Last updated on October 25th, 2019 at 04:05 pm
Before the Butcher‘s Uncut plant-based burger and sausage products are now available in 192 Ralphs Grocery stores in Southern California, marking the entry of the Uncut brand in retail grab-and-go cases. More than 50 additional stores will carry the line by Nov. 1, including Whole Foods Market in Long Beach, 10 Central Market locations in Texas and 40 Lucky’s Markets in 10 states from Colorado to Florida.
All locations in the initial 250-plus store rollout will carry the full collection of Uncut packaged products, including the Uncut Burger, Uncut Savory Chicken Burger, Uncut Roasted Turkey Burger and Uncut Breakfast Sausage Patty. The lineup offers more variety than any other plant-based burger brand, providing multiple options for consumers trying to reduce their meat intake without giving up their burger habit.
Some stores also will be offering prepared foods made with Uncut products, such as a meatless chicken salad. California-based Bristol Farms was the first to incorporate the brand into its chef-made fare when its Yorba Linda store introduced Uncut-based items such as no-meat taco mix, vegetarian meat loaf, vegetarian stuffed cabbage and chorizo-stuffed potatoes in its butcher case earlier this year.
Uncut distribution is expected to reach more than 1,500 stores across the country by Jan. 1, reflecting demand for plant-based products that replicatethe look, cook and taste of meat without the negative effects on health, animal welfare and climate change.
The Good Food Institute recently reported that sales of plant-based meat grew 37 percent from April 2017 to April 2019, now accounting for 2 percent of all dollar sales for retail packaged meat and outpacing the retail sales growth of animal meat. A separate report by investment firm UBS forecast even faster growth over the next decade, with total plant-based protein sales expected to go from $4.6 billion in 2018 to $85 billion in 2030.
Uncut products are uniquely positioned to take advantage of that demand. In addition to offering more burger types than any other vendor on the market, all Uncut products are 100 percent plant based, gluten free, non-GMO and made from a proprietary combination of non-GMO soy, refined coconut and expeller pressed canola oils, and natural seasonings. Each serving contains 6 to 21g of plant protein and 210-350mg of sodium per serving.
“The plant-based meat space is exploding, and we have two key differentiators that we believe will help us quickly build market share. Offering four products enables us to appeal to 
different consumer tastes as well as provide menu variety, and our insistence on using non-GMO soybeans is a major plus for the growing number of consumers concerned about genetically modified foods,” said Danny O’Malley, “presiplant” and founder of Before the Butcher. “These are core advantages as we enter the retail channel.”
Before the Butcher also offers 12 plant-based foodservice products, including bulk ground meat, chorizo, pulled pork, ground Italian sausage, chicken chunks and beef tips, as well as burgers and sausage patties. Its foodservice customers include more than 1,500 restaurants and 30 school districts nationwide.
