Beyond Meat, a US-based plant-based meat producer, has officially opened a co-manufacturing plant with Dutch meat company Zandbergen World’s Finest Meat in Zoeterwoude, the Netherlands.

The Zoeterwoude plant marks Beyond Meat’s first co-manufacturing capabilities in Europe. Owned and operated by Zandbergen will be producing the Beyond Burger and Beyond Sausage products and is intended to enable more efficient distribution of Beyond Meat’s products across the EMEA region.

Last year, Zandbergen began distributing Beyond Meat’s products throughout Europe across foodservice and retail channels, and in May 2019, the duo extended its partnership with the former agreeing to manufacture the US firm’s products at the new facility in Zoeterwoude, which has now opened.

Adriaan Figee – Chief Commercial Officer of Zandbergen World’s Finest Meat said: “As the demand for plant-based protein and particularly Beyond Meat products grows in Europe and the Middle East, the official opening of this co-manufacturing facility in Zoeterwoude, the Netherlands is timely.”

Beyond Meat said that production at the new co-manufacturing facility will also include the upcoming debut of new packaging for Beyond Burger and Beyond Sausage.

In a separate development, Beyond Meat acquired its first manufacturing facility in Europe, which is located in Enschede, the Netherlands. The facility will be the first outside of Missouri, US that will handle Beyond Meat’s approach to texturizing plant proteins, the first step in the company’s manufacturing process.

The new Beyond Meat facility in Enschede is anticipated to be operational by the end of this year, following which it will allow end-to-end manufacturing capabilities for the company in Europe.

Ethan Brown – Founder and CEO of Beyond Meat said: “This latest investment in production capacity reflects our continued commitment to serving global markets.

“Our new facility in Enschede will not only bring production closer to the consumer, representing an investment in the markets and communities we serve, but is expected to allow us to leverage local supply chains, improving our cost structure and sustainability of operations. We are excited to take this next step in bringing the nutritional and environmental benefits of our plant-based meats to the European consumer.”

  Adriaan Figee, Beyond Meat, Enschede, Ethan Brown, Netherlands, The Netherlands, Zandbergen World’s Finest Meat, Zoeterwoude