarter of 2025.

In addition, as a result of management finalizing its decision to cease our operations in China indefinitely, we also completed an evaluation of our property, plant and equipment in China. Upon valuation of these assets by a third party, assets that were determined to be not salable were fully depreciated, while assets that were determined salable were recorded at estimated fair value, less estimated costs to sell, in Assets held for sale in our consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2025, resulting in non-cash charges of $1.5 million in accelerated depreciation recorded in cost of goods sold and $3.4 million in loss on write-down of assets held for sale and write-down of fixed assets recorded in operating expenses in the fourth quarter of 2025. Furthermore, for the year ending December 31, 2026, we expect to record approximately $2.2 million in accelerated depreciation for our remaining leasehold improvement assets in China unrelated to the assets held for sale noted above. See Note 7, Property, Plant and Equipment, to the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this report.

Total loss on write-down of assets held for sale recorded in operating expenses in the year ended December 31, 2025 was $49.0 million. As of December 31, 2025 and 2024, we had $9.4 million and $1.9 million, respectively, in Assets held for sale in our consolidated balance sheet. We expect these assets held for sale will be sold within one year.

Additional information regarding our recent cost-reduction initiatives, including the financial impact, is included in Item 7 of this report under Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. For additional information see Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business—Our strategic initiatives to optimize our operations and product portfolio and improve our cost structure could have long-term adverse effects on our business, and we may not realize the operational or financial benefits from such actions, including achieving and/or sustaining our profitability, cash flow and financial performance objectives in Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors, included elsewhere in this report.

Long-Term Growth Strategy

In the long-term, we intend to continue to do the following:

•Pursue Top-line Growth Across Our Distribution Channels

We continue to believe that there is an opportunity over time to expand our retail and foodservice footprint and build market share through distribution expansion, continued innovation and commercialization of new products, including in adjacent categories outside of our core, meat analogue offerings, optimization of price pack architecture, increased penetration across channels and geographies, and into other areas of the retail footprint, including the expansion of our direct-to-consumer (DTC) channels such as Beyond Test Kitchen, which we launched in the fourth quarter of 2025. Our Beyond Test Kitchen DTC platform, which gives consumers early access to new plant-based protein products, generally for a limited time, allows us to test new products directly with consumers and obtain consumer feedback and make adjustments before investing in potential broader product release. We believe increased distribution with a global focus, supported by our existing relationships and new partnerships with key players in the retail and foodservice channels, will lead to growing consumer awareness and demand for nutritious, convenient and high protein plant-based foods around the world, leading to an increase in the overall size of the plant-based foods category, as more consumers shift their diets away from animal-based proteins or supplement them with plant-based proteins, and improved

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market share in this category driven by investments in product placement, accessibility and consumer education.

•Invest in Infrastructure and Capabilities

We are continually reviewing opportunities to optimize our manufacturing capacity across our network, including identifying opportunities to increase overall equipment effectiveness, improve asset utilization, leverage our internal manufacturing and co-manufacturer network, reduce material and logistics costs, and invest in new processes and business management systems to increase automation, improve operating efficiency and enable greater scalability.

•Expand Our Product Offerings

The success of our products supports our belief that, despite prolonged weakness in the plant-based meat category, there will continue to be demand for additional plant-based meat and other plant-based protein products in the long-term. We intend to strengthen our product offerings by improving the formulations for our existing portfolio of products, and by creating new products that expand the portfolio. We are continually refining our plant-based meat products to improve their taste, texture, aroma, appearance and nutrition profile, and to lower their cost of production. In addition, we are committed to investing in research and development to continue to innovate within our core plant-based meat platforms of beef, pork and poultry to create exciting new product lines. As protein demand continues to grow and fiber is emerging as a key macronutrient trend, we intend to broaden our product portfolio to include plant-based foods and beverages with a focus on product intrinsics and compelling macronutrients.

•Continue to Grow Our Brand

We intend to continue to develop and preserve our brand and increase awareness of our products including an increased focus on improving the health perception of our products with our core consumer groups. We intend to accomplish this with an intentional focus on improving our products, working with trusted leaders within nutrition and medicine, and partnering with organizations like the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society and the American Diabetes Association. We also plan to continue to drive awareness and relevance of our products with a large-scale audience through enhanced digital and in-store marketing and promotions and content creation with our network of influencers and brand ambassadors, who have successfully built brand awareness for us by supporting our mission and incorporating our products into their daily lifestyle.

Products

We sell a range of plant-based meat products across our three core platforms of beef, pork and poultry. Depending on the product and channel, they are offered in ready-to-cook and ready-to-heat formats. Our plant-based meat products cover an entire day’s menu planning.

Our beef platform products contain protein primarily derived from one or a combination of yellow pea protein, brown rice protein, faba bean protein and red lentil protein. Our 2024 introductions—Beyond Burger IV and Beyond Beef IV—are made with avocado oil and have a simplified ingredient list and continue with the tradition of 0 mg of cholesterol, no added antibiotics or hormones, and no GMOs. In 2024, Beyond Steak was the first plant-based meat product to meet the nutritional guidelines of the American Diabetes Association’s Better Choices for Life program.

Our pork platform consists of products that are intended to mimic animal-based pork in its various merchandised forms, including dinner sausage links, breakfast sausage patties and links, and ground pork. Our pork platform products include Beyond Sausage, Beyond Breakfast Sausage Patties, Beyond Breakfast Sausage Links and Beyond Sausage Crumbles. The protein content of our pork platform products is primarily derived from one or a combination of pea protein and rice protein. Our 2024 introduction—Beyond Sausage IV—is made with avocado oil and has a simplified ingredient list with 0 mg of cholesterol, no added antibiotics or hormones, and no GMOs.

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Our poultry platform consists of products that are intended to mimic animal-based chicken in its various merchandised forms, including chicken pieces, chicken tenders and chicken nuggets. Our primary products under our poultry platform include Beyond Chicken Pieces, Beyond Chicken Tenders and Beyond Chicken Nuggets. The protein content of our poultry platform products is primarily derived from combinations of pea protein, soy protein and wheat gluten.

In 2024, we launched a new product innovation, Beyond Sun Sausage, not intended to replicate beef, pork or poultry but rather be its own protein option, made with protein primarily derived from one or a combination of yellow pea protein, brown rice protein, red lentil protein and faba bean protein. Beyond Sun Sausage is made with avocado oil and has 0 mg of cholesterol, no added antibiotics or hormones, and no GMOs.

In 2024 and 2025, we introduced our value-added meals (“VAM”) line of products with the launch of Beyond Bakes and Beyond Skillet Meals at select U.S. retail stores and Beyond Bowls at select Canadian retail stores, all focused on providing convenient, ready-to-heat meal options featuring Beyond Meat plant-based protein.

In 2025, we launched our Beyond Ground, an unseasoned plant protein base made with four simple ingredients (water, faba bean protein, potato protein and psyllium husk), which is positioned as a “blank canvas” for cooking, Beyond Steak Filet, a whole-cut plant-based steak made from wheat gluten, faba bean protein, avocado oil and mycelium, and Beyond Chicken Pieces, made from simple ingredients, including soy protein, wheat gluten and avocado oil, and low in saturated fat and containing 0 mg of cholesterol, no GMOs and no added hormones or antibiotics.

In early 2026, we introduced our Beyond Immerse protein drink, an innovative combination of plant protein, fiber, antioxidants and electrolytes, launched exclusively through our Beyond Test Kitchen DTC platform.

Customers

We sell 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 our products. Because such distributors function in an intermediary role, we do not consider them to be direct customers. In addition, we sell directly to customers in the retail and foodservice channels who handle their own distribution. As of December 2025, Beyond Meat branded products were available across mainstream grocery, mass merchandiser, club store and natural retailer channels, and various food-away-from-home channels, including restaurants, foodservice outlets and schools, with certain of our products available generally for a limited time exclusively through our Beyond Test Kitchen DTC channel, which we launched in the fourth quarter of 2025.

In 2025, 2024 and 2023, DOT Foods, Inc. (“DOT”) accounted for approximately 13%, 12% and 12%, respectively, of our gross revenues. No other distributor or customer accounted for more than 10% of our gross revenues in 2025, 2024 or 2023.

Supply Chain

•Sourcing and Suppliers

Currently, the main ingredient we use in many of our products is pea protein, which is sourced from peas grown in Canada and France, with the majority of our pea protein volume sourced from Canada. We procure the raw materials for our woven protein from a number of different suppliers. Although most of the raw materials we require are typically readily available from multiple sources, we currently have a limited number of suppliers for the pea protein used in our products. We continuously seek alternative sources of protein to use in our products, but we may not be successful in diversifying the raw materials we use in our products.

In 2023, we began sourcing avocado oil. Avocado oil is a globally sourced ingredient, however, if we are unable to source avocado oil from preferred regions or suppliers, we may need to diversify our sourcing, which may result in adverse impacts on cost, quality or other aspects of our products or business. The markets for some of the ingredients we use, such as avocado oil, may be particularly volatile due to factors such as limited

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supply sources, crop yield, seasonal shifts, climate conditions, industry demand, including as a result of food safety concerns, product recalls and government regulations.

•Supply Agreements

We source the ingredients for our products from numerous suppliers. We are substantially dependent upon one supplier, Roquette Frères (“Roquette”), for the supply of pea protein. Our multi-year sales agreement with Roquette for the supply of pea protein expired on December 31, 2025. Subsequent to the year ended December 31, 2025, we entered into a new sales agreement with an initial two-year term expiring on December 31, 2027 (see Note 17, Subsequent Events—Roquette Sales Agreement, to the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this report). We continually seek additional sources of pea protein and other plant-based protein for our products that meet our criteria.

Flavors consist of product flavors that have been developed by our innovation team in collaboration with our supply partners exclusively for us or in collaboration with our foodservice partners. The formulas are then produced by our suppliers for use in our products. Ingredients in our flavors are qualified through trials to ensure manufacturability. Upon receipt of the ingredients, we receive Certificates of Analysis from our suppliers in our quality control process to confirm that our rigorous standards have been met. Flavors are extensively tested prior to introduction to ensure finished product attributes such as taste, texture, aroma and appearance are not negatively impacted.

Our commitment to purchase flavor ingredients inventory from a certain vendor expired on August 31, 2025. As most of the raw materials we use in our flavors are generally readily available in the market, we believe that we can, within a reasonable period of time, make alternative arrangements in the event of an interruption of supply from our vendors but cannot assure that we will successfully do so. As of the date of this report, we do not have any long-term arrangements to purchase flavor ingredients. See Item 1A, Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business—Because we rely on a limited number of third party suppliers, we may not be able to obtain raw materials on a timely basis or in sufficient quantities at competitive prices to produce our products or meet the demand for our products.

Manufacturing

As the first step in the manufacturing process for our plant-based meat products a dry blend containing plant protein is combined at our manufacturing facilities. The dry blend then enters an extruder, where both water and steam are added. We then use a combination of heating, cooling and variations of pressure to weave together the proteins into an architecture that mimics the texture and muscle structure of animal meat. The formed woven protein is used as the basis of all our plant-based meat products. Next, internally or through our co-manufacturers, we further process the woven protein by combining flavors and other ingredients, after which the final packaged product is then shipped to third party storage facilities and, ultimately, to distributors or direct to customers. In order to sustain the quality of our products, we have implemented a “define, measure, analyze, improve and control,” or DMAIC, approach to improve, optimize and stabilize our processes and design.

We depend on co-manufacturers for the manufacturing of some of our products. We continue to explore further optimization of our production capabilities domestically and abroad to produce our woven proteins, blends of flavor systems and binding systems, and finished goods.

Quality Control

In-process quality checks are performed throughout the manufacturing process, including temperature, physical dimensions and weight. We provide specific instructions to customers and consumers for storing and cooking our products. The majority of our plant-based meat products are transported and stored frozen. Frozen products are intended to be prepared from their frozen state, with cooking instructions printed on all packaging. Retail products sold in the meat case are shipped to the customer frozen. The customer is provided instructions on ‘slacking,’ which is typically done by moving frozen food to a refrigerator to allow it to slowly and safely thaw, following which retailers must apply a “use by date” to the packaging prior to sale.

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Distribution

From our internal manufacturing or co-manufacturing facilities, our plant-based meat products are transferred by third party logistics providers to third party cold storage facilities or are directly shipped to the customer. International shipments are also handled by third party logistics providers and in some instances are organized directly by the customer. We manage shipments through transport management systems for real-time shipment tracking and visibility to coordinate our supply chain through to final distribution.

Order Fulfillment

Our customer service and logistics functions are responsible for customer-facing activities, order management, customer logistics, 3PL leadership and intra-company distribution. We utilize enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and integration with our 3PL cloud interface platforms for these processes. Customer orders are principally transmitted via electronic data interface, but may be processed manually if necessary. Orders are accepted in our ERP systems, reviewed for accuracy and fulfillment plans are developed. When fulfillment plans are ready, orders are tendered to third party carriers. Metrics for the customer service and logistics team include order fill rates, on-time delivery, customer scorecards as needed and cost leadership. We also engage in direct-to-consumer sales of certain plant-based products utilizing a third-party e-commerce fulfillment partner. We have agreements with third party service providers for all of our shipping needs.

Sales and In-Store Activation

•Sales

As of December 31, 2025, our sales team is organized into four divisions: retail, foodservice, international and strategic partnerships. The sales team has an extensive range of experience from leading CPG, natural food, meat and plant-based meat companies. It works in close coordination with a network of global broker and distributor partners that gives us the expertise and access to accounts and markets across key global markets in an efficient and scalable fashion as we continue to seek to grow our footprint and sales globally. We also sell a limited number of products directly to consumers through our Beyond Test Kitchen website.

•Brand Marketing

The primary means by which we have driven consumer awareness of our products is via social and digital media, PR, retail and foodservice shopper marketing, in-store presence and merchandising, including concentrated brand blocks, targeted promotions, brand ambassador and influencer activations, paid media and strategic partnerships. Our marketing strategy focuses on driving awareness all the way through to purchase and loyalty.

We maintain active social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Threads, LinkedIn and Reddit to build awareness, share news, reach new audiences, and engage with our consumers. These platforms allow us to engage with our consumers and directly reach target demographics such as millennials and “Generation Z.” We also leverage our first party data to distribute brand information and news, foster loyalty through unique offers and share recipe content to drive everyday consumption.

We maintain a registered domain website at www.beyondmeat.com, which serves as the primary source of information regarding our products, as well as foreign domains in certain countries. Our website is used as a platform to promote our products, provide news, share recipes, highlight nutritional facts and provide general information on where to purchase our products. We also maintain a registered domain website at www.beyondtestkitchen.com, our direct-to-consumer site and destination for early access to new product innovations and limited-time drops.

We partner with a network of brand ambassadors and influencers and have developed a strong following with certain celebrities from the worlds of sports and entertainment who share our core values. Their organic involvement and interest are helpful to promote our overall mission and products. In 2023, we launched the GoBeyond RD Hub for registered dietitians (“RD”s) and nutrition experts, with the goal of supporting the RD

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community with an open channel for communication and an opportunity to share the latest updates and research insights on plant-based options. In 2024, we continued to deploy targeted brand campaigns to build awareness, reach new users and drive conversion. In 2025, we launched a series of new campaigns focused on the clean, simple, plant-based ingredients that go into our products. Our paid digital initiatives have included social, programmatic, podcasts, out-of-home, online video, connected TV, and digital offers and rewards.

Competition

We operate in a highly competitive environment. We believe that we compete with both conventional animal-protein companies, such as Cargill, Hormel Foods, JBS, Perdue Foods and Tyson Foods, and also plant-based meat brands, including brands affiliated with conventional animal-protein companies and other large food operators, such as Boca Foods (Kraft Heinz), Lightlife and Field Roast (Maple Leaf Foods), Gardein (Conagra), Hungry Planet, Inc., Impossible Foods Inc., Incogmeato/Morningstar Farms (Mars, Incorporated), Dr. Praeger’s Sensible Foods, Plantspired (Nasoya Foods USA, LLC), Daring Foods, Moving Mountains, Omnipork (OmniFoods), Tofurky, Sweet Earth and Awesome Burger (Nestlé S.A.), Raised & Rooted (Tyson Foods), Happy Little Plants (Hormel Foods), Sysco’s Simply Plant-Based Meatless Burger, The Not Company and The Vegetarian Butcher (JBS). Additionally, we face competition from companies developing alternative protein sources beyond plant-based offerings. This includes mycelium-based meat alternatives, such as Quorn, Meati and Nature’s Fynd, which leverage fermentation technology to create products with a texture and nutritional profile similar to animal proteins. Furthermore, a number of U.S. and international companies are working on developing lab-grown or “clean meat,” an animal-protein product cultivated from cells taken from animals, which could have a similar appeal to consumers as plant-based products, including GOOD Meat (Eat Just, Inc.), Aleph Cuts (Aleph Farms Ltd.) and Wildtype (Wild Type, Inc.).

We believe the principal competitive factors in our industry are:

• taste;

• price and promotion tactics;

• nutritional profile;

• ingredients;

• texture;

• ease of integration into the consumer diet;

• low-carbohydrate, low-sugar, low-sodium, high fiber and protein;

• macronutrient ratios and ingredient differentiation;

• lack of cholesterol and GMOs;

• convenience;

• versatility;

• brand awareness and loyalty among consumers;

• media spending;

• product variety and packaging;

• access to major retailer shelf space and retail locations, including concentrated brand blocks;

• access to major foodservice outlets and integration into menus;

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• innovation; and

• intellectual property protection.

We believe we compete effectively with respect to each of these factors. However, many companies in the plant-based meat industry have substantially greater financial resources, more comprehensive product lines, broader market presence, longer standing relationships with distributors and suppliers, longer operating histories, greater production, commercialization and distribution capabilities, and greater marketing resources than we have.

Research and Development

At Beyond Meat, the Research and Development (“R&D”) team is the driving force behind the development of our groundbreaking plant-based meat and other plant-based protein products. Operating from our Innovation Center located at our Campus Headquarters, our in-house R&D team includes scientists, engineers, researchers, technicians and chefs. In every project they undertake, our R&D team is deeply committed to pioneering the future of food, with a goal of producing plant-based meat alternatives indistinguishable from their animal-based counterparts in taste, texture and nutrition. We continue to invest in research and development that enables us to optimize taste and macronutrients, constrain saturated fats, and use limited and clean ingredients.

Our R&D efforts have resulted in several industry-first innovations that have not only established new benchmarks in the plant-based meat sector but also significantly contributed to our brand's reputation as an industry leader. To ensure we maintain our competitive advantage, we implement rigorous measures to protect our intellectual property, which forms the cornerstone of our innovative edge.

The Beyond Meat Rapid and Relentless Innovation Program defines our systematic and strategic approach to product development. It is a comprehensive framework that integrates the various stages of the innovation lifecycle—ideation, prototype development, testing, refinement and commercialization. Within this framework, each functional team is assigned specific responsibilities and held accountable for their contributions. This structured process ensures that there are clear deliverables at each stage, facilitating a seamless flow from conception to market launch.

Our R&D endeavors are not limited to product innovation alone. We are equally focused on improving our manufacturing processes and quality control measures. We continuously explore new technologies and methodologies that can improve the efficiency and sustainability of our production lines, with a goal of reducing waste, cost and speed-to-market.

Product Innovation

Innovation is a core competency of ours and an important part of our growth strategy. Our goal is to identify large, animal-based meat product categories across our core plant-based platforms of beef, pork and poultry that exhibit long-term consumer trends. We then dedicate significant research and development resources to create authentic plant-based versions of these products that replicate the taste, texture, aroma and appearance of their animal-based equivalents. We have been able to leverage the success of our existing products and resulting brand equity to launch improved versions of our existing products and create new products. The success and brand equity of our existing product lineup serves as a strong foundation, enabling us to continuously introduce improved versions of our current offerings and launch new, groundbreaking products, including new plant-based protein products and product categories that deliver the power of plants to consumers. Whether new innovation or renovation, all of our product development efforts are driven by a pursuit of excellence, a deep understanding of and persistent focus on evolving consumer preferences and a strong commitment to health.

Seasonality

Generally, we expect to experience greater demand for certain of our products during the U.S. summer grilling season. In 2025, 2024 and 2023, U.S. retail channel net revenues during the second quarter were 5%,

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21% and 10% higher than the first quarter, respectively. In general, any historical effects of seasonality have been more pronounced within our U.S. retail channel, with revenue contribution from this channel generally tending to be greater in the second and third quarters of the year, driven by increased levels of grilling activity, higher levels of purchasing by customers ahead of holidays, the impact of customer shelf reset activity and the timing of product restocking by our retail customers. In an environment of heightened uncertainty from potential recessionary and inflationary pressures, prolonged weakness in the plant-based meat category, competition and other factors impacting our business, we are unable to assess the ultimate impact on the demand for our products as a result of seasonality.

Corporate Responsibility

As a disruptive leader in the food industry, we have established ourselves as a leading producer of plant-based meat products that we believe deliver a reduced environmental footprint and mitigate the social and welfare issues associated with the conventional production and consumption of animal protein. In order to continue that work and position us as a leader in the integration of environmental and social change, we have committed to developing a comprehensive corporate responsibility program.

As part of the development of our corporate responsibility program, in 2024 we conducted an ESG materiality analysis to determine which ESG issues are relevant to our business, our stakeholders and society. Through this exercise, we engaged with key internal and external stakeholders by consolidating consumer and customer feedback, expectations from our investors, and insights from executive interviews to build consensus on the most critical ESG issues facing our business. The term “materiality analysis” is common in the discussion of such assessments; however, our ESG materiality analysis was informed by definitions of materiality that differ from, and are in general more expansive than, the definition under the securities laws of the United States, and was not designed to identify “material” issues for the purposes of financial reporting. Our discussion of the ESG materiality analysis or other ESG matters herein or elsewhere (including, without limitation, identification of climate-related risks) may include information that is not necessarily “material” for SEC reporting purposes, and is informed by various ESG standards and frameworks (including standards for the measurement of underlying data), and the interests of various stakeholders. Much of this information is subject to assumptions, estimates or third party information that is still evolving and subject to change. For example, our disclosures based on any standards may change due to revisions in framework requirements, availability of information, changes in our business or applicable government policies, or other factors, some of which may be beyond our control.

Our ESG materiality analysis identified Beyond Meat’s top three priority ESG topics as:

•climate change management;

•consumer education and safety; and

•health and nutrition.

Human Capital Resources

•Employees

As of December 31, 2025, we had 589 full-time employees and 50 contract workers. None of our employees are represented by a labor union. We have never experienced a labor-related work stoppage. Our operations in the Netherlands are subject to the Netherlands Works Council Act and we must seek the advice of the Netherlands Works Council prior to implementing a variety of decisions.

•Inclusion and Belonging

We believe our workforce should reflect the customers and communities we serve. At Beyond Meat, we aspire to create an equitable and inclusive work environment by celebrating the merit born from unique backgrounds, life experiences, cultural heritage, and variety of thoughts. For example, throughout the year we recognize and celebrate the different backgrounds of our employees. Through these events we aim to promote

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greater understanding of different perspectives and to help support the cultivation of an inclusive culture and the formation of collaborative teams.

•Mission, Culture and Engagement

Everything we do is powered by our mission and core values and our corporate culture reflects that. As a result, we enjoy a highly motivated and skilled workforce committed to our mission and our company. We believe we have a unique culture which promotes employee engagement. Our employees are driven by our mission which promotes collaboration and innovation. We promote employee engagement by organizing various employee activities that are aligned with our mission, including our weekly “Coffee Talk,” a forum for employee engagement with leadership.

Trademarks and Other Intellectual Property

We own domestic and international trademarks and other proprietary rights that are important to our business. Depending upon the jurisdiction, trademarks are valid as long as they are used in the regular course of trade and/or their registrations are properly maintained. Our trademarks are valuable assets that reinforce the distinctiveness of our brand to our consumers. We have applied for or have trademark registrations internationally as well. We believe the protection of our trademarks, copyrights, patents, domain names, trade dress and trade secrets are important to our success.

We aggressively protect our intellectual property rights by relying on trademark, copyright, patent, trade dress and trade secret laws and through the domain name dispute resolution system. We maintain registered domain websites at www.beyondmeat.com and www.beyondtestkitchen.com, as well as foreign domains in certain countries.

We believe our intellectual property has substantial value and has contributed significantly to our business. As of December 31, 2025, we had four issued patents in the United States, thirteen issued patents outside the United States (U.K., Canada, China, Chile, Israel (two), Brazil, Japan, Australia (two), Mexico, South Korea and Hong Kong), one pending patent application in the United States and three pending international patent applications.

We consider the specifics of our marketing, promotions and products as a trade secret, and information we wish to keep confidential. In addition, we consider proprietary information related to formulas, processes, know-how and methods used in our production and manufacturing as trade secrets, and information we wish to keep confidential. We have taken reasonable measures to keep the above-mentioned items, as well as our business and marketing plans, customer lists and contracts reasonably protected, and they are accordingly not readily ascertainable by the public.

Segment Information

We have one operating segment and one reportable segment, in the plant-based meat industry, offering a portfolio of revolutionary plant-based meat. Our chief operating decision maker (“CODM”), who is our Chief Executive Officer and President, reviews operating results to make decisions about allocating resources and assessing performance for the entire company. We derive revenue primarily in North America and Europe and manage the business activities on a consolidated basis. Our CODM allocates resources and assesses performance on a consolidated basis. See Note 16, Segment Information, to the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this report.

Government Regulation

Along with our co-manufacturers, brokers, distributors and suppliers, we are subject to extensive laws and regulations in the United States by federal, state and local government authorities and in Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom, China and other jurisdictions by foreign authorities. In the United States, the primary federal agencies governing the manufacture, distribution, labeling and advertising of our products are the FDA and the FTC, and foreign regulatory authorities include Health Canada or the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (“CFIA”) and the authorities of the EU or the EU member states. Under various federal

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statutes and implementing regulations and foreign requirements, these agencies, among other things, prescribe the requirements and establish the standards for quality and safety and regulate our product composition, ingredients, manufacturing, labeling and other marketing and advertising to consumers. Among other things, the facilities in which our products and ingredients are manufactured must register with the FDA and any other relevant authorities based on location, comply with current good manufacturing practices, or cGMPs, and comply with a range of food safety requirements established by and implemented under the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011 and applicable foreign food safety and manufacturing requirements. Federal, state, and foreign regulators have the authority to inspect our facilities to evaluate compliance with applicable requirements. Federal, state, and foreign regulatory authorities also require that certain nutrition and product information appear on our product labels and, more generally, that our labels and labeling be truthful and non-misleading and that our marketing and advertising be truthful, non-misleading and not deceptive to consumers. We are also restricted from making certain types of claims about our products, including for example, in the United States, nutrient content claims, health claims, and claims regarding the effects of our products on any structure or function of the body, whether express or implied, unless we satisfy certain regulatory requirements.

In addition, the United States Congress recently considered (but did not pass) federal legislation, called the Real MEAT Act, that could require changes to our product labeling and marketing, including identifying products as “imitation” meat products. Additionally, regulators have expressed concerns about “highly processed” or “ultra-processed” foods and the “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) process for getting food ingredients to the market. The FDA has indicated that it plans to propose reforms to the GRAS process for food ingredients and multiple GRAS reform proposals have been introduced in Congress. If finalized, these reforms could change the process for assessing the GRAS status of ingredients Beyond Meat uses in its products. The administration also released the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans in January 2026, which urge the consumption of whole foods and the avoidance of highly processed foods.

In addition to federal regulatory requirements in the United States, certain states impose their own manufacturing and labeling requirements. For example, every state in which our products are manufactured requires facility registration with the relevant state food safety agency, and those facilities are subject to state inspection as well as federal inspection. Further, states can impose state-specific labeling requirements. For example, in 2018, the state of Missouri passed a law that prohibits any person engaged in advertising, offering for sale, or sale of food products from misrepresenting products as meat that are not derived from harvested production livestock or poultry. The state of Missouri Department of Agriculture has clarified its interpretation that products which include prominent disclosure that the product is “made from plants,” or comparable disclosure such as through the use of the phrase “plant-based,” are not misrepresented under Missouri law. Additional states, including Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming, have subsequently passed similar laws (certain of which are currently subject to legal challenge in state and federal courts, including the Texas law which was found to be unconstitutional by a federal district court), and legislation that would impose specific requirements on the naming of plant-based meat products is currently pending in a number of other states, including Nebraska, Oregon, South Carolina and Virginia. We believe that our products are manufactured and labeled in material compliance with existing state requirements, including the 2018 Missouri law and similarly drafted laws, and pay close attention to any developments at the state or federal level that could apply to our products and our labeling claims.

Several states have enacted laws in recent years that would prohibit the use of certain food ingredients or require notices or warnings on food labels about the presence of certain ingredients. For example, West Virginia enacted legislation in 2025 to ban seven color additives and two other ingredients, but that law was challenged and the court has granted a preliminary injunction staying the law pending the outcome of the legal challenge. Texas also enacted legislation in 2025 to require warnings for products containing any of approximately 44 ingredients enumerated in the law. The Texas law has also been challenged and a court has granted a preliminary injunction staying the law pending the outcome of the legal challenge.

We are also subject to the laws of Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Israel, South Africa, China, the European Union (and individual member countries) and the United Kingdom, among others, and requirements specific to

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those jurisdictions could impose additional manufacturing or labeling requirements or restrictions. For example, in Europe, the Agriculture Committee of the European Parliament proposed in May 2019 to reserve the use of “meat” and meat-related terms and names for products that are manufactured from the edible parts of animals. In October 2020, the European Parliament rejected the adoption of this provision. In the absence of European Union legislation, EU member states remain free to establish national restrictions on meat-related names. In June 2020, France adopted a law prohibiting names to indicate foodstuffs of animal origin to describe, market or promote foodstuffs containing vegetable proteins. In October 2021, France published a draft implementing decree (the “Contested Decree”), to define, for example, the sanctions in case of non-compliance with the new law. The Contested Decree was published on June 29, 2022, and entered into force on October 1, 2022. On July 27, 2022, at the request of a trade association, the French High Administrative Court partially suspended the execution of the Contested Decree. On July 12, 2023, the French High Administrative Court issued an intermediate judgment in the proceedings against the French meaty names ban. The Court held that there were a number of difficulties interpreting EU law which would be decisive for the resolution of the case. For that reason, the French High Administrative Court referred the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”), which is the highest court in the EU and can issue a legally binding interpretation of EU law valid in all 27 EU member states, including France. The French High Administrative Court is bound to follow judgments of the CJEU. Meanwhile, on August 23, 2024, France published a proposal for a new decree replacing the Contested Decree (the “New Decree”) which essentially maintained the prohibition on meaty names for products containing a certain percentage of plant-based proteins. The New Decree was adopted on February 26, 2024 and subsequently suspended on April 10, 2024 by the French High Administrative Court. On March 1, 2024, the CJEU requested the French High Administrative Court to provide its view on the impact of the adoption of the New Decree on the litigation against the Contested Decree, and whether it should be declared moot or it should be allowed to proceed. On March 14, 2024, the French High Administrative Court responded to the CJEU's request for information asking the latter to rule in the proceedings. On April 15, 2024, the CJEU decided that the litigation against the Contested Decree would proceed, and that an oral hearing was not necessary. On October 4, 2024, the CJEU ruled that the Contested Decree’s ban on meat names for plant-based foods was unlawful under EU law, setting a precedent on the extent to which EU member states may regulate the naming of plant-based foods at the national level in the absence of harmonization at the EU level. Following the CJEU’s judgment, the case was referred back to the French High Administrative Court, which, on January 28, 2025, annulled the Contested Decree and the New Decree.

In October 2021, the Turkish authorities challenged the use of the Caped Longhorn superhero logo, as well as the name “Beyond Meat,” alleging that the consumer is misled as to the characteristics of our products. The local distributor has made a submission that this is an unlawful restriction under the EU-Turkey Free Trade Agreement. In December 2021, the Turkish authorities rejected this submission, and held that references to “plant-based” in combination with “meat” would mislead the consumer.

In December 2023, Italy adopted a law prohibiting names to indicate foodstuffs of animal origin to describe, market or promote foodstuffs containing vegetable proteins (“Italian Law”). The Italian Law requires the Ministry of Agriculture to adopt a decree with the names that may not be used to describe plant-based products by February 16, 2024. However, on January 29, 2024, the European Commission issued a formal letter informing the Italian government that the Italian Law was adopted in violation of EU law, and is thus not applicable or enforceable. On February 28, 2024, the Italian Minister for Agriculture confirmed that the adoption of an implementing decree is currently suspended. We are not aware of any steps taken by the Italian government to adopt the implementing decree, nor have the authorities attempted to enforce the Italian Law. The judgment of the CJEU concerning the French ban will likely affect the approach taken by Italy in the future.

Also in December 2023, Poland published a draft decree banning the use of meaty names to designate plant-based products. We are not aware of any additional developments in the legislative process. In June 2024, a Polish association of breeders requested that the Ministry of Agriculture advance the decree and regulate the use of meaty names. The judgment of the CJEU concerning the French ban will likely affect the approach taken by Poland in the future.

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EU member states may reflect on the CJEU judgment and take a position on whether to adopt national measures or rely on existing legislation. Such measures could affect our ability to use certain terms for our plant-based products in the future. Moreover, in light of the CJEU judgment, EU member state regulatory authorities may take action with respect to the use of the term “meat” or similar terms in advertising materials and other labeling (beyond the sales denomination), such that we are unable to use those terms with respect to our plant-based products, we could be subject to enforcement action or recall of our products marketed with these terms, we may be required to modify our marketing strategy, or required to identify our products as “imitation” in our product labels, and our business, prospects, results of operations or financial condition could be adversely affected.

For instance, the Belgian Inspectorate of the Ministry of Economy has taken the view that the Belgian Royal Decree of March 8, 1985 on the manufacture and trade of fresh minced meat restricts certain denominations to meat-based products. Belgian authorities have initiated proceedings against a retailer in Belgium selling Beyond Meat products, challenging the use of terms such as “gehakt” (“mince”) and “burger” for plant-based alternatives. In March 2025, the case was under review by the Belgian Food Safety Agency. To date, no further procedural steps or decisions have been communicated by the competent authorities. While we believe the Company has a defendable position, as the Royal Decree does not specifically reserve these terms for meat-based products, we are monitoring the situation closely to assess any potential impact on product labeling and marketing.

Moreover, the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority sent our European co-manufacturer, The New Plant, a warning letter indicating that the use of the term “gehakt” (“mince”) contravened the Dutch Commodities Act on Meat, Minced Meat and Meat Products. While we believe the Company has a defendable position, we have chosen to amend our labelling voluntarily going forward.

In July 2025, the European Commission published a Proposal for a Regulation to amend Annex VII of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, which governs the common organization of the markets in agricultural products. The Proposal aims to introduce a new Part Ia to Annex VII, titled “Meat and Meat Product Designations”, defining “meat” as the “edible parts of an animal” and restricting the use of “meat products” along with several related terms exclusively to products derived from meat of animal origin. Under the current draft, these restrictions would apply not only to the name of the product but also at “all stages of marketing”. While still in the early stages of the legislative process and subject to potential changes, the Proposal, if adopted, could impact on the Company’s ability to use certain words in connection with plant-based products across all EU member states.

In October 2025, the European Parliament adopted a more restrictive amendment under a separate, more advanced legislative proposal, expanding the scope of reserved “meaty” terms (including examples such as “burger” and “sausage”). Following the Parliament’s vote, the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Council of the European Union (the “Council”) entered informal trilogue negotiations to agree on a common text. Reportedly, during the last trilogue meeting held on March 5, 2026, the EU Institutions reached a provisional political agreement on a draft text that would reserve a list of approximately 31 terms, including “meat,” “chicken,” “steak,” and “bacon,” for products of animal origin. Conversely, certain terms such as “burger” and “sausage” may not be included among the reserved terms. On March 19, 2026, the Council published the text of the provisional agreement, which will require formal approval by the European Parliament and the Council before it can enter into force.

Developments have also occurred outside the EU. On May 2, 2025, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court upheld the appeal brought by the Federal Department of Home Affairs concerning the use of certain meaty names for plant-based alternatives. According to the publicly available outcome and core reasoning, the court ruled that the use of the term “chicken” (“poulet”) for a plant-based product that does not contain any meat is misleading and, therefore, prohibited under Swiss law. In doing so, the court seems to confirm the position of the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office, as previously outlined in Information Letter 2020/3.1, which also prohibited the use of certain animal species names for plant-based products.

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Further, South Africa recently adopted regulations relating to meat analogues, which also impose restrictions on the use of certain terms for plant-based products.

We are subject to labor and employment laws, laws governing advertising, privacy laws, anti-corruption laws, safety regulations and other laws, including consumer protection regulations that regulate retailers or govern the promotion and sale of merchandise. Our operations, and those of our co-manufacturers, distributors and suppliers, are subject to various laws and regulations relating to environmental protection and worker health and safety matters. We monitor changes in these laws and believe that we are in material compliance with applicable laws. These laws and regulations are constantly evolving, and it is challenging to predict accurately the effect they may have upon the capital expenditures, earnings and our competitive position in the future.

Corporate Information

Beyond Meat, Inc. was incorporated in Delaware on April 8, 2011 originally under the name “J Green Natural Foods Co.” On October 5, 2011, we changed our corporate name to “Savage River, Inc.,” with “Beyond Meat” being our “doing business as” name. On September 7, 2018, we changed our corporate name to “Beyond Meat, Inc.”

Our common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “BYND.”

Our Website and Availability of SEC Reports and Other Information

We maintain a website at the following address: www.beyondmeat.com. The information on our website is not incorporated by reference in this report or in any other report or document we file with the SEC, and any references to our website are intended to be inactive textual references only.

We make available on or through our website certain reports and amendments to those reports we file with or furnish to the SEC pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). These include our annual reports on Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and our current reports on Form 8-K. We make this information available on our website free of charge as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file the information with, or furnish it to, the SEC. The SEC also maintains a website that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. The address of the website is http://www.sec.gov.

Investors and others should note that Beyond Meat routinely announces material information to investors and the marketplace using SEC filings, press releases, public conference calls, webcasts and the Beyond Meat Investor Relations website. We also intend to use certain social media channels as a means of disclosing information about us and our products to consumers, our customers, investors and the public (e.g., @BeyondMeat on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, LinkedIn and Reddit). The information posted on social media channels is not incorporated by reference in this report or in any other report or document we file with the SEC. While not all of the information that the Company posts to the Beyond Meat Investor Relations website or to social media accounts is of a material nature, some information could be deemed to be material. Accordingly, the Company encourages investors, the media, and others interested in Beyond Meat to review the information that it shares at the “Investors” link located at the bottom of our webpage at https://investors.beyondmeat.com/investor-relations and to sign up for and regularly follow our social media accounts. Users may automatically receive email alerts and other information about the Company when enrolling an email address by visiting "Request Email Alerts" in the "Investors" section of Beyond Meat’s website at www.investors.beyondmeat.com/investor-relations.