Beyond Meat CEO on the importance of R&D

Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown believes the future of vegan meat products remains positive.

In an interview with Forbes, Brown explained the importance of continued research on vegan meat products and endorsed government investments in research universities that offer such opportunities.

“ we went back to the lab for four years and worked our asses off, brought in scientists from every angle we could think of--biochemists, protein chemists--to understand meat better than anybody else. We took a model from clean energy, which was get the best scientists, best engineers, fund them well, get them together, give him a clear goal and go for it,” Brown told Forbes. “ And, I knew that was not being done in the food industry."

READ: Quebec cattle farmers have a beef with Beyond Meat’s marketing

The company has said it had sold 25 million Beyond Burgers worldwide. It recently filed for an IPO and is reportedly worth more than a half-billion dollars. On Wednesday, Beyond Meat announced it would open a production facility in the Netherlands--its first outside of the U.S.

Europe is seeing growing demand for meat alternatives. The region accounted for nearly 40% of global sales of plant-based meats in 2017, according to Allied Market Research. Allied expects European sales to grow 7% each year through 2025.

A version of this article appeared at StoreBrands.com.