Do you think they are still doing a good job?
I do. I think they changed the story. I think they've taken something that was a threat to them and portrayed it in a way that's negative. And I think people believed it, so I think it was effective. Yes.
I'm in the UK, where the McPlant Burger with the Beyond Patty has been available at McDonald's for a few years. How was it discontinued in America?
Ugh. [Pauses.]
Without commenting specifically on McDonald's – which I really don't want to do – think about the structure of the United States. near you [Michigan]You have South Carolina and Tennessee as the automotive industry, right? Those three states, plus a few more, can be really powerful in Washington, DC.
Now imagine a lobby that exists in almost every state. Ag industry lobby, right? Animal Protein Lobby. He has such a hold on Washington. So we're going to create a different environment here in the United States in terms of the ability to communicate directly with the consumer. In general, we fare better with consumers in Europe than in the United States.
Talking about Washington, RFK Jr. is Trump's candidate Secretary of Health and Human ServicesHe is very much against processed foods. How does Beyond fit into the Make America Healthy Again agenda?
Honestly, it should be at the forefront, and something really excites me about some of the perspectives I'm hearing.
First of all, you know nova systemIt so happened that plant-based meat was included in the category of processed foods. It's not happening from the Sermon on the Mount or anything, it's just a group of people putting together a characterization. And we are not in that party. We don't want to stay there. We are a food that goes through many stages to reach an outcome, but it is a better process than what people are experiencing when consuming factory-farmed meat.
If you look at the benefits to the human body and the environment, it's a strong win. I believe we can bring that distinction to this administration.
The second piece is something that Kennedy had at the beginning of his career, the concept of restoring nature. Our ability to enable the regeneration of a significant part of the global landscape is unmatched. One statistic you should pay attention to is that 93 percent less land is used in the manufacturing of our products compared to animal proteins. You can use that land, so you're not only removing methane, but you can also use the remaining land to reforest and remove carbon from the atmosphere.
Have you contacted RFK Jr.?
Not yet, but I hope so.