From a Beyond Meats perspective, the most likely merger or acquisition strategy that would be employed would not necessarily be from Beyond Meats - but more likely a corporate takeover. I would expect a traditional meat provider looking to either enter the market or to consolidate some of the market would perform a horizontal merger with Beyond for their plant-based technologies and proprietary methods. One may also see a competitor like Kellogg, who has other complementary products such as condiments and other barbecue accoutrements (e.g., hamburger buns) in their portfolio already take them on to bolster their alternative meat offerings like their Incogneato and be able to market them to different consumers but also to be able to adopt some of their more efficient production technologies and gain market power in the alternative market. Looking back at VRIO analysis, we know the most important, and costly, aspect of the substitute market is in the technologies. From a market standpoint, there will most likely be three arenas to take part in - traditional, alternative, and cellular-grown; this would help grow the acquiring company in the second aspect.
An analysis of Beyond Meat for Spring 2022 at the University of Memphis