Frequently Asked Questions

The Notice is to tell you about the Settlement of a class action lawsuit, In Re: Beyond Meat, Inc., Protein Content Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation, brought on behalf of people who purchased Beyond Meat Products. If you purchased Beyond Meat Products for household use and not for resale or distribution, from May 31, 2018 to August 14, 2024, you may be a member of the group of people affected, called the “Settlement Class,” and you may be entitled to a Cash Payment as part of the Settlement. The Notice tells you how to get more information about the Settlement.

The Court ordered that the Parties provide this Notice because you have a right to know about a proposed Settlement of a class action lawsuit, and about your options, before the Court decides whether to approve the Settlement. If the Court approves it and after objections and appeals are resolved, a Settlement Administrator appointed by the Court will make the Cash Payments that the Settlement allows. Updates about the Settlement will be posted on the Settlement Website.

This website explains the Action, the Settlement, your legal rights, what benefits are available, who is eligible for them, and how to get them. 

The Court in charge of the case is the United States District Court for the District of Northern District of Illinois, and the case is known as In Re: Beyond Meat, Inc., Protein Content Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation, Case No. 1:23-cv-00669. The people who sued are called “Plaintiffs,” and the company they sued, Beyond Meat, Inc., is called the “Defendant.”

Beginning in 2022, a series of class action lawsuits were filed against Defendant. These cases include: Roberts, et al. v. Beyond Meat, Inc., No. 1:22-cv-02861 (N.D. Ill.); Borovoy v. Beyond Meat, Inc., No. 1:22-cv-06302 (N.D. Ill.); Garcia, et al. v. Beyond Meat, Inc., No. 4:22-cv-00297 (S.D. Iowa); Cascio v. Beyond Meat, Inc., No. 2:22-cv-04018 (E.D.N.Y.); Miller v. Beyond Meat, Inc., No. 1:22-cv-06336 (S.D.N.Y); Zakinov v. Beyond Meat, Inc., No. 4:23-cv-00144 (S.D. Tex.).

The lawsuits were brought on behalf of consumers who bought Beyond Meat Products for their personal use. The lawsuits claim that the labels and related marketing of Beyond Meat Products overstate the protein content and quality.

On February 1, 2023, the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation transferred the cases to the Northern District of Illinois and assigned them to the Honorable Sara L. Ellis for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings. Plaintiffs filed a Consolidated Class Action Complaint in this case on May 3, 2023.

Beyond Meat denies all allegations and settled the Action to avoid further litigation.

In a class action, one or more people, called Plaintiffs (in this case, Angelique Roberts, Hannah Offutt, Dylan Rushing, Orlandra Hawthorne, Nisha Albert, Adam Sorkin, Dartisha Anderson, Christine Borovoy, Todd Miller, Richard D. Garcia, Erica Nichols Cook, Jennifer Speer, Rosemarie Ramirez, Mary Yoon, Christopher Bates, and Stan Zakinov), sue on behalf of people who have similar claims. All these people are Settlement Class Members. One court resolves the issues for all Settlement Class Members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Settlement Class. U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis is in charge of this class action.

The Court decided that everyone who fits this description is a Settlement Class Member: All persons (individuals and/or entities) who purchased any Beyond Meat Product for household use and not for resale or distribution, from May 31, 2018, to the date of the Preliminary Approval Order.

Excluded from the Settlement Class are: (i) Beyond Meat, Inc. and its officers, directors, and employees; and Beyond Meat’s corporate affiliates and corporate affiliates’ officers, directors, counsel, and employees; (ii) Class Counsel; (iii) the judges who have presided over the Action; and (iv) all other persons who timely elect to become Opt-Outs from the Settlement Class in accordance with the Court’s Orders.

The Settlement covers any product developed and/or marketed by Beyond Meat, Inc. during the Class Period and include, but is not limited, to the Beyond Meat Sausage Plant-Based Dinner Links, Beyond Meat Beef Plant-Based Patties, Beyond Meat Beef Plant-Based Ground Beef, Beyond Meat Breakfast Sausage Links, Beyond Meat Breakfast Sausage Patties, Beyond Meat Chicken Plant-Based Breaded Tenders, and Beyond Meat Meatballs Italian Style Plant-Based Meatballs.

If you are still not sure whether you are included, you can ask for free help from the Settlement Administrator. For more information, you can call (833) 739-3317, email at [email protected], or you can fill out and return the Claim Form, to see if you qualify.

Beyond Meat has agreed to pay $7.5 million into a Settlement Fund. This money will be divided among the Settlement Class Members and will also be used to pay for costs and fees approved by the Court, including Notice and Administrative Costs, Attorneys’ Fees and Expenses, and Service Awards.

Your Cash Payment depends on whether you have proofs of purchase and how many qualifying Beyond Meat Products you purchased.

Each Settlement Class Member who submits a proper Claim Form on time and is deemed to have a Valid Claim will get a one-time cash award of $2 for each Beyond Meat Product purchased on or after May 31, 2018. If you do not provide proof of purchase, you will be subject to a cap of five (5) Beyond Meat Products per Household, for a total of $10.

Each Settlement Class Member who provides a valid proof of purchase and submits a Claim Form on time and is deemed to have a Valid Claim will be able to recover a cash award of $2 for each Beyond Meat Product purchased on or after May 31, 2018, with no limitation.

If all Claims exceed the total amount of funds available in the Net Settlement Fund, Cash Payments will be reduced on a pro rata basis so that all Claims equal the total funds available. If the Net Settlement Fund is not fully exhausted by the Claims, each Settlement Class Member that submitted a Valid Claim may receive an additional payment.

You can elect to receive your payment through check, Venmo, PayPal, ACH, or Zelle on your Claim Form.

The Court will hold a hearing on January 23, 2025, to decide whether to approve the Settlement. If the Court approves the Settlement after that, there may be appeals. It’s always uncertain whether these appeals can be resolved, and resolving them can take time, perhaps more than two years. Please be patient.

To opt out of the Settlement, you must submit your opt-out form online no later than Friday, November 29, 2024, or mail your completed paper opt-out form so that it is postmarked no later than Friday, November 29, 2024:

In Re: Beyond Meat, Inc. 

c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC

PO Box 225391

New York, NY 10150-5391

[email protected]

Be sure to include all information requested on the template exclusion form. 

No. Unless you exclude yourself, you give up the right to sue Beyond Meat for the claims that this Settlement resolves. If you have a pending lawsuit, speak to your lawyer in that lawsuit immediately. You must exclude yourself from this Settlement Class to continue your own lawsuit. Remember, the Opt-Out Deadline is November 29, 2024.

No. If you exclude yourself, do not send in a Claim Form to ask for any money. But you may sue, continue to sue, or be part of a different lawsuit against Beyond Meat.

The Court has appointed Nick Suciu III of Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, PLLC, to represent you and other Settlement Class Members as Class Counsel, and Joel D. Smith of Smith Krivoshey, P.C., Jonathan Shub of Shub Law Firm LLC, Elizabeth A. Fegan of Fegan Scott LLC, Jason P. Sultzer of The Sultzer Law Group P.C., and Robert K. Shelquist of Lockridge Grindal Nauen PLLP to represent you and other Settlement Class Members as Class Counsel. 

You will not be charged for these lawyers. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.

Class Counsel will ask the Court for Attorneys’ Fees and Expenses up to $2,500,000, and a payment of $2,500 to each of the Plaintiffs. The Court may also order that the Settlement Administrator recovers their Notice and Administrative Costs. The Court may award less than these amounts. These amounts will be deducted from the Settlement Fund.

If you disagree with any part of the Settlement (including the lawyers’ fees) but don’t want to opt out, you may object. You must give reasons why you think the Court should not approve it and say whether your objection applies to just you, a part of the Settlement Class, or the entire Settlement Class. The Court will consider your views. The Court can only approve or deny the Settlement — it cannot change the terms of the Settlement. You may, but don’t need to, hire your own lawyer to help you.

To object, you must send a letter to Class Counsel, Counsel for Beyond Meat and directly to the Court that includes the case name and number (In Re: Beyond Meat, Inc., Protein Content Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation, Case No. 1:23-cv-00669) includes your full name, address and telephone number; provides proof that you purchased Beyond Meat Product(s) during the Class Period; states the amount of Beyond Meat Products purchased (in units or dollars); states the reasons for your objection (and attaches supporting papers, if any); says whether either you or your lawyer intend to appear at the Fairness Hearing and your lawyer’s name; contains your signature, and includes a detailed list of any other objections submitted by you, or the your counsel, to any class action settlements submitted in any court, whether state, federal, or otherwise, in the United States in the previous five years.

To be timely, the objection must be postmarked by November 29, 2024.

Mail the signed letter to Class Counsel, Counsel for Beyond Meat and directly to the Court:

Objecting is simply telling the Court that you don’t like something about the Settlement. You can object only if you stay in the Settlement Class. Excluding yourself is telling the Court that you don’t want to be part of the Settlement Class. If you exclude yourself, you have no basis to object because the case no longer affects you.

The Court will hold a Fairness Hearing at 2 p.m. on January 23, 2025, at the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois - Eastern Division, Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse, 219 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, IL 60604, Courtroom 1403.

At this hearing the Court will consider whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate. If there are objections, the Court will consider them. Judge Ellis will listen to people who have asked to speak at the hearing. The Court may also decide how much to pay Class Counsel. After the hearing, the Court will decide whether to approve the Settlement. We do not know how long these decisions will take. 

No. Class Counsel will answer questions Judge Ellis may have. But, you are welcome to come at your own expense. If you send an objection, you don’t have to come to Court to talk about it. As long as you submitted your written objection on time and to the proper parties, the Court will consider it. You may also pay your own lawyer to attend, but it’s not necessary. 

You may ask the Court for permission to speak at the Fairness Hearing. To do so, you must send a letter saying that it is your “Notice of Intention to Appear in In Re: Beyond Meat, Inc., Protein Content Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation, Case No. 1:23-cv-00669.” Be sure to include your name, address, telephone number, and your signature. Your Notice of Intention to Appear must be postmarked no later than November 29, 2024, and be sent to the Clerk of the Court, Class Counsel and Beyond Meat’s Counsel. You cannot speak at the hearing if you excluded yourself.

If you do nothing, you’ll get no money from this Settlement. But, unless you exclude yourself, you won’t be able to start a lawsuit, continue with a lawsuit, or be part of any other lawsuit against Beyond Meat about the legal issues in this case, ever again.

To get case documents or get answers to your questions:

• contact your lawyer (information below)
• access the Court Electronic Records (PACER) system online or by visiting the Clerk’s office of the Court (address below).

You can update your contact information by reaching out to us directly. Call us at (833) 739-3317 or email us at [email protected].