BEYOND MEAT, INC.
For the period ended Mar 29, 2025. Filed May 8, 2025.
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A company's report for each of its first three quarters. The financial statements are not audited. It shows how the business has moved since the last annual report, and what management says changed.
Mar 29, 2025 · Filed May 8, 2025
Contents
Note
Note 12. Related Party Transactions
TPP
In connection with the Company’s investment in TPP, a joint venture with PepsiCo, Inc., the Company sold certain products directly to the joint venture. As part of its Global Operations Review, in 2023, the Company made the decision to discontinue the Beyond Meat Jerky product line and discontinued it in 2024. See Note 9.
The Company earned $0 net revenues from TPP in each of the three months ended March 29, 2025 and March 30, 2024.
Note 13. Segment Information
The Company operates inone segment in the plant-based meat industry, offering a portfolio of revolutionary plant-based meats.
In accordance with ASC 280, “Segment Reporting,” the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and President, who reviews operating results to make decisions about allocating resources and assessing performance for the entire Company, has been identified as the CODM.
The Company derives revenue primarily in North America and Europe and manages the business activities on a consolidated basis. The Company’s CODM allocates resources and assesses performance at the consolidated level. As the Company operates in one segment, entity-wide segment disclosures about products and services, and major customers are the same as what has been presented elsewhere in this report and in the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements.
The accounting policies of the segment are the same as those described in Note 2. On a quarterly basis, the CODM reviews the GAAP measure of consolidated net (loss) income as the measure of the segment’s performance and for determining the allocation of resources.
The following table presents the details of the significant segment expenses, segment net revenues, and the segment performance measure, net loss, in the periods indicated.
| Three Months Ended | ||
|---|---|---|
| March 29, 2025 | March 30, 2024 | |
| Net revenues | $68,731 | $75,603 |
| Less: | ||
| Cost of goods sold | 69,796 | 71,935 |
| Research and development expenses | 7,462 | 9,860 |
| Selling expenses | 6,971 | 8,248 |
| Marketing expenses | 12,088 | 8,226 |
| General and administrative expenses | 28,612 | 30,808 |
| Interest expense | 1,024 | 1,015 |
| Equity in income (losses) of unconsolidated joint venture | 11 | (7) |
| Other segment items(1) | (4,317) | (121) |
| Net loss | $(52,916) | $(54,361) |
(1) Includes Other, net and Income tax (benefit) expense as reported in our condensed consolidated statements of operations. Other, net includes $0.9 million and $2.0 million in interest income in the three months ended March 29, 2025 and March 30, 2024, respectively. Other, net also includes $(3.5) million in foreign currency transaction gains and $2.3 million in foreign currency transaction losses in the three months ended March 29, 2025 and March 30, 2024, respectively.
See the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements for other financial information regarding the Company's operating segment.
Long-lived assets include property, plant and equipment and operating lease right of use assets. The following table presents long-lived assets that cannot be readily removed in the Company’s business units as of the periods presented:
| March 29, 2025 | December 31, 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. | $271,311 | $275,920 |
| Canada(1) | 2,090 | 2,148 |
| EU B.V. (the Netherlands) | 15,829 | 15,359 |
| China (Jiaxing)(2) | 12,682 | 15,435 |
| Consolidated long-lived assets | $301,912 | $308,862 |
(1) The Company’s Canada location serves as an extension of the U.S. sales organization.
(2) As part of the Company’s Global Operations Review, on February 24, 2025, the Company’s board of directors approved a plan to suspend the Company’s operational activities in China, which are estimated to cease by the end of the second quarter of 2025.
Net Revenues by Geographic Area
The Company’s revenues are attributed to the country where the products are delivered. For disclosure about the segment’s net revenues by geographic area, see Note 2.
Note 14. Subsequent Event
Loan and Security Agreement
Subsequent to the quarter ended March 29, 2025, on May 7, 2025, the Company, as borrower, entered into a Loan and Security Agreement (the “Loan and Security Agreement”) with Unprocessed Foods, LLC, an affiliate of the Ahimsa Foundation, as lender (“Unprocessed Foods”), the other lenders party thereto from time to time (together with Unprocessed Foods, the “Lenders”), and certain of the Company’s subsidiaries party thereto from time to time, as guarantors (together with the Company, the “Loan Parties”), pursuant to which the Lenders agreed to provide for a senior secured delayed draw term loan facility (the “Delayed Draw Term Loan Facility” and the loans thereunder, the “Delayed Draw Term Loans”) in an aggregate principal amount of $100.0 million. Certain of the Company’s subsidiaries will guarantee the Company’s obligations under the Loan and Security Agreement. The Delayed Draw Term Loans are secured by a first-priority lien and security interest in substantially all of the assets, subject to certain exceptions, of the Company and certain of its subsidiaries. In connection with the entry into the Delayed Draw Term Loan Facility, the Company agreed to pay the Lenders a non-refundable fee of $625,000.
The Delayed Draw Term Loans are available to be drawn in one or more draws until February 7, 2026, subject to a minimum borrowing requirement of $3 million and satisfaction or waiver by the Lenders of the applicable conditions precedent set forth in the Loan and Security Agreement. Any Delayed Draw Term Loans borrowed under the Loan and Security Agreement will mature on February 7, 2030 (the “Initial Maturity Date”), which date may be extended by the Company, with the relevant Lenders’ consent, to no later than May 7, 2035. Borrowings under the Loan and Security Agreement will accrue interest at a rate per annum of 12.0%; provided that if the maturity date of any Delayed Draw Term Loan has been extended after the Initial Maturity Date, then such rate per annum will be 17.5% after the Initial Maturity Date. Proceeds of the Delayed Draw Term Loans may not be used to repay, amortize or restructure any debt for borrowed money other than debt owed to the Lenders and debt incurred by a Loan Party to finance the purchase, construction or improvement of any asset or services. Accrued but unpaid interest on each Delayed Draw Term Loan will be compounded on a quarterly basis and payable “in kind” by adding the amount of such accrued interest to the principal amount of the outstanding Delayed Draw Term Loans under the Loan and Security Agreement.
Among other things, the Loan and Security Agreement includes covenants that (i) require the Company to maintain liquidity of at least $15.0 million, (ii) do not permit the Company’s cash interest payments due under all of the Loan Parties’ subordinated debt and unsecured debt for borrowed money for any fiscal year of the Company, in the aggregate, to exceed $20.0 million, and (iii) cap the amount of cash that can be used to repay the Notes at maturity at $60.0 million, subject to increase to the extent of any equity raises by the Company. The Loan and Security Agreement also contains covenants that restrict the ability of the Loan Parties and certain of their subsidiaries to make dividends or distributions, incur additional debt (including subordinated debt), engage in certain asset sales, mergers, acquisitions or similar transactions, create liens on assets, engage in certain transactions with affiliates, change their businesses or make investments. The Loan and Security Agreement also contains change of control provisions that could have the effect ofdelaying or preventing an otherwise beneficial takeover of the Company.
Warrant Agreement
Subsequent to the quarter ended March 29, 2025, on May 7, 2025, in connection with the entry into the Loan and Security Agreement, the Company and the Lenders entered into a Warrant Agreement (the “Warrant Agreement”) setting forth the rights and obligations of the Company and the Lenders, as holders, in connection with warrants (the “Warrants”) representing the Lenders’ right to purchase up to, in the aggregate,9,558,635 shares of common stock, (the “Maximum Warrant Share Amount”) at an exercise price to be calculated as 115% of the average daily volume-weighted average prices of the Company’s common stock for the 30-day period beginning on May 8, 2025, subject to a minimum exercise price of $2.00 and a maximum exercise price of
$3.75. The Loan and Security Agreement provides that at each funding date of any Delayed Draw Term Loans, the Company will execute and deliver to the applicable Lenders, Warrants representing the pro rata portion of the Maximum Warrant Share Amount based on the amount of Delayed Draw Term Loans provided by such Lender on the date thereof.
The Company agreed in the Warrant Agreement to provide certain customary registration rights with respect to the resale of shares of common stock underlying Warrants held by or issuable to the holders from time to time. The Warrant Agreement also contains customary indemnity, exculpation and contribution obligations in connection with such registration.
The following discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results may differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including those set forth in Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors, of our 2024 10-K and Part II, Item 1A. Risk Factors, and Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements included elsewhere in this report and those discussed in other documents we file from time to time with the SEC. The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes and other financial information included in this quarterly report and our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes included in our 2024 10-K. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for any future periods and our operating results for the three months ended March 29, 2025 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025 or for any other interim period or for any other future year or period.
Overview
Beyond Meat is a leading plant-based meat company, offering a portfolio of revolutionary plant-based meats. We build meat directly from plants, an innovation that enables consumers to experience the taste, texture and other sensory attributes of popular animal-based meat products while enjoying the nutritional and environmental benefits of eating our plant-based meat products. Our brand promise, “Eat What You Love,” represents a strong belief that there is a better way to feed our future and that the positive choices we all make, no matter how small, can have a great impact on our personal health and the health of our planet. By shifting from animal-based meat to plant-based meat, we can positively impact four growing global issues: human health, climate change, constraints on natural resources and animal welfare.
We sell a range of plant-based meat products across our three core platforms of beef, pork and poultry. As of March 2025, Beyond Meat branded products were available across mainstream grocery, mass merchandiser, club store and natural retailer channels, and various food-away-from-home channels, including restaurants, foodservice outlets and schools.
Net revenues decreased to $68.7 million in the three months ended March 29, 2025 from $75.6 million in the three months ended March 30, 2024, representing a 9.1% decrease. We have generated losses since inception. Net loss in the three months ended March 29, 2025 and March 30, 2024 was $52.9 million and $54.4 million, respectively, as weak demand in the category and for our products, changes in product sales mix and distribution losses in certain channels, among other things, resulted in declines in our net revenues that we were unable to offset with commensurate cost reductions. Our operating environment continues to be affected by uncertainty related to macroeconomic issues, including ongoing, further weakened demand in the plant-based meat category and for our products, inflation, higher interest rates, current and proposed future tariffs and related trade wars, increased uncertainty surrounding international trade policy and regulations, including through the implementation of retaliatory tariffs or related counter-measures and the negative effects of anti-American sentiment, and potential recessionary concerns, among other things, all of which have had and could continue to have unforeseen impacts on our actual realized results. In recent periods, our net revenues, gross profit, gross margin, earnings and cash flows have been adversely impacted by the following, each of which may continue to impact our business and financial condition in the future:
unfavorable changes in our product sales mix, including the launch of new products, which may carry lower margin profiles relative to existing products, increased sales generally carrying a lower selling price per pound as a percentage of our total sales to strategic QSR customers, and lower demand for our core products;
continued weak demand and its resultant impact on our sales due to slower category growth, particularly for refrigerated plant-based meat;
the impact of economic and political conditions in the U.S. and international markets, including high inflation, geopolitical uncertainty, economic volatility, a potential recession in the United States and tariffs and trade wars, and the resulting effects of those conditions on consumer spending;
unfavorable changes in consumers’ perceptions about the health attributes of plant-based meats and increased competitive activity;
deceleration of the adoption of plant-based meat across Europe and our ability to successfully launch extended shelf-life products, which could negatively impact our ability to expand distribution of our products;
the impact of the plant-based meat sector’s premium pricing relative to animal protein, which has caused and could continue to cause consumers to avoid plant-based meat or trade down into cheaper forms of protein, including animal meat, beans and other non-animal meat protein sources;
negative impacts on capacity utilization as a result of lower than anticipated demand and, therefore, production volumes, which have in the past and could in the future give rise to increased cost of goods sold per pound, underutilization fees, termination fees and other costs to exit certain supply chain arrangements and product lines, and/or the write-down or write-off of certain equipment and other fixed assets and impairment charges, all of which could negatively impact gross margin, driving less leverage on fixed costs and delaying the speed at which cost savings initiatives positively impact our financial results;
changes in forecasted demand, including for our core products—namely Beyond Burger, Beyond Beef, Beyond Chicken, Beyond Steak and Beyond Sausage—and others;
managing inventory levels, including sales to liquidation channels at lower prices, write-down or write-off of excess and obsolete inventory, or increase in inventory provision;
changes in our pricing strategy, including actions intended to improve our price competitiveness relative to competing products or to improve profitability, such as price increases of certain of our products in our U.S. retail and foodservice channels that we implemented in 2024;
increased unit cost of goods sold due to input cost inflation, including higher transportation, storage, raw materials, energy, labor and supply chain costs;
potential disruption to our supply chain generally caused by distribution and other logistical issues, including the impact of cyber incidents at suppliers and vendors; and
labor needs at the Company as well as in the supply chain and at customers.
Cost-Reduction Initiatives and Global Operations Review
In response to the difficult environment and the negative impact of certain factors on our business and the overall plant-based meat category, beginning in 2022 we pivoted our focus toward sustainable long-term growth supported by three pillars: (1) driving margin recovery and operating expense reduction through the implementation of lean value streams across our beef, pork and poultry platforms; (2) inventory reduction and cash flow generation through more efficient inventory management; and (3) focusing on near-term retail and foodservice growth drivers while supporting key strategic long-term partners and opportunities.
To reduce operating expenses, in November 2023, we initiated our Global Operations Review, which involves narrowing our commercial focus to certain anticipated growth opportunities, and accelerating activities that prioritize gross margin expansion and cash generation. These efforts have to date included, and may in the future include, the exit or discontinuation of select product lines such as Beyond Meat Jerky; changes to our pricing architecture within certain channels; cash-accretive inventory reduction initiatives; non-cash charges such as provision for excess and obsolete inventory and potential additional impairment charges, write-offs, disposals and accelerated depreciation of fixed assets, and losses on sale and write-down of fixed assets; further optimization of our manufacturing capacity and real estate footprint; planned and future reductions in our workforce; and the suspension of our operational activities in China in the first quarter of 2025.
As part of this review, on November 1, 2023, our board of directors approved a plan to reduce our workforce by approximately 65 employees, representing approximately 19% of our global non-production workforce (or approximately 8% of our total global workforce).
On February 24, 2025, our board of directors approved a plan to reduce our workforce in North America and the EU by approximately 44 employees, representing approximately 17% of our global non-production workforce (or approximately 6% of our total global workforce) (the “2025 RIF”). The decision was based on cost-reduction initiatives intended to reduce operating expenses.
In addition, as part of our Global Operations Review, on February 24, 2025, our board of directors approved a plan to suspend our operational activities in China, which are estimated to cease by the end of the second quarter of 2025. As part of this plan, we are reducing our workforce in China by approximately 20 employees, representing approximately 95% of our China workforce (or approximately 3% of our total global workforce) (the “China RIF”). The decision was based on cost-reduction initiatives intended to reduce operating expenses.
The following table summarizes the non-cash charges recorded in our condensed consolidated statement of operations in the three months ended March 29, 2025 as part of the suspension of our operational activities in China:
| (in thousands) | Three Months Ended March 29, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Cost of goods sold: | |
| Inventory write-offs | $260 |
| Accelerated depreciation | 637 |
| Research and development expenses | |
| Accelerated depreciation | 830 |
| SG&A | |
| Asset write-offs | 356 |
| Total | $2,083 |
We may not be able to fully realize the cost savings and benefits initially anticipated from our cost-reduction initiatives and Global Operations Review, and the realized costs may be greater than expected. For additional information see Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business—Our strategic initiatives to improve our cost structure could have long-term adverse effects on our business, and we may not realize the operational or financial benefits from such actions, including achieving and/or sustaining our profitability and financial performance objectivesin Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors, in our 2024 10-K.
Components of Our Results of Operations and Trends and Other Factors Affecting Our Business
Net Revenues
We generate net revenues primarily from sales of our products to our customers across mainstream grocery, mass merchandiser, club store and natural retailer channels, and various food-away-from-home channels, including restaurants, foodservice outlets and schools, mainly in the United States, the EU and
Canada. Following the initiation of our Global Operations Review, in recent periods, as part of our effort to reduce excess or obsolete inventory and generate incremental cash, we have also generated net revenues from ingredient sales.
We present our net revenues by geography and distribution channel as follows:
| Distribution Channel | Description |
|---|---|
| U.S. Retail | Net revenues from retail sales to the U.S. market and, sales to TPP (as defined below)(1) |
| U.S. Foodservice | Net revenues from restaurant and foodservice sales to the U.S. market |
| International Retail | Net revenues from retail sales to international markets, including Canada |
| International Foodservice | Net revenues from restaurant and foodservice sales to international markets, including Canada |
(1)Includes net revenues from ingredient sales. Net revenues from ingredient sales in the three months ended March 29, 2025 and March 30, 2024 were $13,000 and $1.6 million, respectively.
The following factors and trends in our business have driven net revenue generation in prior periods and are expected to be key drivers of net revenue generation over time, subject to the challenges discussed herein:
increased penetration across our retail channel, including mainstream grocery, mass merchandiser, club store and natural retailer channels, and our foodservice channel, including increased desire by colleges and schools, foodservice establishments, including large Full Service Restaurant and/or global QSR customers, to add plant-based products to their menus and to highlight and retain these offerings;
the strength and breadth of our partnerships with global QSR restaurants and retail and foodservice customers;
the success of our pivot to focus on sustainable long-term growth, including focusing on near-term retail and foodservice growth drivers while supporting key strategic long-term partners and opportunities, and intensifying focus on channels and geographies that are exhibiting revenue growth;
distribution expansion, increased sales velocity, household penetration, repeat purchases, buying rates (amount spent per buyer) and purchase frequency across our channels, including the success of promotional programs at attracting new users to the plant-based meat category;
increased international sales of our products across geographies, markets and channels as we seek to expand the breadth and depth of our international distribution and grow our numbers of international customers;
our operational effectiveness and ability to fulfill orders in full and on time;
our continued innovation and product commercialization, including the introduction of new products and improvement of existing products, such as our Beyond IV generation of products, that appeal to a broad range of consumers, specifically those who typically eat animal-based meat;
enhanced marketing efforts and the success thereof, as we continue to build our brand, use our portfolio and marketing to directly counter misinformation about our products and the plant-based meat category, amplify our value proposition around taste, health and planet, serve as a best-in-class partner to both retail and foodservice customers to support product development and category management, and drive consumer adoption of our products;
investment in in-store execution and field resources focused on shelf availability and presentation to drive increased sales;
overall market trends, including consumer awareness and demand for nutritious, convenient and high protein plant-based foods; and
localized production and third-party partnerships to improve our cost of production and increase the availability, accessibility and speed with which we can get our products to customers internationally.
As we seek to grow our net revenues, we continue to face several challenges, including prolonged, weakened demand within the plant-based meat category overall, broad macroeconomic headwinds, including elevated levels of inflation, high interest rates, waning consumer confidence and potential recessionary concerns in certain geographic regions, adverse changes in consumers’ perceptions about the health attributes of our products, increased competitive activity in the plant-based meat category, and global events such as the war in Ukraine, the conflict in Israel, Gaza and surrounding areas and tariff-related trade wars, as well as, their potential impact on availability of raw materials and/or distribution of our products.
We routinely offer sales discounts and promotions through various programs to customers and consumers. These programs include rebates, temporary on-shelf price reductions, off-invoice discounts, retailer advertisements, product coupons and other trade activities. The expense associated with these discounts and promotions is estimated and recorded as a reduction in total gross revenues in order to arrive at reported net revenues. At the end of each accounting period, we recognize a contra asset to Accounts receivable for estimated sales discounts that have been incurred but not paid which totaled $3.8 million and $6.8 million as of March 29, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively. We continue to face increasing competition across all channels, and we expect that trend to continue, especially if consumers continue to trade down among proteins in the context of significant inflationary pressure. In response, we expect to continue to invest in promotional discounting to address the current consumer trend with more targeted key selling period activations that we expect will allow us to continue to build brand awareness and increase consumer trials of our products.
In addition, because we do not have any purchase commitments from our distributors or customers, the amount of net revenues we recognize has varied and will vary in the future, from period to period depending on the volume, timing and channels through which our products are sold, and the impact of customer orders ahead of holidays, causing variability in our results. Similarly, the timing of retail shelf resets are not within our control, and to the extent that retail customers change the timing of such events, variability of our results may also increase. Lower customer orders ahead of holidays, shifts in customer shelf reset activity and changes in order patterns of one or more of our large retail customers could cause a significant fluctuation in our quarterly results and could have a disproportionate effect on our results of operations for the entire fiscal year.
Our financial performance also depends on our operational effectiveness and ability to fulfill orders in full and on time. Disruptions in our supply chain could affect customer demand, resulting in orders that may not materialize due to delayed deliveries and subsequent lost sales that we may not be able to recover in full, or at all.
Further, we may not be able to recapture missed opportunities in later periods, for example if the opportunity is related to a significant grilling holiday like Memorial Day weekend, the Fourth of July, or Labor Day weekend. Missed opportunities may also result in missing subsequent additional opportunities. Internal and external operational issues therefore may impact the amount and variability of our results.
Seasonality
Generally, we expect to experience greater demand for certain of our products during the U.S. summer grilling season. In 2024 and 2023, U.S. retail channel net revenues during the second quarter were 21% and 10% higher than the first quarter, respectively. In general, any historical effects of seasonality have been more pronounced within our U.S. retail channel, with revenue contribution from this channel generally tending to be greater in the second and third quarters of the year, driven by increased levels of grilling activity, higher levels of purchasing by customers ahead of holidays, the impact of customer shelf reset activity and the timing of product restocking by our retail customers. In an environment of heightened uncertainty from potential recessionary and inflationary pressures, prolonged weakness in the plant-based meat category, competition and other factors impacting our business, we are unable to assess the ultimate impact on the demand for our products as a result of seasonality.
Gross Profit and Gross Margin
Gross profit consists of our net revenues less cost of goods sold. Gross margin is gross profit expressed as a percentage of our net revenues. Our cost of goods sold primarily consists of the cost of raw materials including ingredients and packaging, co-manufacturing fees, direct and indirect labor and certain supply costs, inbound and internal shipping and handling costs incurred in manufacturing our products, warehouse storage fees, plant and equipment overhead, depreciation and amortization expense, provision for excess and obsolete inventory and impairment charges, and accelerated depreciation on write-offs and disposals of fixed assets. Under certain circumstances, our cost of goods sold may also include underutilization and/or termination fees associated with our co-manufacturing agreements.
Subject to potential recessionary and inflationary pressures, prolonged weakness in the plant-based meat category, competition and other factors impacting our business, we continue to expect that long-term gross profit and gross margin improvements will be delivered primarily through:
implementation of lean value streams across our beef, pork and poultry platforms;
reviewing and adjusting our pricing architecture within certain channels;
exiting select product lines in order to eliminate margin-dilutive products or to streamline our supply chain operations;
improved volume leverage and throughput;
reduced manufacturing conversion costs driven in part by network consolidation and optimization of our production network;
greater internalization and geographic localization of our manufacturing footprint;
finished goods, materials and packaging input cost reductions and scale of purchasing;
end-to-end production processes across a greater proportion of our manufacturing network;
scale-driven efficiencies in procurement and fixed cost absorption;
product and process innovations and reformulations; and
improved supply chain logistics and distribution costs.
Gross margin improvement may, however, continue to be negatively impacted by reduced capacity utilization if demand for our products continues to decline, investments in our production infrastructure in advance of anticipated demand, which may not materialize within the expected timeframe, investment in production personnel, partnerships and product pipeline, aggressive pricing strategies and increased discounting, increases in inventory provision, write-down or write-off of excess and obsolete inventory and potentially increased sales to liquidation channels at lower prices, changes in our product and customer sales mix, expansion into new geographies and markets where cost and pricing structures may differ from our existing markets, and underutilization fees, termination fees and other costs to exit certain supply chain arrangements and product lines and, in some instances, certain non-routine charges. Gross margin improvement is also expected to continue to be negatively impacted by the impact of inflation, tariffs and increasing labor costs, materials costs and transportation costs.
Operating Expenses
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development expenses consist primarily of personnel and related expenses for our research and development staff, including salaries, benefits, bonuses, share-based compensation, scale-up expenses, depreciation and amortization expenses on research and development assets, and facility lease costs. Our research and development efforts are focused on enhancements to our existing product formulations and production processes in addition to the development of new products. Although we expect to continue to invest in research and development over time, we decreased our research and development expenses in 2024 and expect research and development expenses in 2025 to decrease compared to the levels in 2024 as we continue to focus on reducing and optimizing operating expenses more broadly.
SG&A Expenses
SG&A expenses consist primarily of selling, marketing and administrative expenses, including personnel and related expenses, share-based compensation, outbound shipping and handling costs, non-manufacturing lease expense, depreciation and amortization expense on non-manufacturing and non-research and development assets, charges related to asset write-offs including loss on sale and write-down of fixed assets, consulting fees and other non-production operating expenses. Marketing and selling expenses include advertising costs, share-based compensation awards to non-employee consultants and brand ambassadors, costs associated with consumer promotions, product donations, product samples and sales aids incurred to acquire new customers, retain existing customers and build our brand awareness. Administrative expenses include expenses related to management, accounting, legal, IT and other office functions. We decreased SG&A expenses in 2024 and expect SG&A expenses in 2025 to decrease further from the levels in 2024 (excluding charges related to the suspension of our operational activities in China), as we continue to focus on reducing and optimizing operating expenses more broadly, including as part of the implementation of lean value streams across our beef, pork and poultry platforms.
Reductions-In-Force and Suspension of Operational Activities in China
On November 1, 2023, our board of directors approved a plan to reduce our workforce by approximately 65 employees, representing approximately 19% of our global non-production workforce (or approximately 8% of our total global workforce). This decision was based on cost-reduction initiatives intended to reduce operating expenses. In 2023, we incurred one-time cash charges of approximately $1.8 million in connection with the reduction-in-force, primarily consisting of notice period and severance payments, employee benefits and related costs. These charges were incurred in the fourth quarter of 2023, and the reduction-in-force approved by our board of directors in November 2023 was substantially complete by the end of 2023.
On February 24, 2025, our board of directors approved the 2025 RIF. In the three months ended March 29, 2025, we recorded one-time cash charges of approximately $1.2 million in connection with the 2025 RIF, primarily consisting of severance payments, employee benefits and related costs, in all cases, provided to departing employees. In aggregate, the 2025 RIF, combined with the elimination of certain open positions and changes to the executive leadership team, is expected to result in approximately $5.5 million to $6.5 million in cash compensation operating expense savings in 2025, and an additional approximately $1.0 million to $1.5 million in non-cash savings in 2025 related to previously granted, unvested stock-based compensation that would have vested in 2025.
In addition, in furtherance of this goal and as part of our Global Operations Review, on February 24, 2025, our board of directors approved a plan to suspend our operational activities in China, including the China RIF.
In connection with the suspension of our operational activities in China, including the China RIF, in the three months ended March 29, 2025, we recorded one-time cash charges of approximately $0.4 million, primarily consisting of severance payments, employee benefits and related costs, in all cases, provided to departing employees, and contract termination costs. In aggregate, the China RIF is expected to result in approximately $0.5 million to $1.0 million in cash compensation operating expense savings in 2025.
In addition, as a result of our decision to suspend our operational activities in China, we currently estimate that we will incur accelerated depreciation and other inventory and asset write-offs in China totaling $13.0 million to $14.0 million through the end of 2026, of which $1.5 million in accelerated depreciation related to the reassessment of useful lives of certain assets was recognized in the first quarter of 2025, and the remainder of which is expected to be evenly distributed beginning in the second quarter of 2025 through the end of the fourth quarter of 2026. The calculation of the charges we estimate we will incur are subject to uncertainties and based on a number of assumptions, including applicable legal requirements and asset disposition plans; the actual charges incurred may differ from the estimates disclosed above.
See Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business—Our strategic initiatives to improve our cost structure could have long-term adverse effects on our business, and we may not realize the operational or financial benefits from such actions, including achieving and/or sustaining our profitability and financial performance objectives in Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors, in our 2024 10-K.
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