Beyond Meat (BYND) announced it has suspended its Chief Operating Officer Doug Ramsey following his arrest over the weekend for a fight in which he bit his opponent’s nose.
The incident in question occurred following a University of Arkansas football game. According to a Police report on the incident, while inside a parking garage, Ramsey “punched through the back windshield” of a vehicle in an apparent road rage incident, after the vehicle hit the front tire of his vehicle. The executive was charged with terroristic threatening and third-degree battery, according to court records.
Ramsey joined the company in December. In a statement Beyond Meat noted that Jonathan Nelson, senior vice president of manufacturing operations, will temporarily oversee operations activities on an interim basis.
The arrest is the latest bad news to hit the company, as it deals with a sinking price due to various operational headwinds. The company was forced to downgrade its full year guidance and cut its global workforce by 4% after its latest quarterly report found bigger than expected losses. The company had also missed revenue expectations, which the company attributed to foreign exchange headwinds, increased discounts, and liquidation channels.
At the time, CEO Ethan Brown said, “We recognize progress is taking longer than we expected.”
In addition the company has seen several promising opportunities to partner with established fast food chains fail to manifest. A partnership with McDonalds recently ended its trial period without the fast food giant showing any interest in continuing to sell its vegan burger. Other deals with KFC and Taco Bell have so far failed due to the companies being dissatisfied with samples, and a deal with Yum brands to produce a vegan pepperoni has stalled due to a failure to produce a working sample.
On a recent earnings call, the leadership team noted that the company continues to be afflicted by near term uncertainty over macroeconomic issues, including inflation, rising interest rates, and persistent supply chain disruptions.
The leadership also noted that as the economy turns down the company is seeing a trend of shoppers trading down to less expensive real meat, further slowing the company’s recovery.
Analysts note that until the company finds a better way to contain operating expenses, the company’s profits will remain volatile.
Jennifer Bartashus, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst said, “The pursuit of growth opportunities such as jerky is creating operational inefficiencies and higher costs, burning through cash.” She added, “elevated supply-chain costs and production challenges may weigh on margins.”
