Beyond Meat’s first attempt at its signature product, a plant-based burger, while hailed as innovative and groundbreaking, had a big problem: it just didn’t taste very good.

Perhaps folks along the coasts would be willing to sacrifice some flavor for a vegan option, but founder and CEO Ethan Brown knew that to win over mainstream American consumers, Beyond Meat, which makes a variety of plant-based meat products, had to nail the taste, texture and experience of eating beef. The company has since made s