A guest wears a hat during the Beyond Meat IPO at the Nasdaq Market site in New York, U.S., May 2, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

TORONTO, Aug 5 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The idea of shelling out extra cash for sustainable products is all well and good, until the economy turns. Plant-based meat company Beyond Meat (BYND.O) on Thursday posted a second-quarter net loss of $97.1 million, widening from a year ago, and lowered its revenue outlook for the full year. Founder and Chief Executive Ethan Brown recognizes that when wallets are pinched, going above for Beyond isn’t in the cards.

Record-high inflation – up 9.1% in the United States in June— is becoming a problem. Brown said on the call that U.S. ground beef costs roughly $4.90 a pound. Beyond is more than $3 higher. Meantime SPAM, a processed pork product whose ingredients also include potato starch, sugar, and sodium nitrite, is having a “record year”, Brown said.

Beyond isn’t the only alternative food company that is struggling. Shares of Swedish oat drink maker Oatly (OTLY.O), for instance, have roughly halved year-to-date, while the stock price of companies that sell cheaper, pantry-friendly items, like Campbell Soup (CPB.N) and Kellogg (K.N), are up. As inflationary pain spreads, canned pork crumbles on a salad start to look more appealing than pea protein. For Brown, the same goes for his stock. (By Sharon Lam)

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are their own.)

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In the British nursery rhyme, the Grand Old Duke of York marched his men up and down a hill to no effect. SoftBank Group evokes similar feelings of futility. When markets go up, so does the $67 billion group’s performance – not to mention the braggadocio of founder Masayoshi Son. With markets go down, as they did in the last three months, it reported a record $23 billion net loss. Son kept his presentation short, answered questions and talked of learning lessons.

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