How to teach your customer what they need to learn

Executive overview

Building a new food category requires overcoming deep skepticism about what people eat. Ethan Brown's approach: listen obsessively to customer concerns, even when the science says they're wrong, and solve for the highest-leverage customer demand first. Core insight: Customer trust beats being right.

The challenge of changing minds

People are deeply conservative about food for evolutionary reasons. Meat powered human development, so "plants can't replace it" remains a gut-level instinct despite scientific evidence. The path to adoption requires addressing skepticism directly, not dismissing it.

Building the right product, not the obvious one

Beyond's first plant-based technology worked best for chicken, not beef—even though customers wanted beef. Ethan launched chicken anyway because the core demand was "tastes like real meat." Once trust was established, resources shifted to the harder beef problem. Lead with what you can deliver excellently.

Location signals legitimacy

Getting products into the meat case—not the alternative section—sent a crucial message: this is meat, not a compromise. Placement told customers "you're not wrong to love meat, we do too." Where you shelf matters as much as what's on the shelf.

Celebrity athletes as trust builders

Chris Paul, Shaq, Snoop Dogg, and Lindsey Vonn became spokespeople not because they were paid to like the product, but because their public lifestyle changes were genuine. A professional athlete credibly claiming better recovery from plant-based eating reaches skeptics that marketing copy never can.

The "two processes" battle

Customers asked constantly: Is this real? Is it processed? Both meat and Beyond Meat are assemblies of proteins, fats, and minerals. The difference is what does the assembly—plants or animal biology. Ethan had to market this difference relentlessly, even when the science seemed obvious to him.

Avoid GMOs and soy, despite the logic

Ethan's team knew GMO concerns and soy skepticism didn't match the science. Stanford research showed phytoestrogen in soy has zero effect on the human body. It didn't matter. Ethan avoided both because customer trust was more valuable than winning a technical argument. Listen when the customer is wrong—you might still lose their business.

Pivot quickly to where customers actually shop

During COVID, Beyond ramped up retail production overnight when food service stalled, and launched the Cookout Classic—10 burgers for $16—when beef prices spiked. Obsessive attention to real-time customer behavior beats perfect planning.

The payoff: Scale through partnership

McDonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and PepsiCo couldn't have happened without years of proving both the product and the mission. These partnerships get you to global scale because they place plant-based options where meat eaters actually shop and eat.

When to bend, when to hold firm

Choose battles carefully. If it breaks customer trust, listen. If it doesn't change their decision-making, cut it. The question isn't "who's right?" It's "what part of this relationship can I least afford to break?" The answer is almost always: trust that you're listening and that your product is backed by real science.