Beyond Meat's Founder and CEO Ethan Brown on building Beyond and a plant-based future

Ethan Brown is the President and CEO at Beyond Meat, a company that champions plant-based alternatives that look and taste just like real meat. Their movement stems from the idea of how a plant-based lifestyle can have positive changes to our health and the ecosystem. Before founding Beyond Meat, Ethan was an energy analyst for the National Governor’s Center for Best Practices focused on clean energy.

Ethan joins me today to discuss the beginnings of Beyond Meat and their plans for the future. He describes how a plant-based lifestyle can have positive effects on major world issues, including climate change. He explains how they create meat, what it’s made of, and its health benefits. He discusses why a competitive market would make for a great plant-based industry. Ethan also shares how they plan on becoming just as mainstream as McDonald’s or KFC.

"Simply switching from an animal-based protein to a plant-based protein, you can contribute to all four major issues: human health, climate, natural resources, and animal welfare." - Ethan Brown

This week on CTRL-ALT-Meat:

• The beginnings of Beyond Meat and what inspired Ethan to start the company
• How switching to a plant-based diet can help with various global problems
• The methods involved in creating Beyond Meat’s plant-based products
• How history has been biased towards animal protein for centuries
• Why having a competitive market makes the industry better
• Ethan's stance on GMO fruits and vegetables
• What Beyond Meat needs to do to go fully mainstream
• Moving to the quick-serve restaurant space and why it's critical for public acceptance
• The biggest challenges Ethan believes the company will face in the near future

Resources Mentioned:

• Jeff Manning

Connect with Ethan Brown:

• Beyond Meat
• Ethan Brown on LinkedIn

Resetting the Food System for a Better Tomorrow

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