Tyson exits ‘Beyond Meat’ investment

Tyson Foods executives say the company hasn’t abandoned the “alternative protein” field but wants to pursue that course in a “meaningful way.”

Tyson, parent of Tyson Mexican Original of Portland, recently shed its significant investment in a company called Beyond Meat after being one of the company’s early investors.

Chief executive Noel White said this week the company plans to enter the “alternative protein” space on its own, in a “meaningful way,” rather than just invest in an existing company. 

Speaking at a conference in New York, White said, “Rather than competing directly with somebody that we have an investment in, we decided that we would exit the investment and move into that category utilizing all the resources that we have available to them to us.”

White said, “From an insight standpoint, innovation standpoint, R&D, manufacturing, distribution, sales, we plan to take full advantage of all the resources at our disposal and move into the category in a meaningful way.”

Meanwhile, Tyson has decided to partner with Walmart and J.B. Hunt to set up a logistics-focused program in Arkansas with an outfit called Plug and Play.

Plug and Play works with corporations to invest and advise startup technology companies.

“This new relationship with Plug and Play will leverage our regional strength in supply chain and logistics,” Nelson Peacock of the Northwest Arkansas Council said in a press release. “This program will shine a greater spotlight on all of the great things happening in Northwest Arkansas.”

Plug and Play’s focus will be on supply chain optimization, last-mile delivery, warehouse automation, sensor technologies, predictive analytics and machine learning.