Not way back, plant-based meat appeared poised to take over the world’s dinner plates. Fuelled by considerations about animal welfare, the setting and well being, funding poured into the choice protein sector. The frenzy for fake burgers and sausages hit a peak with Past Meat’s US preliminary public providing in 2019.

The shares, priced at $25, surged virtually 10-fold inside two months of buying and selling to provide the corporate a market worth of near $14bn.

The inventory has crashed 94 per cent since then. Past Meat reported a first-quarter lack of $59mn this week on a 16 per cent drop in revenues to $92mn.

Why has faux meat misplaced its sizzle? The primary downside is that it has not received sufficient converts. Within the US, gross sales of plant-based meat substitutes have plateaued following a lift from pandemic stockpiling. Gross sales totalled $1.37bn final yr, in contrast with $1.38bn in 2021 and $1.4bn in 2020, in line with the Plant Primarily based Meals Affiliation. Value will increase helped flatter the numbers. Gross sales volumes declined 8 per cent yr on yr.

The second problem is that plant-based meat is costlier than the true factor. Omnivores have been buying and selling right down to cheaper cuts of animal meat. Vegetarians have been defaulting to less complicated plant proteins reminiscent of tofu or quinoa.

The third problem — highlighted by Lex amid preliminary market enthusiasm for Past Meat — is low obstacles to market entry. There are actually greater than 60 plant-based meat firms, every with greater than $500,000 in retail gross sales, in line with The Good Meals Institute.

{The catalogue} of issues places Past Meat in a good spot. Money and equivalents have shrunk for the eighth straight quarter to $258mn. Web debt stands at $1.1bn. The corporate plans to lift $200mn by way of a inventory sale. It introduced two rounds of job losses final yr.

Privately held rival Inconceivable Meals has reportedly been planning to chop jobs too, regardless of report gross sales in 2022. Brazilian meat large JBS has shut its US plant-based meals enterprise, Planterra Meals, simply two years after launching it.

In its heyday, Past Meat’s shares traded on as a lot as 122 occasions income. The valuation has fallen to simply two occasions. However that also seems costly in contrast with different meals producers reminiscent of Hormel and Conagra, each of that are worthwhile and boast rising gross sales.

The inventory now resembles the unappetising leftovers from a failed culinary experiment.