EL SEGUNDO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Beyond Meat® announces today its partnership with Sysco, the nation’s largest food distributor. The Beyond Meat® Beyond Burger is the latest addition to Sysco’s Cutting Edge Solutions (CES) program. The Beyond Burger is the first plant-based burger that looks, cooks and satisfies so much like traditional beef, it’s sold in the meat section at grocery stores. The exclusive deal between Sysco and Beyond Meat will open distribution of the ground-breaking Beyond Burger to thousands of burger joints, restaurant chains, hospitality properties, healthcare centers and educational facilities nationwide.

“ Similar to how we’ve partnered with conventional grocery stores to bring The Beyond Burger to the meat aisle where everyday consumers shop for protein, we are thrilled to be a part of Sysco’s Cutting Edge Solutions program to bring The Beyond Burger to menus alongside beef at thousands of mainstream restaurants nationwide” said Ethan Brown, CEO of Beyond Meat.

The partnership with Sysco represents a wider cultural shift that is currently happening in the US food ecosystem. According to a recent NPD Study, 70% of meat eaters are substituting a non-meat protein in a meal at least once a week and 22% say they are doing it more often than a year ago. While taste remains a key factor in food purchases, health benefits are one of the top reasons consumers choose plant-based protein.

“ Cutting Edge Solutions is Sysco’s unique product innovation platform designed to give our customers differentiated products and solutions to meet the challenges of the competitive foodservice industry,” said Brian Todd, Senior Vice President of Merchandising, Sysco. “ Each year, we evaluate emerging food trends to hand-select our CES featured productions. Our exclusive distribution of the innovative Beyond Burger helps our customers appeal to a growing group of consumers seeking better-for-you products.”

Currently sold at grocery stores nationwide, The Beyond Burger will expand its potential reach to tens of thousands of restaurant and food service establishments through its exclusive distribution with Sysco, enabling millions more people to experience the sizzling Future of Protein®.

The Beyond Burger launched in May 2016 to sell out demand. Answering consumer’s growing health and environmental concerns, the break-through Beyond Burger looks, cooks and satisfies like a traditional hamburger, but with all the upsides of plant-based protein, including being naturally cholesterol free. Boasting 20g of protein, the Beyond Burger contains no GMOs, soy or gluten.

About Beyond Meat

Based in Los Angeles, California, Beyond Meat is a privately held company with a mission of building meat directly from plants. Investors include Bill Gates, Twitter co-founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams, Kleiner Perkins, former McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson, Honest Tea founder Seth Goldman, Humane Society of the United States, and Tyson Foods. To stay up to date on the latest, visit www.BeyondMeat.com and follow @BeyondMeat, #BeyondBurger and #FutureOfProtein on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

About Sysco

Sysco is the global leader in selling, marketing and distributing food products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, lodging establishments and other customers who prepare meals away from home. Its family of products also includes equipment and supplies for the foodservice and hospitality industries. With over 65,000 associates, the company operates approximately 300 distribution facilities worldwide and serves more than 500,000 customer locations. For fiscal 2017 that ended July 1, 2017, the company generated sales of more than $55 billion.

For more information, visit www.sysco.com or connect with Sysco on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SyscoCorporation or Twitter at https://twitter.com/Sysco. For important news and information regarding Sysco, visit the Investor Relations section of the company's Internet home page at www.investors.sysco.com, which Sysco plans to use as a primary channel for publishing key information to its investors, some of which may contain material and previously non-public information. Investors should also follow us at www.twitter.com/SyscoStock and download the Sysco IR App, available on the iTunes App Store and the Google Play Market. In addition, investors should continue to review our news releases and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It is possible that the information we disclose through any of these channels of distribution could be deemed to be material information.