Starbucks adds Beyond Meat to its menu across 1,400 Canadian stores – Yahoo Finance

A long-awaited food marriage becomes official.

Starbucks (SBUX) has jumped on the plant-based food craze, adding Beyond Meat (BYND) to its breakfast menu in Canada.

Beginning March 3, Starbucks more than 1,400 Canadian stores will feature the Beyond Meat, Cheddar and Egg Sandwich on its core menu offering.

We're thrilled that Starbucks is introducing the Beyond Meat breakfast sandwich as a core menu item at all stores across Canada. The Beyond Breakfast Sausagepatty is made using simpleplant-based ingredients without GMOs. We believe the offering delivers onour promise of enabling consumers to Eat What You Lovewhile also enjoying thenutritionaland environmental benefits of plant-basedprotein. We greatly appreciate Starbucks' collaboration and shared vision around the launch, Beyond Meat founder and CEO Ethan Brown told Yahoo Finance.

Earlier this month, Starbucks COO Rosalind (Roz) Brewer said the company would introduce a plant-based patty in both the U.S. and Canada this year. Promise delivered.

Beyond Meat, Cheddar and Egg Sandwich will be available at Starbucks Canada stores on March 3. [Credit: Beyond Meat]

The coffee giant said its customers had asked for more alternative milks and plant-based options.

The combination of those pairings is significant for us in terms of how we think about what the customer is asking for us to develop, Brewer said on the fiscal first-quarter earnings call.

The move may also be part of Starbucks broader ambition to mitigate climate change. In a January letter, CEO Kevin Johnson outlined a number of action steps to be more sustainable, including expanding plant-based menu options and migrating toward a more environmentally friendly menu.

As for Beyond Meat, its yet another major fast food win in a series of high-profile deals to kick off 2020.

In January, Yum! Brands expanded a test of Beyond Meats plant-based fried chicken at KFC to Charlotte, North Carolina, Nashville, Tennessee and Kentucky. About 66 KFC restaurants now have the product. Dennys also said last month it will roll out Beyond Meats products to 1,700 restaurants.

Not only do key deals such as this bring in money for Beyond Meat, but it sends a signal to the investors it could easily handle larger distribution deals from a production standpoint. And that could mean some surprisingly strong profits later this year and into 2021.

The only question for Beyond Meat: How does the launch of a very similar product at Starbucks impact the companys relationship with Dunkin Brands. Maybe it doesnt, but its worth watching moving forward given the importance of the relationship to both parties.

Keep in mind it was Dunkin that stepped up to the plate first last year and inked a deal for a Beyond Meat breakfast sandwich (its now served nationwide). Beyond Meat worked closely with Dunkin to specially formulate the plant-based sausage patty to make it taste similar to Dunkins peppery meat offering. In the process, Dunkin CEO Dave Hoffmann and Beyond Meats Brown have become quite tight.

As they would say on Twitter, #FastFoodDrama. Its tough sometimes being so popular.

Julia La Roche is a Correspondent at Yahoo Finance. Follow her onTwitter. Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and co-anchor ofThe First Tradeat Yahoo Finance.Follow Sozzi on Twitter@BrianSozziand onLinkedIn.

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Starbucks adds Beyond Meat to its menu across 1,400 Canadian stores - Yahoo Finance