Beyond Meat Files for 100 Trademarks for Vegan Milk, Bacon, Eggs, and Seafood

Vegan model Past Meat is exploring options to all kinds of animal merchandise and has filed 108 logos with america Patent and Trademark Workplace (USPTO). Whereas some phrases are acquainted and anticipated, others are for potential merchandise that Past Meat has not mentioned publicly, together with Past Crab, Past Shrimp, and Past Tuna within the plant-based seafood area; basic phrases similar to Past Brunch, Past Bowls, and Past Deli; and new classes similar to Past Eggs and Past Jerky.

This week, the corporate filed for its newest set of logos across the time period “Past Milk,” with one submitting associated to the emblem, one other to cowl plant-based milks, and a 3rd that focuses on its use as a base for making milk shakes, and as a part of espresso or tea drinks. The corporate additionally beforehand filed to trademark Past Cheese, however the USPTO rejected its utility as a British firm (Past Cheese, Ltd) at present holds that trademark. In January, Past Meat filed a petition to cancel the British firm’s trademark.

Final October, the corporate additionally filed purposes to trademark Past Bacon, which is likely one of the “holy grail” vegan meat improvements in line with Past Meat CEO Ethan Brown. “The true check for us is to make every of our platforms—beef, pork, and poultry—indistinguishable from animal protein,” Brown told The Wall Avenue Journal this summer season. “How do you make a uncooked hen breast with the translucent pores and skin, the colour transition that happens? Steak, given its distribution of fats and protein, and, after all, bacon? These three issues are the holy grail.”

Nearly all of Past Meat’s logos are filed as “intent to make use of,” that means the corporate goals to safe the trademark with the intent to make use of it sooner or later. VegNews has reached out to Past Meat to inquire extra about its trademark purposes.

Vegan hen, pepperoni, and past

Past Meat at present holds a number of registered trademarks, together with Past Burger, Past Beef, Past Sausage, Past Rooster, a extra particular Past Fried Rooster, and extra. The model has already commercialized merchandise utilizing these logos—most notably within the plant-based beef area—and is now transferring on to new classes.

Whereas Past Meat’s trademark for Past Rooster has been registered since 2014, the model solely just lately made large strikes within the vegan hen area. Past Meat provided plant-based hen strips in 2012 however discontinued them and set off on a decade-long journey to create vegan hen that mimics the true factor. This summer season, Past Meat launched Beyond Chicken Tenders at 400 eating places throughout america. These breaded tenders are made out of a mixture of faba beans and pea protein and had been developed for use in a wide range of dishes, from sandwiches to pastas to appetizers, as a one-for-one substitute to animal-derived hen.

Past Meat can be working straight with established fast-food chains to develop bespoke plant-based meat options. Along with working with KFC in 2019 on a wildly profitable check launch of Past Fried Rooster at choose places, this yr, Past Meat teamed with Panda Express to create a vegan model of its fashionable orange hen. In late July, Panda Categorical examined the creation, dubbed Past The Unique Orange Rooster (BTOOC), at a handful of places within the New York Metropolis and Los Angeles areas. On the primary day of launch, Panda Express offered 1,300 kilos of BTOOC and fully offered out of the vegan orange hen at its Southern California places.

Equally, Past Meat labored with Pizza Hut on a soy-free vegan pepperoni that crisps in the identical manner as its pork-based counterpart however with none animal merchandise. The brand new Beyond Pepperoni (a time period the corporate filed to trademark final yr) is made out of a mix of rice and peas and is now out there at 70 Pizza Hut places in 5 cities for a restricted time.

Taking animals out of the meals system

Inspecting Past Meat’s trademark purposes exhibits that the corporate is seeking to disrupt the worldwide meals system in an enormous manner and from many angles, all with the mission to switch animals with crops as a meals know-how. Past Meat’s largest competitor, Inconceivable Meals, has comparable aspirations and with a concrete timeline. Inconceivable Meals CEO Pat Brown (no relation) is seeking to create viable plant-based options to all animal merchandise by 2035.

To that finish, Inconceivable Meals can be growing merchandise past the Inconceivable Burger, its flagship beef various. This month, the corporate expanded the Impossible Sausage to 13,000 retailers after launching the plant-based pork various with foodservice companions similar to Starbucks, Burger King, and Jamba. Final yr, Inconceivable Meals additionally confirmed a prototype of its personal plant-based milk various, the yet-to-be-named “Impossible Milk”, which is being developed to imitate dairy milk by way of texture, style, and performance. Within the hen class, Inconceivable Meals unveiled its Inconceivable Rooster Nuggets on the DOT Meals commerce present in July. The corporate goals to debut its vegan hen nuggets by the foodservice sector, doubtlessly on faculty lunch menus, previous to launching Inconceivable Rooster Nuggets in retail.