Beyond Meat Faces Massive Revenue Loss Amid Inflation and Decreased Demand Still, CEO and founder Ethan Brown voiced optimism about the future in an earnings call on Thursday.

Beyond Meat, a plant-based meat company, reported disappointing Q4 2022 results on Thursday.

Net revenues were $79.9 million as compared to $100.7 million last year, marking a 20.6% decrease year-over-year. Gross profit was at a loss of $2.9 million as compared to $14.2 million a year ago.

The company pointed to inflation, decreased demand, and increased competition as to why Beyond Meat had an especially challenging year. During an earnings call on Thursday, CEO and founder Ethan Brown said that during times of acute inflation, he could find it "reasonable" that consumers would shy away from a meat alternative that is twice the price of the real thing and that reducing the cost "would spur increased consumption."

The increase in cost per pound of Beyond Meat was primarily driven by higher inventory reserves, materials, and logistics, the company stated in its earnings report.

Despite the disappointing results, Brown voiced optimism and purpose moving forward, highlighting that the company will continue to face the major obstacles in the plant-based meat industry: taste and understanding health benefits.

Related: Beyond Meat's CEO Says It's 75% of the Way Towards Matching Animal Meat

"We're going to keep driving new products out in the market that taste better every year," Brown said. "We're issuing one of our core platforms this year, we'll have a product improvement."

Brown also mentioned that communicating health benefits will be a major driver in consumption. "We have data on our side," he said. "We're developing more data. You'll see us get much more targeted around health in our discussions with the consumer."

As of Friday morning, Beyond Meat stock was down about 57% as compared to last year, and down 68% over five years.

Related: Bill Gates Says Refusing to Eat Meat Will Not Really Affect the Climate Crisis