Planterra’s plant protein brand Ovo.

PROCESSING giant JBS has decided to exit its plant-based protein venture in the United States, closing its plant in the Colorado city of Denver.

The news of JBS walking away from Planterra was first reported in the Denver Business Journal, with the company notifying the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.

Along with other meat processing giants in the US, Tyson and Cargill, JBS made significant moves into the plant protein market in recent years. It created Planterra as its own company, which launched the OZO brand of products.

The reasoning for JBS’s exit from Planterra remains unclear.

JBS still has considerable interest in the global plant-based meat market, with the company acquiring European plant-based protein manufacturer Vivera last year and owning another brand in Brazil.

The move is another blow to the US plant-based meat market, with one of the industry’s pioneers, Beyond Meat, seeing its shares plummet. Its chief operating officer was arrested earlier this year after allegedly biting someone on the nose.

Beyond Meat is also facing a class action over allegedly misleading suppliers with overstated claims about the protein.