Beyond Meat (NASDAQ: BYND) makes and sells meat alternatives made from plants designed to imitate chicken, beef, and pork. As you can imagine, there's a cost to doing this. And for Beyond Meat, the cost is too great.

In 2022, Beyond Meat lost money. But a lot of companies lose money, especially when growing their businesses. However, in Beyond Meat's case, it had more direct costs in making its products than what it sold them for. And the magnitude of this problem might be the worst I've ever seen.

To make its products, Beyond Meat spends money on ingredients -- things like pea protein, faba beans, and coconut oil. But there are less obvious direct costs such as packaging, in-bound shipping, storage fees, and more. All of this is included in the company's cost of revenue. And subtracting cost of revenue from net revenue gives you the gross profit.

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Source Fool.com