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Future Food: Solving The Texture Problem

This is the web version of our weekly Future Food newsletter. Subscribe to get the most important news about alternate and plant-based foods directly in your inbox!

My dad is an extremely picky eater. He won’t eat coconut, or raw tomatoes, or avocado (I know!). Ask him why he avoids these foods and he’ll give you a simple answer: texture.

Texture is a major part of the eating experience, one which can make or break a food product. That’s why one of the biggest hurdles to creating realistic meat alternatives isn’t appearance, or even flavor — it’s texture.

So how do companies make plants — or cultured animal tissue cells — mimic the complex texture of animal products, especially whole muscle cuts like chicken breast or steak? There are a few strategies out there:

3D printing
Startups like Redefine Meat and Novameat use machines to print plant-based ingredients, such as pea protein, into fibrous strands meant to replicate the complex texture of animal muscle. They could also use the same 3D printing tech with cultured animal cells, though they haven’t branched into that space yet. Though a cool concept, 3D printing is a ways away from this being an affordable, widespread solution to mimicking tricky alt-meat textures.

Mushrooms — er, mushroom roots
A more affordable and scalable way to create meat-like texture is through mycelium, or mushroom roots made through fermentation. Atlast Foods grows mycelium scaffolding on which companies can either place cultured animal cells or plants, and Prime Roots and Emergy Foods (which just came out of stealth this week!) are developing their own meat alternatives based off of the fungi. Affordable and scalable, yes — but how well does it actually imitate the chew of meat?

Gelatin
The New York Times wrote about the latest in texture innovation this week. Harvard scientists reported they had successfully grown cow and rabbit cells on a scaffold made from gelatin. Yes, the same stuff that’s in the gummy worms you’ll hand out to trick-or-treaters tonight.

When it comes to texture, gelatin has two advantages. In addition to providing a flexible physical support on which the cells can easily grow, gelatin, which is protein, melts when cooked, which could help cell-based mimic the tender texture of, say, a seared steak.

Photo: JUST.

Be it through 3D printing, gelatin, mushroom roots, legos or something else entirely, companies will have to nail the texture problem before they can hope to entice everyday consumers to switch over to alternative proteins. And it’s not just about whether the ‘meat’ cuts and chews like the real thing. As Daniel Scharff, Director of Strategy & Analytics for JUST, mentioned at SKS 2019, alternatives to traditional animal products also have to cook in a way that’s familiar to consumers. “It has to replicate the experience that they’re used to,” he said.

However, once scientists do figure out the texture issue, it could open the door to a whole new group of alternative meat products (read: really good faux steak) and entice even more consumers to sample faux meat.

Even my picky pops might get on board.

Tapping into the Impossible Foods zeitgeist

Last week DoorDash unveiled a custom filter that users can click through to see all the restaurants in their area which serve the Impossible burger.

It’s clearly a bid by the food delivery company to edge out its food delivery competition by capitalizing off of a popular product that more and more consumers are ordering to be brought directly to their doorstep. And a smart move.

But DoorDash isn’t the only one profiting off of Impossible-mania. Restaurant Brands International (RBI), which owns Burger King, Popeyes, and Tim Horton’s, released its Q3 Earnings Report this week which showed that the Impossible Whopper is driving major traffic — the strongest uptick since 2015 — to the fast-food chain.

All this to say, next time you use a DoorDash filter to order an Impossible Whopper from BK, you’re at the intersection of a few big trends. Pat yourself on the back.

Protein ’round the web

  • Diner chain Denny’s is adding Beyond Burgers to menus of all its Los Angeles locations.
  • The Awesome Burger from Sweet Earth Foods, which is owned by Nestlé, is now available at Costcos in Texas and the Midwest (h/t Vegnews).
  • Alternative protein company Shiru, which makes versatile protein that can be used in faux eggs, cheese, meat, and more, raised $3.5 million in funding, according to Business Insider.
  • Agronomics invested $500,000 in Shiok Meats, the Singaporean startup developing cultured shrimp (and other crustaceans).

That’s it from me this week! Please tell me someone is dressing up as this for Halloween tonight.

Eat well,
Catherine

DoorDash’s New Carousel Shows Off All the Impossible Foods Offerings in Your Area

As of yesterday, DoorDash has created a custom carousel featuring restaurants that offer Impossible Foods menu items.

When consumers click on the Impossible filter on the DoorDash site, they’re taken to a separate page which shows only establishments offering delivery of the plant-based meat within their area. So far, the feature is available in 23 cities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York.

I’m currently visiting a friend in New York, so I decided to give the Impossible filter a spin for myself. After putting in her address and clicking on the ‘See All’ Impossible button, I was taken to a new page listing 7 restaurants which sold Impossible items. These ranged from fast-food, like Burger King and White Castle, to more high-end local restaurants.

This Impossible filter is DoorDash’s first carousel featuring a specific plant-based meat brand. It’s clearly a bid by the food delivery company to capitalize on an item with a growing delivery presence. According to a press release sent to The Spoon, DoorDash customer searches for ‘Impossible burger’ have tripled since January of this year alone.

Why the Impossible burger and not, say, the Beyond burger? I’m guessing because Impossible just has a bigger restaurant footprint right now, what with its partnerships with fast-food chains like Burger King. In fact, DoorDash isn’t the only one to see a spike in orders for the bleeding plant-based burger. Back in July of this year Grubhub released a report showing that orders for the Impossible burger rose 82 percent in 2019.

The Impossible filter comes at a time when DoorDash needs to do whatever it can to stand out in the cutthroat food delivery space. DoorDash stole the title for the number one U.S. food delivery company from Grubhub in June of this year, and currently holds 35 percent of the market share. In order to hang onto that lead, the company is smart to experiment with ways to expand their offerings and attract more consumers. From ghost kitchens to filters featuring popular plant-based burgers, DoorDash has shown that they’re not afraid to experiment to keep their hold on the food delivery crown.

If you live in one of the aforementioned participating cities, you can order menu items featured in the Impossible carousel with $0 delivery fees from now until November 7th.

Impossible Foods Applies to Sell “Bleeding” Burgers in the EU

Impossible is gearing up to start selling across the pond. Bloomberg broke the news yesterday that the plant-based meat startup had filed with the EU to gain regulatory approval for their products — specifically soy hemoglobin, the molecule that gives Impossible’s meat its “bleeding” flavor and appearance.

We reached out to Impossible, who confirmed that it has indeed filed paperwork with the European Food Safety Authority, the EU agency that provides independent scientific advice regarding the food chain.

“Impossible Foods’ intention is to sell plant-based meat in every single region of the world,” the PR rep told me. “As always, the company will meet or exceed all food-safety regulations in every single region of the world, including Europe.”

Impossible might have a trickier time gaining EU regulatory approval than other areas of the world. Europe is far stricter on genetically modified foods than the U.S. While technically heme isn’t genetically modified — it’s the output of genetically modified yeast — it could still throw up some red flags for the European Food Safety Authority.

Even if it does again approval, Impossible will have to distinguish itself from very crowded plant-based meat space in Europe. Retail shelves already sport plenty of alt-meat options from giants like Quorn and Unilever’s Vegetarian Butcher. Nestlé also sells its plant-based burger in McDonald’s Germany. And let’s not forget that Beyond, Impossible’s chief competitor, currently sells in several countries in the EU and is opening a new manufacturing facility in the Netherlands.

Since Impossible’s plant-based meat technically is free from GMO’s, I’m guessing that eventually the company will get regulatory approval to sell in the EU. The bigger question is whether the market will be so saturated by then that Impossible won’t be able to create as much brand recognition as it has in other parts of the world.

Future Food: I Tried the Dunkin’ Beyond Sausage Breakfast Sandwich

This is the web version of our weekly Future Food newsletter. Subscribe to get the most important news about alternate and plant-based foods directly in your inbox!

I’m visiting New York this week, and as I was walking through the Financial District yesterday trying to get my bearings without head butting people walking upstream, I saw it. A sign from Dunkin Donuts for The Beyond Breakfast Sandwich. Great taste, plant-based and made with 10 grams of protein.

I had just had lunch mere minutes ago, but I had to try it. So I ducked in and ordered.

The first thing I noticed was how hard Dunkin’ is pushing the sandwich. It’s one of the most prominently featured menu items, and all of the employees were sporting t-shirts featuring the sandwich.

I paid my $4.78 (including tax) and unwrapped the sandwich. It looked kind of unremarkable — but no more so than a typical fast food sausage-egg-and-cheese breakfast muffin. However, the sausage patty was noticeably thicker than a typical meat one. The texture was spongy, similar to the Beyond burger, with a bit more chew. It was a grey color that resembled sausage more than the bright pink interior of a cooked Beyond burger resembles that of a medium-rare beef burger.

As far as taste goes, however, it was spot on. The patty was lightly spiced, salty, and fatty. True, this is coming from a vegetarian. So in the pursuit of journalistic excellence, I shared the sandwich with a carnivorous friend who said that if she didn’t know, she probably wouldn’t be able to tell that it wasn’t made of meat. “I think it’s better than the burger,” she said. “More similar to the product it’s imitating.”

Despite how hard Dunkin’ was pushing the sandwich, I didn’t see anyone else order it while I was there. Fair — it was 12 PM, and the sandwich is definitely more breakfast fare. I asked my cashier if people liked the Beyond Sausage Sandwich, and she said it was slowly getting more popular and that orders had really picked up over the past few weeks.

Dunkin’ is clearly counting on its popularity to keep rising. This week the chain announced it was rolling out the sandwich to all of its locations across the country starting next month. Though that’s no guarantee that they won’t pull them off menus at any time, like Tim Horton’s did in Canada.

Selfishly, I hope that doesn’t happen. I really enjoyed the Beyond Sausage sandwich and think it’s an important step for Beyond — and plant-based meat in general — to break into the fast-food breakfast space. Next up, maybe they’ll swap out the egg for a JUST Egg patty. Now that would definitely make it impossible for me to walk by a Dunkin’ without stopping in for a snack.

Gene editing our way to more protein

In this newsletter we talk a lot about alternative proteins meant to imitate (or replicate) meat, dairy, or eggs. It can be easy to forget about all of the other protein sources that might be sitting right under our noses.

Literally — look down at your shirt. This month the FDA approved a new gene-edited cotton plant whose seeds, which are protein-rich but typically contain a dangerous toxin, are safe to eat.

I know, lots of folks out there are GMO haters. But let’s put that can of worms aside for a moment and just think about the potential of gene-editing technologies — like the oft-mentioned CRISPR — to open up brand new protein sources. Or perhaps just make ones we already love more plentiful and better for the planet.

What other overlooked proteins are right under our noses?

Photo: Pizza Hut

Protein ’round the web

    • One Pizza Hut location in Arizona will be testing out a new pizza topped with plant-based meat from Morningstar Farms’ Incogmeato line.
    • Hawaiian gas station and convenience chain Minit Stop will swap in Impossible Foods’ “beef” for all of its traditional beef products (h/t VegNews).
    • Swiss startup Planted, which makes plant-based chicken, has raised 7 million Swiss francs (~$7 million USD), according to Crunchbase.
    • The Good Food Institute has awarded $4.5 million to accelerate research in plant-based and cultured meat in 2019.

That’s it from me this week! I’m off to get another Beyond Sausage Sandwich because… research?

Eat well,
Catherine

Next-Gen Blender, Edible Silverware and Produce-Saving Stickers Win SKS 2019 Startup Competitions

Every year at the Smart Kitchen Summit {SKS}, one of the most exciting parts of the whole event is the Startup Showcase. The competition gives young companies on the cutting-edge of food tech a chance to pitch to our audience and show off why their product/app/CPG product will change the way we eat.

The competition is so popular that this year we decided to grow it into two separate entities. The Startup Showcase focused on food technologies in kitchens, restaurants, and grocery, while the Future Food competition highlighted edible CPG products.

We whittled down the applicants to a few top-notch finalists and this week they pitched onstage before our panel of judges. And the winners are… (drumroll please)….

Startup Showcase Winner: StixFresh (pictured above)
Judges: Menachem Katz (WeWork Food Labs), Lisa McManus (America’s Test Kitchen), Joe Ray (Wired), Nicole Papantoniou (Good Housekeeping)

Roughly half of all food waste happens in the home. (That’s the reason we’re starting our new joint initiative with the Future Food Institute, The Wise Kitchen, which we announced at SKS 2019!) StixFresh makes a small food-safe sticker that, when put on produce, can extend its shelf life by a whopping two weeks. That’s the difference between throwing away a bunch of rotten fruit and eating it.

Our judges were so impressed by StixFresh’s potential to cut down on fruit and vegetable waste that it was named winner of the Startup Showcase. We can’t wait to see where this company goes next! Keep your eyes peeled for their stickers coming to a grocery store near you…

Photo: Scott Payton

Future Food Winner: Planeteer, LLC
Judges: Victoria Sparado-Grant and Michela Petronio (Barilla), Nina Meijers (Foodbytes!), Peter Bodenheimer (Food-X), Cheryl Durkee (Mealthy), Natalie Shmulik (The Hatchery)

As the popularity of food delivery grows, one of the unintended consequences is the uptick in single-use plastic cutlery. Startup Planeteer wants to replace plastic spoons (and eventually knives and forks) with tastier options. Yep, they make edible spoons, both sweet and savory, meant to cut down on the number of plastic cutlery that ends up in landfills. In addition to a sweet trophy, Planeteer’s team will be taking a trip to Italy to visit Blu1877, Barilla’s innovation arm.

The WeWork Food Labs and Millo teams. Photo: Scott Payton

Innovation Award: Millo
Judges: WeWork Food Labs team

The blender is one kitchen appliance that hasn’t seen a ton of innovation. Millo decided to change that by developing a smart, silent, cordless blender that looks cool enough to hang out all day on your countertop. Clearly the WeWork Food Labs team thought that the world was ready for a next-gen blender, since they awarded the Millo team with their WeWork Innovation Award. Along with the award, Millo will also get a desk in WeWork’s Food Labs.

Israeli Startup Future Meat Technologies Raises $14M Series A to Grow More Meat from Animal Cells

Today Future Meat Technologies announced it has closed a $14 million Series A funding round led by S2G Ventures and Emerald Technology Ventures, with participation from Manta Ray Ventures, Bits x Bites, and investor Henry Soesanto. This brings Future Meat’s total funding to $16.2 million.

Israel-based Future Meat makes a variety of meats, including beef and chicken, directly from animal cells. The company made waves in 2018 when it snagged a $2.2 million investment from Tyson Ventures. Future Meat’s Series A is the second largest investment round in the cultured meat sector to date, after Memphis Meats’ $17 million fundraise in 2017.

According to a press release from the company, Future Meat will funnel their new funding into R&D as well as construction on what they call “the world’s first cultured meat pilot production facility,” which they hope will begin operations in 2020. The startup is aiming to start selling what it calls “hybrid products,” which I’m guessing will be a combination of cell-based and traditional or plant-based meat, at a competitive cost level with traditional meat by 2021. It’ll then follow that with cultured meat products priced at under $10 per pound by 2022.

Future Meat’s cell-based chicken vs. farmed chicken. (Photo: Yaakov Nahmias)

One thing Future Meat didn’t mention in the press release, however, is how it plans to deal with regulatory hurdles. As I discussed with Lou Cooperhouse of BlueNalu and David Kay of Memphis Meats at SKS 2019 this week, a lack of regulatory standards is the main thing standing in the way of bringing cultured meat to market. At least in the U.S., where the FDA and USDA will jointly regulate the new technology, we have a few years to go before we’ll be able to purchase cell-based meat.

But that’s where its location — Israel — could be a major boon. Israel is a leader in tissue engineering, which means it could be more willing to speed up the regulatory process and get cultured meat to market faster. The country also currently imports the majority of its meat, despite its prioritization of food security and safety. Accelerating the entry of cultured meat and seafood to market could help the country bring more of its protein development within its borders.

Israel has yet to establish any regulatory guidelines for the sale of cultured meat, though it’s currently home to two other later-stage cultured meat startups: the aforementioned Aleph Farms and SuperMeat. The latter company has partnered with Israeli meat producer Soglowek to receive a share of its profits for product development.

Building the world’s first cultured meat production facility in the next few years is an extremely ambitious goal. However, as someone who covers this space a lot, it’s refreshing to see companies deviate from the company line of “we’ll see” and give concrete go-to-market timelines and pricing details. Future Meat may be reaching for the stars, but at least they’ve got $14 million to help them get that much closer.

Meet the 10 Finalists of the First Ever SKS Future Food Competition

On Tuesday, we introduced you to the 12 Startup Showcase finalists who will pitch at the Smart Kitchen Summit {SKS} this October. Now it’s time to meet the first ever Future Food cohort: 10 startups creating innovative new CPG products out of groundbreaking or sustainable ingredients.

Read on to get acquainted with the Future Food cohort finalists, who are making everything from cricket seasoning powders to upcycled ice cream to chewing gum that boosts your immune system. Then be sure to snag your tickets to SKS to see both them and the Startup Showcase pitches live this October!

Future Food Finalists

BASE FOOD Inc is a Japanese startup which uses seaweed, beans, and whole grains to make better-for-you alternatives to carbohydrate-heavy foods such as noodles or bread.

Burden of Proof makes sparkling non-alcoholic cocktail with herbs, citrus, and adaptogen cold brew tea packaged in aluminum cans.

Ice Creem Social takes leftover ingredients from kitchens in NYC, such as grain from beer brewing, aquafaba, and hemp, and upcycles them to create sustainable vegan ice cream.

Mighty Gum is Seattle-based company that makes enhanced chewing gum. Their first product, Immunity gum, is packed with extracts of ashwagandha, astragalus, elderberry, reishi mushroom, and zinc meant to strengthen your immune system and help manage stress.

nufuuds combines sustainably grown algae with food staples to create sustainable and nutrient-rich products and meal alternatives.

Orchestra Provisions focuses on mending broken food systems by creating products with sustainable and responsibly sourced cricket protein. Its first product is a spice line with eight flavors, and it’s developing a series of milks and protein powders, too.

Planeteer fights plastic waste in oceans by making spoons that are completely edible, vegan, and healthy for the planet.

Rebellyous Foods is a food production company creating delicious, juicy and affordable plant-based meats for the foodservice market.

Route to India provides consumers with “better-for-you” snacks inspired by Ayurveda while enhancing the lives and livelihoods of rural farmers in India. Their first product is a light, crunchy, healthy snack made from Asian water lily seeds.

Sophie’s Kitchen provides plant-based seafood alternatives, including shrimp, fish fillets, smoked salmon, crab cakes, scallops, calamari and sashimi.

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Curious about this diverse group of future food startups? Join us at the Smart Kitchen Summit on October 7-8! Be sure to get your tickets today and save 25% with code THESPOON25.

Future Food: The New Wave of Protein Might Come from Air, Not Plants

This is the web version of our weekly Future Food newsletter. Be sure to subscribe here so you don’t miss a beat!

Konichiwa! Greetings from the muggy, beautiful city of Tokyo, where we’ve set up camp this week in preparation for SKS Japan. I’ll be leading a panel on alternative proteins with speakers from JUST and Integriculture/Shojinmeat, so keep an ear to the ground for coverage on that conversation.

Tokyo really does seem to be a city of the future — especially when it comes to food. From sushi burritos delivered in cubbies to ramen via vending machine, the dining experience here is always incredibly thoughtful and efficient.

My time here has got me thinking about what sort of simple, elegant solutions might be out there for our food system right now that are right in front of our face.

One that comes to mind is Kiverdi. The San Francisco-based startup feeds carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen to special single-celled organisms to create edible proteins.

It almost sounds too good to be true. Since neither Kiverdi nor other companies turning air into protein (yes, there’s more than one!) have a product to market, it’s too early to tell if they’ll be able to deliver on their goals of creating affordable, super-sustainable protein from the air around us. But the timeline isn’t too distant: both Kiverdi and Finnish gas fermentation startup Solar Foods are hoping to bring a product to market in two years.

At that time, we’ll be able to see if Kiverdi and others can indeed make a neutral-tasting protein from carbon dioxide in a cost-competitive manner (which they claim they can already do). If so, it could rock our food system.

It could be used as an ingredient to make high-protein pastas or breads. It could become a sustainable vegan protein powder. It could be mixed with burgers or chicken nuggets to make blended meat products, further cutting down on emissions by reducing our meat consumption.

That’s just the start. Climate change is one of the most pressing issues facing our society today, and one of its biggest causes is the amount of carbon trapped in the atmosphere. If there’s a technology that sucks up excess carbon and not only sequesters it, but transforms it into something that can help feed the planet, I’d call that the future of food.

Photo: the Impossible Whopper at Burger King.

Vegan… ish?

If you’re grabbing a plant-based Impossible or Beyond burger at one of the many fast-food restaurants that now serve the burgers, you probably expect that the food you receive will be vegetarian.

Except not really. While the burger itself may be 100% free of animal products the finished combo meal might still have traces of meat due to the restaurant’s cooking process.

Most fast-food joints don’t have the space to carve out a special area just to cook plant-based meat. Burger King has admitted that the patties for its Impossible Whopper are flame-grilled in the same broiler as its chicken and beef products. Likewise, when I tried the Beyond Famous Star burger at Carl’s Jr. earlier this year the manager told me that the burgers are in fact cooked on the same grill as typical beef burgers. (Interestingly, White Castle has a completely separate grill surface to cook the Impossible sliders.)

I’m guessing it’s the same story at most fast-casual restaurants that serve meatless meat. Rare is the restaurant that has the capacity to designate a completely separate area to cook vegan items, unless that place already caters specifically to vegan diners. In fact, last year I went to a Seattle burger chain to try the Impossible burger for the first time (memories!!) and was told that the chefs try to prep the burger on a separate area of the grill, but when it gets busy that doesn’t always happen.

There’s also the fact that many plant-based meat options at fast-food aren’t inherently vegan: they’re dressed up with cheese and mayonnaise and served on egg-based buns. All of which makes sense, since QSR’s aren’t targeting vegans with their newly-adopted Beyond and Impossible products. Instead, they’re hoping to capture the curiosity of flexitarian diners looking to cut down on their meat consumption without sacrificing on flavor.

In the end, I can see how vegans might be annoyed to learn that they can’t really eat plant-based burgers. But I imagine to many, the end result — more people eating meatless meat — justifies the means. Perhaps if meatless meat gains enough popularity fast-food chains will create designated vegan cook areas.

Photo: Subway

Eat Fresh (Plants)

For a limited time this September, Subway will be testing out Beyond Meatball Marinara sandwiches in 685 locations in the U.S. and Canada. That’s a relatively small fraction, as Subway is the largest and fastest-growing fast-food chain with over 25,000 locations in the U.S. alone.

Then again, Beyond has now forged a partnership with the largest and fastest-growing fast-food chain globally. Forget McDonald’s (though they definitely haven’t) — this partnership indicates, as if we didn’t already know, that plant-based meat is becoming more and more of the norm.

Interestingly, the sandwiches feature Beyond meatballs developed specifically for Subway. It looks like more and more plant-based meat companies are developing unique products specifically for their fast-food partners. Dunkin’s new sandwiches contain Beyond breakfast sausages developed specifically for the chain, and Impossible created plant-based sausage specifically for Little Caesar’s.

This move tightens the screws on other QSR’s dragging their feet on adopting meatless meats. I think we’re one step closer to seeing a plant-based McGriddles sandwich.

Photo: Tyson Foods.

Protein ’round the web

  • eat.life, a food delivery app that only has vegan dining options, will launch in London in 2020 (h/t VegNews).
  • Tyson announced it will start selling its Raised & Rooted plant-based chicken nuggets (which contain egg whites) in 4,000 stores, and roll them out in foodservice this September.
  • FoodNavigator wrote a profile on FUMI Ingredients, a Dutch starting making a vegan egg substitute from yeast.

That’s it for this week! I’m off to eat my body weight in 7-11 Egg Salad sandwiches (yes they are actually *that* good).

Eat well,
Catherine

Future Food: Why Are Companies Chicken about Plant-Based Poultry?

This is the web version of our weekly Future Food newsletter. Be sure to subscribe here so you don’t miss a beat!

Hi guys. Seeing as it’s summertime, the season for grilling, lately I’ve had some deep thoughts about (plant-based) burgers. Specifically, why they’re one of the only options in the meatless meat section of my grocery store.

Like the Little Mermaid, I want more. Chicken is the most popular meat in America, so why can’t I find a decent plant-based version of it?

Tastes like…
There’s clearly a demand for plant-based poultry. KFC in the U.K. recently tested out a plant-based chicken patty called the Imposter Burger that sold out in just four days.

But considering the popularity of chicken, innovation has been surprisingly slow when it comes to finding an alternative to the real thing. Perhaps that’s because poultry has a far smaller environmental cost than cattle, so companies have prioritized beef over chicken. Or maybe the texture of chicken is harder to emulate than that of ground beef.

Nonetheless, we are starting to see a few leaders hatch:

  • Poultry processing giant Tyson launched its Raised & Rooted line last month. One of its first two products was a vegetarian “chicken” nugget made of pea protein and egg whites.
  • Swiss startup Planted makes meat-free chicken from pea protein, pea fiber, water and sunflower oil.
  • Last week NUGGS launched its plant-based chicken nuggets, which it delivers in boxes right to consumers’ doorsteps.
  • Rebellyous, formerly called Seattle Food Tech, also makes vegan chicken nuggets. It sells them wholesale to large-scale foodservice providers like schools and hospitals.
  • In the U.K., THIS, whose chicken “chunks’ are pictured above, just launched its plant-based poultry in stores yesterday.
  • Meatless meat veteran Quorn, which is available in 18 countries, has a variety of vegetarian and vegan chicken products.
  • Freezer aisle staples Morningstar Farms and Gardein offer plant-based nuggets.

Photo: Beyond Meat

There’s the Beef

That’s not to say alterna-beef is going anywhere. In fact, it’s only going to get eerily closer to the real thing.

I found that out the hard way when I cooked up a package of Beyond Beef, the new, “meatier” ground beef product from Beyond Meat. I haven’t eaten meat in quite a while, but dang — this took me back. The flavor was full of umami and the texture really mimicked the juicy give and bounce of ground beef.

As a vegetarian, that verisimilitude grossed me out. But my colleague Chris Albrecht and my carnivorous roommate were both big fans, though my roommate noted it had a slightly “chemically” taste.

Despite the positive reviews, I think it’ll take a while before people flock to Beyond Beef like they did to the original burger. Right now it costs $9.99 for one pound. That’s roughly on-par with organic, grass-fed beef. Most people I know would rather spring for higher-quality beef — which has a smaller environmental footprint than industrial beef and, some actually argue, a critical role in the ecosystem.

In fact, with its new ground “beef,” Beyond Meat may be entering the Uncanny Valley, something we’ve referenced frequently for humanoid robots but not for meat alternatives. Beyond Beef is almost indistinguishable from beef. But it’s just different enough — slight discrepancies in flavor, aftertaste, and texture — that it could be off-putting.

All that said, I’ll reiterate that I’m a vegetarian and Beyond Beef was too much like the real thing for me to enjoy it. It’s still quite new so we’ll have to see if flexitarians have beef with Beyond’s new offering.

Where in the world is Impossible Foods?

With all this talk about what will be the next hot plant-based meat, it’s easy to overlook the where piece. This week Impossible Foods’ SVP for International made the location question pretty clear when he laid out the startup’s expansion strategy.

One word: Asia.

We’ve seen this coming for a while now. Asia is the new hotspot for alternative protein innovation, both plant- and cell-based. It’s got a ton of consumer demand, a relatively open playing field, and ample manufacturing power. Add to that mixture the recent outbreaks of African swine fever, and Asia seems primed for an alt-meat revolution.

There are also a few local plant-based protein companies gaining traction there, including Omnipork and Phuture Meat. But there are currently lots more U.S. and European players, and they have more funding. We’ll likely see quite a few of them trying to carve out a piece of the Asian alt-protein market before the competition gets too fierce.

Photo: Business Newswire.

Protein ’round the web

  • A new food hall is opening in Providence, RI. The draw? All the businesses inside are entirely plant-based (h/t Forbes).
  • Beyond Meat will be popping up in Blue Apron’s meal kits this summer. Will the plant-based darling’s fame help the struggling meal kit company? Probably not.
  • Integriculture, the Japanese cellular agriculture company, is launching a joint research project with food processing giant NH Foods Ltd. to develop large-scale production processes for cell-based meat.

If you happen to be in Tokyo in August, you can see the founder of Integriculture, Yuki Hanyu, speak on a panel at SKS Japan about the future of protein. Tickets here. 

Be careful what you wish for. Finally, remember how Arby’s made meat into vegetables as a cheeky response to the rise in plant-based meat? Apparently, they got a lot more than they bargained for.

Eat well,
Catherine

Future Food: Is Fast Food’s Love Affair with Plant-Based Meat Going to Last?

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Whenever a musician, actor, or politician would go on the dearly departed satirical  show The Colbert Report, they would get something called “The Colbert Bump.” Host Stephen Colbert coined the term, which describes how his guests would experience an uptick in popularity/downloads/votes immediately after they appeared on the show.

Something similar is happening in fast food right now. After debuting a new plant-based meat item — usually featuring Impossible Foods or Beyond Meat — QSR’s are experiencing a bump in foot traffic and sales. So far we’ve seen it with Burger King, White Castle, and Del Taco.

Novelty is at least partially responsible. Consumers want to try these new meatless products that claim to taste — and even bleed — just like the real thing. The hype is spurred even further by the media frenzy around Beyond Meat’s still-climbing shares.

Once that novelty wears off, however, will people still keep coming back to Carl’s Jr. to try the Beyond Famous Star Burger, or return to White Castle to regularly order the Impossible Slider?

Certainly vegetarians and vegans will. By putting plant-based meat on the menu QSR’s are inviting in a whole new demographic that might not have been able to, or willing to, dine there before.

When it comes to flexitarians, however, the rate of return is less clear. Fast-food chains may be getting a lot of media buzz for embracing plant-based meat right now, which is helping them stand out from a crowded field where one burger combo is pretty much indistinguishable from any other. However, with the rapid pace of adoption, soon meatless meat will be commonplace for QSR’s (except for you, Arby’s).

Once all fast-food restaurants have rolled out their own plant-based options and consumers have given each of them a whirl, will meatless meats (and dairy, and eggs) stop being such a draw?

Seeing as the plant-based meat market is growing at 6.8 percent CAGR with no signs of slowing, I think there will still be plenty of consumers seeking out alternative proteins in fast-food. My guess is that the brand of plant-based meat will become more and more important; consumers might end up creating fast-food loyalties based off of their preference for Impossible, Beyond, or whatever other meatless brands make their way onto QSR menus (Nestlé, is that you?).

That’s a Whopper

Speaking of fast food and meatless meat, this week a San Francisco-based Spoon reader Tom G did what I did not (mea culpa!) and tried the new Impossible Whopper from Burger King. The plant-based patty launched in the Bay Area last week, the fifth region on the way to its nationwide rollout.

So what did he think? 

“It was good. Probably 85% of the way there,” Tom wrote.

A B+ ain’t bad. Interestingly, Tom noted that the Impossible Whopper had “a slightly artificial taste but since the Whoppers do already that’s ironically in their favor.” Some have complained about how plant-based meats are too filled with chemicals and heavily processed ingredients, but maybe that’s exactly what will make them such a good replacement for fast-food staples.

Photo: Allplants.

Protein new ’round the web

That’s it from me this week. I bought some cricket chips (cheddar flavor) on a whim, which are going to be my afternoon snack. I’ll report back.

Eat well,
Catherine

Future Food: Are Blended Meats the Future of Flexitarian Dining?

This is the web version of our weekly Future Food newsletter. The newsletter has exclusive additional content, so be sure to subscribe here so you don’t miss a beat!

Earlier today Tyson Foods announced Raised & Rooted, its long-awaited venture into the alternative protein space. Its first products aren’t strictly vegan; they include both animal products and plant-based ingredients. One is a vegetarian chicken nugget made with egg whites and plants and the other is a blended burger composed of Angus beef and pea protein.

Tyson isn’t the only Big Meat company diversifying into the alt-protein market. Just yesterday, Perdue — the fourth largest chicken producer in the U.S. (Tyson is the first) — announced it would also be releasing a line of blended chicken products. Interestingly, Perdue sourced some of its plant-based ingredients with help from Better Meat Co, the startup which makes vegan protein meant to be blended with meat to make it healthier and more sustainable.

Perdue and Tyson are smart to take baby steps into the alternative protein space, though at this point it’s clearly too big a market opportunity to ignore (except for Arby’s, apparently). By starting with blended products, major meat processing companies can grow their customer base into a new market, all while retaining its existing infrastructure.

But there will inevitably be some pushback by those claiming that blended burgers and nuggets are purely a marketing tactic from Big Meat. Which they, of course, are — and a smart one at that. By rolling out a line of (at least semi-) plant-based meats, companies like Tyson and Perdue are showing consumers that they are brands which have their finger on the pulse of what’s new and hip.

Vegetarians and vegans may see these products as a step in the wrong direction. But to those who get in a huff about blended meat, let me say this: it’s a step in the right direction. Sure, consumers who eat a Raised & Rooted burger are still eating meat — but they’re eating less meat than they would otherwise. It’s a good stop-gap until plant-based darlings like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods perfect their products, or cell-based meat takes over.

Beyond Meat’s new Beyond Beef.

For those who prefer their burgers sans meat, this week Beyond Meat announced it’s now selling the long-awaited Beyond Beef in one specific Whole Foods in Boulder, CO. (Fun fact: That location was the first-ever to sell Beyond’s plant-based patties in the meat section.) The company is also dropping a new, meatier version of its plant-based burger patties with better fat marbling to give the patties a texture more akin to beef and apple extract to make the meat brown once cooked.

It’s no surprise that Beyond is firing on all cylinders, debuting new products and improving old ones at a rapid clip. Especially when Big Food companies — Tyson and Perdue, sure, but also Nestlé and Unilever — are all waking up to the potential of the plant-based protein market.

Beyond may have had a wildly successful IPO and enjoy a strong foothold in retail right now, but it’s got competition coming in — and not just from Impossible. No wonder it’s aiming for such an accelerated growth rate in its first year as a public company.

Photo: KFC

Protein new ’round the web

  • KFC in the U.K. is launching “The Imposter,” a vegan chicken burger made of Quorn (h/t The Independent). It probably won’t be long before KFC U.S. follows suit.
  • Dutch food giant Vivera is going to focus 100 percent on plant-based protein. It just sold the meat company in its portfolio, Enkco, this week.
  • Curious about how to grill up Beyond Meat’s burgers and sausages? We’ve got your guide.

That’s it from me this week! I was in San Francisco recently and somehow didn’t get an Impossible Whopper from Burger King. I’m not sure I’ll ever forgive myself.

Eat well,
Catherine

Future Food: The Confusion around Cultured and Plant-Based Meat

This is the web version of our weekly Future Food newsletter. In it we cover the alternative protein landscape, from plant-based meat to cellular agriculture to insects. Subscribe here!

Plant-based meat companies are leveraging technology to create a product so good it makes eating meat from an animal unnecessary. Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat are both doing an excellent job of it so far, and will continue creating new iterations that taste even closer and closer to the real thing.

But where does cell-based meat — still likely a few years from our plates — fit into the equation? If plant-based meat tastes so good people will willingly choose it over the real thing, do we even need to bother making meat in a lab?

This week I tackled that question and zoomed out to take a broad picture of the alternative meat ecosystem, now and in 10 years. Spoiler: Yes, I think that cultured meat has a place in our future diets and is worth pursuing. See if I can convince you.

Photo: New Harvest.

*Is* plant-based meat actually healthy?

My boss Michael Wolf posted that piece on Linkedin got some interesting responses including one from Sean Butler, the Managing Director of LIDD Supply Chain Intelligence and former SVP of Retail at the meal kit startup Chef’d. He said:

I think that consumers may come to see the current crop of plant-based [meat] as “chemical-based” in the future, creating a strong opening for cellular meat, which can be billed as a (relatively) natural and sustainable alternative. Time will tell!

I’d always assumed consumers actually felt the opposite way. After all, plant-based meat is chiefly made up of recognizable ingredients, like soy and pea protein, whereas cell-based meat is more of a mystery — at least for those of us without a cell biology degree.

But just because we know the basic ingredients in plant-based meat doesn’t mean it’s necessarily more healthy. Many meat alternatives are quite high in fat (in order to mimic the juiciness of real meat), and are heavily processed to nail the texture. Despite this, plant-based meat companies like Beyond and Impossible typically market their products as healthy alternatives — which is one of the reasons why flexitarians are flocking to them in droves.

In the rapidly evolving world of alternative protein, it can be confusing for consumers to delineate healthy and non-healthy, natural and non-natural, meat and non-meat.

Mission (actually) Impossible

I got in a bit of a news kerfuffle this week. Spurred by a piece in the Washington Post, I wrote a story about how Burger King will start selling the Impossible Whopper in Sweden.

As it turns out… that’s not the case. A food tech-connected source in Sweden reached out to let us know that the new plant-based burger to be sold in BK is not, in fact, from Impossible and has nothing to do with the famous “bleeding” burger. A rep at Impossible later confirmed.

There’s one good reason that Impossible isn’t available in Europe yet, even while their competitor Beyond Meat is: heme. Impossible produces heme through genetic engineering. While we’re cool with that in the States, the EU is very hesitant about what sort of genetically engineered foods it allows to be sold. That’s one reason why I was surprised to hear that Impossible was moving into Sweden so quickly.

So which plant-based burger can Swedes expect to order from their local BK? According to an email from Iwo Zakowski, the General Manager of Burger King Sweden and Denmark, the new Unbelievable Whopper will be made with a plant-based burger composed of soy and wheat protein. He didn’t give the name of the producer but clarified that it wouldn’t be Nestlé’s Incredible Burger, which is on menus in McDonald’s Germany.

If you happen to be in Sweden and are able to take a taste, let us know what you think, wouldja?

Sausage party

It may not be in Sweden, but Impossible made some other expansion moves in the U.S. this week. They’re now at Little Caesar’s, whose new Impossible Supreme pie is topped with sausage made of Impossible’s “bleeding” plant-based meat.

Interestingly, this marks the first time the company has developed a unique, non-beef product for a restaurant partnership. Which makes me think that we’ll soon see a wave of new plant-based sausage products coming to market. Beyond’s already there, as are some veterans in the alterna-meat space like Field Roast and Lightlife. Now Impossible has followed suit. Maybe next they’ll roll out some plant-based breakfast sausage patties, or bratwursts for the grill?

Ocean Hugger Foods’ new plant-based eel sushi.

Protein new ’round the web

  • Ocean Hugger Foods, who make a vegan raw fish substitute from tomatoes, unveiled a new plant-based “eel” sushi at this weekend’s National Restaurant Association Show.
  • Livekindly: In the U.K., supermarket chain Aldi is expanding its line of private label plant-based products with “sausage” rolls and “chicken” burgers.
  • Nation’s Restaurant News: Pret A Manger is buying British competitor Eat and turning all of its locations into Veggie Prets, which only serve (you guessed it) vegan and vegetarian food.
  • malaymail: In Singapore, food delivery giant Deliveroo will offer dishes from eight restaurant brands made from Impossible Foods’ plant-based meat.

Eat well,
Catherine