EL SEGUNDO, CA - If you keep yourself apprised of food industry news, you may have already heard about Beyond Meat burgers. Plant-based, vegan, and equipped with a real burger-like sizzle and “bleed,” these first of their kind veggie laden burgers have been making headlines for the past year or so, showing up at healthy food stores like Whole Foods. But now, with investor backing by Bill Gates and more, Beyond Meat is set to hit mainstream retailers for the first time, making a deal with Safeway to distribute in more than 280 of its locations throughout California, Hawaii, and Nevada.

“It’s a really important step in terms of reframing how we think about meat,” Ethan Brown, Chief Executive Officer told Bloomberg about the move into conventional retail. “We assume that an animal has to be used for meat, and that’s just false.”

Made from plant protein including that from peas, soy, and even “real” blood made from beet juice, Beyond Meat burgers have garnered investments by Bill Gates, Tyson Foods, General Mill’s venture arm: 301 Inc, and former McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson.

In addition to its move into conventional Safeway and even beyond, Bloomberg reports that Beyond Meat is also available at around 30 restaurants up and down the West Coast. The patties have even made an appearance in the dining halls at Yale University.

At retail, the burger is sold in packs of two patties for $5.99, a price that Brown told Bloomberg will soon come down enough to compete with beef prices as Beyond Meat scales up and finds cheaper ingredient sources.

Have you tried a Beyond Meat burger yet? Personally, I may be making a quick Safeway run on my lunch break.

Beyond Meat