New York CNN Business —
The chief operating officer of vegan food supplier Beyond Meat was arrested last weekend after allegedly biting a man’s nose during a fight after a football game in Arkansas.
Police arrested company director Doug Ramsey on Saturday on charges of terrorist threat and third-degree battery. According to court records, Ramsey was released the next day on $11,000 bail.
The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Fayetteville, Arkansas, KNWA news channel, citing a police report, said Beyond Meat’s Ramsey was “smashed through the rear window” of a Subaru that hit its Bronco’s tire. The incident took place in a parking garage near Razorback Stadium at the University of Arkansas.
The driver of the Subaru told police that Ramsey “pulled him towards him and started beating his body.” Ramsey also bit the driver, “tearing the flesh on the tip of the nose,” the news report said.
Ramsey joined Beyond Meat last December, after a three-decade career at Tyson Foods.
Beyond Meat was the market leader in plant-based meat, alongside competitor Impossible Foods. It was a Wall Street juggernaut after its IPO in 2019, but has struggled to meet its sales targets ever since.
Shares are down more than 90% from their 2019 highs.
On Tuesday, the stock traded around $16, a record low since its debut at $25 a share.
In its most recent earnings report, the company blamed inflation for disappointing sales and a bleak outlook. Beyond Meat has long said it hopes to scale up enough to align the price of its plant-based offerings with animal products. But in an earnings call with analysts, CEO Ethan Brown said the company wasn’t there yet. The price of Beyond’s “beef” sells for $8.35 a pound, compared to USDA ground beef, which sells for $4.90.
“That’s a very difficult proposition when consumers have very high inflation and their purchasing power at the supermarket is declining,” Brown said.