Facebook/Beyond Meat

Beyond Meat dropped as much as 6% in pre-market trading after new competitor Tyson Foods continued its push into the alternative meat market.

Noel White, the CEO of Tyson Foods, told investors on Thursday the company is willing to boost its marketing spending in order to compete.

Tyson announced its push into the alternative meat market in early June.

Beyond Meat has seen a meteoric rise in its stock price since its public market debut in May as the demand for its products has spiked.

Watch Beyond Meat trade live.

Shares of Beyond Meat fell as much as 6% in early trading on Friday after Tyson Foods CEO Noel White told investors the company was willing to increase its marketing spending to push into the alternative meat market.

The comments were part of Tyson Foods' investor day on Thursday, where White discussed his firm's outlook.

"The company will spend more in 2019 than in 2018, which has had a positive impact," he said. "We intend to fully compete in the alternative protein space and if we need to up our spend again, we will."

In early June, Tyson Foods released plant-based nuggets, its first alternative-meat product. In a statement at the time of the release, White said alternative protein could become a billion-dollar business for Tyson. The firm's stock is up as much as 47% this year.

Beyond Meat is expected to release a new ground beef product in grocery stores on June 24.

The company's stock has risen as much as 700% from its IPO price in May.

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