Beyond Meat reduced its revenue guidance for the year and announced it would be laying off employees, as the company’s efforts to make its expensive plant-based meat substitute more affordable were stymied by rapidly rising inflationary pressures, and fears of a pending economic slowdown.

During an earnings call, Beyond Meat Chief Executive Ethan Brown told investors that as a category, meat substitutes have been hurt by rising prices, which have caused customers to trade down, buying cheaper real chicken and beef.

Brown noted that in the second quarter, according to data from numerator, US household penetration of plant-based meat contracted for the first time in more than four years.

2022 revenue is now said to be expected to come in at $470 million to $520 million, down from the prior estimate of $560 million to $620 million. Analysts had predicted it would be $559.4, according to data from Refinitiv.

Oppenheimer analyst Rupesh Parikh said, “(The guidance cut) calls into question how long Beyond Meat’s liquidity will last to fund their future growth. The pressures on the model are only intensifying.”

The company had a cash and cash-equivalents balance of $454.7 million at the end of the second quarter. Meanwhile net cash used in operating activities in the first half was $235.7 million.

Beyond Meat has said it will try to reduce operating expenses going forward, after it lost $1.53 per share in the second quarter, which was much more than analyst expectations of $1.18.

One measure the company has announced is a 4% cut in global workforce, in an effort to save roughly $8 million in annualized savings. The company had 1,108 full time employees and 311 full time contract workers as of the end of 2021.

Net revenues were also down 1.6%, to $147 million in the second quarter, which was below the estimates by about $149.2 million. The reduction was attributed to having to lower prices in parts of Europe to clear stock.