Impossible Foods will unveil a new plant-based chicken nugget product next week, with plans to launch to launch it at restaurants in the fall, according to a story on Bloomberg this morning. The nugget will be made from soy protein and sunflower oil, but will not include heme, an ingredient used in its plant-based burgers to make them “bleed.”
Honestly, it would be more surprising if Impossible didn’t make a plant-based chicken nugget because everyone is getting into that game nowadays. In addition to the smaller upstarts like Rebellyous, Daring, SIMULATE and Nowadays, Impossible’s big plant-based burger rival, Beyond Meat, just announced its own chicken tenders for restaurants last week. With two well-known brands in Impossible and Beyond now getting into plant-based nuggets, what will that mean for those other companies just starting out?
Chicken is the most consumed meat in the U.S., and the Good Food Institute reports that sales of plant-based meat have grown 72 percent over the past two years, with the market now worth $1.4 billion. Combine those two data points and it’s no wonder so many companies are vying for your dollar. The opportunity in plant-based nuggets is also slightly different than plant-based burgers. Kids eat a lot of chicken nuggets and are (at least in my experience) less likely to notice a plant-based substitute. Burgers, however, are enjoyed by kids and adults alike, and adults are less likely to be “fooled” by a plant-based burger analog (or may even be hesitant to try them out at all). Nuggets could also be the tip of the spear for both Impossible and Beyond to get into other breaded chicken products like patties.
Of course all of that hinges on these nuggets reaching price parity with traditional animal based ones. Though the price of Impossible’s burger has come down over the years, it’s still more expensive than actual beef.
An Impossible rep told Bloomberg that unlike with its burgers, the company isn’t using heme for its nuggets because they are a white meat product. Also worth noting in the Bloomberg story is that Beyond’s new chicken tender uses titanium dioxide as an additive, which the In May, the European Food Safety Authority no longer considers safe.
Bloomberg writes that Impossible will be showing off its new nuggets to potential customers next week at a trade show. Like it did with its Impossible burgers, the plant-based nuggets will then first appear in restaurants this fall before heading to retail. One big difference this time around is that Impossible now has an extensive retail network already in place that will make the launch of its nuggets that much easier and faster.
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