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Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Impossible Foods

Impossible Makes its Plant-Based Sausage Available to All Restaurants in the U.S.

Well, that was fast. Impossible’s plant-based sausage, which debuted at CES in January of this year and recently rolled out nationally at Burger King and Starbucks, is now available to restaurants across the country, the company announced today.

Impossible is kicking off this expansion by debuting its sausage at 30 of the top diner-style restaurants around the country today. The list of diners was determined in conjunction with Yelp, and helps illustrate that any restaurant, not just the high-end or big brand names, can put Impossible sausage on its menu.

Impossible’s plant-based sausage comes in a 1.6-ounce pre-seasoned patty and arrives fully cooked. According to today’s press announcement, Impossible’s sausage has the same amount of protein, 60 more iron, 45 percent fewer calories, 60 less total fat, 50 percent less saturated fat and 0 mg of cholesterol than traditional meat-based sausage.

The rapid expansion of its sausage comes in stark contrast to the slow rollout of Impossible’s initial plant-based beef burger. The original Impossible burger debuted in 2016 and by the end of that year was still only in four restaurants. Along the way, Impossible ran into production issues before becoming widely available at restaurants, grocers and most recently, a direct to consumer site.

During a virtual press conference to announce the news today, I asked what the timeline was for consumer sales of Impossible sausage. Impossible Founder and CEO Pat Brown said that there is no announced date, but “before long you can count on it appearing in grocery stores.” Additionally, the company said that the consumer sausage would arrive far faster than the three years it took to get Impossible burgers directly to consumers.

Sales of plant-based meat have taken off during this pandemic, and recent moves from both Impossible and its main rival, Beyond Meat, have capitalized on this plant-based boom. As noted, Impossible recently launched a direct to consumer site to sell its burgers. And Beyond, which has its own sausage patty already at retail, launched a bulk package of its burgers that narrowed its price gap with animal based burgers.

With states slowing down or halting re-openings, who knows when we will be able to fully go back into restaurants, but when we do, Impossible sausage might just be on the menu at your favorite local diner.

Planterra’s Plant-based Meat Brand Ozo Hits Retail Store Shelves, E-Commerce

JBS-owned Planterra Foods announced this week it will launch its first Ozo product on grocery stores shelves in June, and will also make them available direct to consumers via its e-commerce site. To start, the brand will launch its burgers (two-4 oz patties), its Ground product (12 oz), and Mexican-Seasoned Ground (12 oz).

Colorado-based Planterra first announced Ozo in March of this year, saying the new line of plant-based products would include burgers, grounds, and meatballs. All Ozo products are a mix of pea protein and rice protein fermented with shiitake mycelia (root). 

According this week’s press release, Ozo products will hit store shelves in several different states:

Albertsons and Safeway locations in Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota and Wyoming; Kroger* stores in 12 states (Alabama, Arkansas, California, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio and Tennessee) and, as well as military bases across the country.

Customers will also be able to order Ozo’s meatless meat through the brand’s website and through Wild Fork Foods for customers in Florida.

And for those looking to try before they buy, Planterra is also sending out its own fleet of vans to offer curbside-pickup samples of its products during the rest of June. Those vans will make stops in Denver, Boulder, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Additional cities are planned for the next 12 months, including Seattle, San Francisco, and Nashville, among others. Finally, “special deliveries will be made to fire stations, hospitals and other locations to serve frontline workers this summer,” according to the company press release.

Selling meatless meat directly to consumers is fast becoming a standard trend for companies, particularly with the restaurant industry — formerly a key channel for plant-based products — still in the throes of its pandemic-induced upheaval. Earlier this month, Impossible launched a direct-to-consumer channel for its “bleeding” meat products that’s available to anyone in the lower 48 states. Its chief competitor Beyond followed with an announcement of its own forthcoming D2C store, which is slated to launch at some point this summer. 

Meanwhile, demand for plant-based meat keeps rising, thanks in no small part to panic buying sprees and meat shortage scares, and online grocery shopping has hit record numbers in the last couple months. That makes now an ideal time to launch direct-to-consumer stores, and also to get new meat alternatives onto store shelves across the country.

It’s unclear if the demand for online grocery shopping will keep now that economies are reopening, so Planterra’s Ozo shop, not to mention those of other plant-based retailers, may or may not be a hit. That said, Ozo’s website says products can be stored frozen for up to 60 days, so flexitarians wanting to stock up may find a D2C e-commerce site a convenient addition to their online shopping.

Impossible Launches Direct Consumer Sales So You Can Buy its Plant-Based Burgers in Bulk

As the company hinted at last week, Impossible Foods officially launched its first direct-to-consumer online store today. This means anyone in the lower 48 states can order packages of the plant-based burger for direct home delivery.

According to the press announcement, Impossible’s D2C site will sell the following packages:

  • Impossible Convenience Pack includes four 12-oz. packages for $49.99
  • Impossible Combo Pack includes two 12-oz. packages and ten quarter-pound patties for $59.99
  • Impossible Family Pack includes a single, 5-lb bulk package for $64.99
  • Impossible Grilling Pack includes 20 quarter-pound patties for $69.99

Shipping is free with a two-day delivery window. Impossible also says that its packaging is compostable and recyclable, though the company didn’t provide many specifics. Lots of food delivery companies make similar claims nowadays, though the extent to which their packaging is truly compostable and/or recyclable depends on the types of waste facilities available to each consumer.

The addition of a D2C channel is welcome news to flexitarians like myself, and would seem to mark an entirely new chapter for Impossible. When we first started writing about the company, its products were only available in select restaurants. Last year it started its methodical rollout at grocery retailers, and Impossible meat is now sold in more than 3,000 stores nationwide.

However, it’s still not available in stores up near my neck of woods outside Seattle, so this flexitarian is happy to be able to buy in bulk directly from Impossible. (I’ll just add it to the ways in which my life is migrating to mail order.)

Impossible’s D2C play also ups the ante in its rivalry with Beyond Meat, the other leading plant-based burger company. Beyond enjoyed a healthy lead with its retail footprint, but Impossible’s news today suggests it can now leapfrog the store altogether (and get all kinds of consumer data in the process).

As weird as it is to say, Impossible is launching this direct channel at quite possibly the perfect time. The COVID-19 pandemic drove people into buying food online (and kept them doing so for months). Plant-based meat sales have skyrocketed during the pandemic. And the pandemic has shone a bright light on the logistical and ethical issues surrounding the consumption of animal meat.

Will all this interest in online grocery shopping and plant-based meat outlast COVID-19? That remains to be seen, but at least now we can see how much of the country (at least the lower 48) shops directly from Impossible, now that it’s possible.

Impossible Foods Accelerates Retail Rollout with Kroger, Now in 2,700 Grocery Stores

Impossible Foods is massively expanding its retail footprint. Starting today, the plant-based burgers will be available at an additional 1,700 Kroger stores and banners. According to a live press release from the company, this puts Impossible at more than 2,700 retailers total nationwide.

Impossible’s plant-based beef will be sold in 12-ounce packages and priced between $8.99 and $9.99. It can be found in the frozen, fresh, or plant-based sections of Kroger stores. The Impossible beef will also be available on Kroger.com.

This news comes just a few weeks after Impossible began selling its plant-based beef in 777 supermarkets in the Albertson’s portfolio in California, Indiana, Illinois and Nevada. That expansion put its retail footprint at roughly 1,000 grocery stores nationwide. Now, with the new Kroger news, Impossible has more than doubled that number.

Restaurant dining room shutdowns have been devastating for Impossible’s thousands of foodservice partners. Some restaurants are selling uncooked 5-pound bricks of Impossible Foods’ beef directly to customers to supplement their revenues, though it’s not clear if they’ll continue to do that as Impossible amps up its retail footprint.

Since their foodservice sales are no doubt taking a hit right now, it’s no surprise that Impossible is making a hard pivot to focus on retail. In fact, a press release emailed to The Spoon notes that the company plans to expand its retail presence “more than 50-fold” in 2020.

Coronavirus actually offers a prime opportunity for the company to roll out in grocery stores. As COVID-19 disrupts meat manufacturing and shortages loom, plant-based meat is experiencing a bit of a boom — making it a smart time for Impossible to accelerate its retail rollout.

Impossible has been adamant that, unlike traditional meat producers, the coronavirus will not affect their supply chain. In fact, the company announced a $500 million Series F round back in March at least partially intended to help them weather the volatility of the coronavirus pandemic. With its hefty warchest and robut retail presence, it seems like Impossible will come out of the coronavirus pandemic stronger than when it went in.

Impossible Foods Will Be in Nearly 1,000 Retailers Starting Tomorrow

As of tomorrow, you’ll have a lot more opportunities to buy Impossible Foods’ meatless “bleeding” burgers. The company announced via a press conference on Facebook Live today that it will roll out its flagship plant-based beef product to 777 supermarkets in California, Indiana, Illinois and Nevada on April 17. All stores are part of the Albertson’s family, which includes Safeway, Jewel-Osco, and Wegmans. Impossible’s CCO Rachel Konrad noted in the conference that the expansion will put Impossible in almost 1,000 grocery stores nationwide.

This news comes just a few months after Impossible announced a $500 million Series F round — “the largest fundraising round for a food tech company in the history of the world,” according to Konrad. Impossible currently has a total of $1.2 billion in funding.

The plant-based beef will be sold in 12-ounce packages which will cost $8.99 to $9.99, depending on the retailer. Konrad also noted that the product might be available in several different sections of the grocery store — you might find it in the meat section, vegan section, or even the frozen section.

While Impossible has been planning to expand its retail footprint since it first launched in Southern California last fall, it’s no surprise that they’re making a big push now. In fact, Brown stated that the company had actually accelerated the launch in response to the coronavirus. However, he also admitted that COVID-19’s effect on the restaurant industry was challenging for Impossible’s foodservice partners — all 15,000 of them. “It’s been devastating,” Dennis Woodside, the President of Impossible, added.

In an effort to pad sales, Impossible worked with the FDA to allow its restaurant partners to sell uncooked 5-pound bricks of Impossible Foods beef directly to consumers. But that’s a short-term fix, and more a way to help the restaurant augment their sales than anything else.

The time is ripe for Impossible to start concentrating on its grocery presence. “We think retail is going to be a very large business,” said Woodside, noting that the company has added a second line at its manufacturing facility specifically to cater to grocery.

During the conference, Woodside also weighed in on the fact that COVID-19 is also disrupting manufacturing supply chains left and right. Meat production, specifically, has been disrupted by factory shutdowns due to employee sickness. Woodside made a point to contrast that with Impossible’s manufacturing setup, which is automated and therefore “much easier to keep people apart” than in meat processing plants.

Brown also touched on a point that’s been a favorite of alternative meat companies ever since the pandemic hit. He stated that COVID-19 was introduced to the human population through the consumption of wild animals, and that “our reliance on animals as a source of food is not only an environmental disaster… but is at the root of some of the largest public health risks to the human population.”

There’s some pushback against that argument. But one thing that’s not in question, at least for this reporter, is that Impossible burgers are delicious. Sadly since I’m based in Seattle I won’t be able to purchase any Impossible Beef on my next masked grocery run — but at the speed that Impossible is expanding, I have to bet that time isn’t too far away.

Restaurants Can Now Sell Impossible Foods’ “Beef” Directly to Customers

There’s a new silver lining to the coronavirus pandemic: more of us can now get our hands on Impossible Foods’ plant-based beef. The startup announced today on Linkedin that the FDA will now allow all of Impossible’s restaurant partners to sell the Impossible Burger directly to customers in 5 lb. bricks, 1/4 lb. patties, and 1/3 lb. patties.

In order to sell the burgers, the restaurants must give customers a printed out copy of a PDF outlining the ingredients and allergens in the Impossible Burger. Pricing is at the discretion of the restaurant itself.

Admittedly, this initiative is probably not going to radically alter the course of any foodservice establishments. Restaurants are struggling to stay afloat after COVID-19 has forced the vast majority to shutter their dining rooms and pivot to takeout and delivery only. The numbers are sobering: over 3 percent of restaurants are already permanently closed, and NPD reports that restaurant customer transactions declined by 42 percent in the last week of March, compared to the same time period the year before.

Depending on how they price the uncooked Impossible Burger, restaurants are still likely able to make more money selling a finished Impossible product (i.e., a cheeseburger) than the raw material. But if they can’t sell enough of those, selling the raw product is a good way to get rid of inventory — especially if the restaurant is preparing to shut its doors, either temporarily or permanently.

In the end, this move might be more of a boon for consumers. According to NPR, sales of plant-based meat were up roughly 280 percent over the first two weeks of March. However, Impossible Foods’ ground “meat” is only available in select grocery stores in California and mid-Atlantic states. At the same time, over 15,000 restaurants sell Impossible Foods. If they do choose to sell to customers, that will dramatically increase the number of people who can buy uncooked Impossible “meat” to cook at home.

In Seattle, I have been sadly unable to get my hands on the plant-based “bleeding” burgers (outside of restaurants). Impossible’s new initiative will give folks like me, who love Impossible burgers and want to find ways to support their local restaurants, another opportunity to do so. It may be a relatively small silver lining, but in times like these we’ll take what we can get.

You can search for nearby restaurants that sell Impossible Burgers here. Give them a ring to see if they’re selling the raw plant-based burgers, and how much it’ll cost you to get your heme fix.

Impossible Foods Raises $500 Million Series F to Weather Global Volatility

Impossible Foods, makers of the eponymous plant-based meat, raised a $500 million round of funding late last week, Forbes first reported early this morning. Impossible added on Linkedin that it was a Series F round, and Reuters reports this brings the total amount raised by the company to $1.3 billion.

The round was led by South Korean firm Mirae Asset Global Investments, with participation from existing investors Khosla, Horizons Ventures, and Temasek.

Impossible’s fundraise comes amidst a global pandemic that has caused disruptions to daily lives around the world. Impossible Foods’ CFO David Lee wouldn’t comment on whether flexitarians are stockpiling Impossible meat, but he did say:

“With what’s happening in the world, it’s important to reassure our customers that we are built to withstand short-term shocks,” Lee said. “We’re able to stand tall. We have the ability with long-term investors.”

Just a couple months ago (though it feels like a lifetime), Impossible debuted its plant-based pork at CES in January and launched a plant-based Impossible Sausage Croissan’wich with Burger King.

Fast forward to now and the spread of COVID-19 alters our reality on an ongoing basis. With markets tumbling and a potential recession on the horizon (or already here), raising a sizeable round of funding makes a lot of sense for Impossible. Plant-based meat rival Beyond Meat went public last year, and plans to open up a new production facility in Asia by the end of this year.

Even with enough funding, this pandemic could impact Impossible in other ways. As my colleague, Catherine Lamb wrote last week:

Supply chains are another thing that could well be affected by COVID-19. Import restrictions in China have dramatically slowed down the country’s exports of meat and poultry. Alternative protein companies who import their plant-based ingredients from other countries, especially China, could also face production slowdowns as trade slows.

With fresh capital and a bulked up war chest, Impossible navigating this crisis is way more, well, possible.

Future Food: Impossible Burgers During Lent? Meatless Meat and Religious Dietary Laws

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!

The world is full of scary headlines right now (wash those hands!), but flexitarians at least got some good news this week when Impossible Foods announced it would be cutting wholesale prices 15 percent to help the product reach price parity with traditional beef. As I wrote in my piece covering the news, this is a significant step for Impossible as the company sprints towards its goal of replacing all animal agriculture by 2035.

But no matter how close Impossible Foods gets to imitating the flavor, cooking properties and even bloodiness of meat, it’s still not, well, meat. Given that, do the products even carry the same significance as meat?

That question came to mind this week when I read a story in Food & Wine discussing the issue of Catholics eating Impossible — and other meatless meats — during Lent. Lent is traditionally a time when Catholics and other Christians eschew all meat (besides fish and seafood). But do plant-based beef and pork that taste very uncannily like the real thing count as meat?

Impossible’s new plant-based pork [Photo: Impossible Foods]

The Bible doesn’t cover this one. (For its part, the Church has not come out with a statement about whether plant-based meat is appropriate for Lent.) But as plant-based meat improves and starts tasting and behaving just like the real thing, its role within certain diets will become more and more relevant.

Just like some vegetarians and vegans see no reason to eat meatless meats — why would they when they’re perfectly happy with vegetables and legumes? — I expect some who adhere to religious diets won’t be tempted to try Beyond, Impossible and the like.

Others will. While this is just conjecture on my part, I’m sure there’s a contingent of kosher folks, for example, who will be very keen to sample Impossible’s new plant-based pork, which is certified as both halal and kosher by the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America (IFANCA) and Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (OU), respectively. At least some restaurants are on board — for example, this month the Halal Shack will begin serving the Impossible Burger.

The larger question at play is this: As the offerings from Impossible and Beyond get closer and closer to imitating meat, at some point do they actually become meat — at least in terms of meaning, taboo, and cultural connotations?

It’s a complex quandary to be sure, and one that we won’t solve in this newsletter (sorry!) But as Impossible and others make better-and-better imitations of meat, it’s a topic that will likely become more contentious.

And once cell-based meat — which is actual meat, just made without killing an animal — comes on the scene? That’s when things will get really sticky.

Grounded Foods’ camembert, made of cauliflower and hemp. [Photo: Catherine Lamb]

The next realm of plant-based innovation? Cheese.

Something that’s a little less controversial than the religious significance of plant-based meat? Vegan cheese. An ever-growing number of consumers are seeking it, but, at least according to this writer, no company has yet to truly nail the concept.

But last week when I was in New York for Customize, our food personalization summit, I tried some products that were pretty darn close. Grounded Foods is a new startup that ferments everyday ingredients like cauliflower, oats, and hemp seed to make surprisingly realistic plant-based cheese, including camembert, gruyere, feta, and more.

It’s about damn time! We have made plant-based versions of meat, fish, milk, and ice cream that are good enough to if not fool the average consumer then at least keep them satisfied. But cheese has long eluded even the most innovative of plant-based companies, despite the dozens of SKUs on the shelf.

Are Grounded Foods’ products as good as actual cheese? No. But they do come the closest of the offerings that I’ve seen and tasted thus far. I’m hoping that 2020 will be to cheese what 2018 was to plant-based meat: the year when we start to see a variety of actually good-tasting options hit the market. I’ll get my crackers ready.

Photo: Good Catch Foods

Protein ’round the web

That’s it from me this week. I’m off to go stockpile some oat milk, just in case.

Eat well,
Catherine

Impossible Foods Cuts Price to Reach Goal of Replacing Meat by 2035

Impossible Foods is now taking concrete steps towards its goal of replacing animal agriculture by cutting the price of its plant-based “bleeding” burgers. The Redwood City, California-based startup said today in a press release that it was slashing prices an average of 15 percent across all U.S. foodservice products (not including retail). The company is also rolling out new products, including quarter-pound and third-pound versions of its plant-based “bleeding” burger patty.

If you’ve ever ordered an Impossible burger out at a restaurant, odds are you’ve had to pay an upcharge. At fast-food spots like Burger King, subbing an Impossible patty is a roughly $1.75 add-on — but I’ve seen upcharges as steep as $5 at some higher-end burger joints. That premium poses a significant hurdle for Impossible Foods, whose long-term goal is to reach price parity with even industrially produced “cheap” beef.

Dr. Pat Brown, CEO and founder of Impossible Foods, hasn’t been shy about his company’s goal to usurp industrial animal agriculture. “Today’s price cut is just the latest step toward our goal of eliminating animals in the food system,” Brown stated in the press release. He also said that the company would continue to drive down prices through economies of scale until they could undercut the cost of conventional ground beef from cows.

That’s ambitious, for sure. But Impossible is certainly doing its darndest to establish its largest footprint possible. Over the past year, the company has forged new partnerships at an astounding speed, especially with high volume, fast-food chains. Its plant-based burger is now on menus at thousands of restaurants, including Burger King, Qdoba, White Castle, and, as of last month, Disneyland Resorts. The startup has also set its sights on international expansion in both Europe and Asia — including China.

With great fast-food growth comes great responsibility. (That’s how the expression goes, right?) The more partners Impossible gains, the more damaging it would be if the company hit another embarrassing product shortage. Impossible has for some time been aware of its need to dramatically increase production capacity in order to avoid future shortages. It seems that in doing so, the company is already beginning to reap the benefits of economies of scale —namely, cheaper plant-based beef for you and me.

When we interviewed Brown at CES in 2019, he called out price cuts as a key step in achieving Impossible’s goal: to replace traditional animal agriculture by 2035. Price parity is critical if plant-based meat is ever going to usurp cheap, delicious beef. Flexitarians — which are the target demographic for Impossible Foods — might try the Impossible burger once or twice out of curiosity, but it’s hard to convince them to make a behavioral change that will end up costing them significantly. Especially since Impossible burgers aren’t really healthier than their meaty counterparts.

Restaurants are conscious of this barrier. For example, Burger King added the Impossible Whopper to its 2 for $6 deal. I’m sure that BK and others are hoping that the Impossible price cuts will mean not only cheaper plant-based meat for all, but also more repeat customers coming in their doors.

Poop vs. Methylcellulose: Impossible Responds to Critical Super Bowl Ad

If you watched the Super Bowl yesterday, you may have noticed a particular ad vying for your attention between plays. The Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF), a lobbying agency, made a commercial claiming that laxatives were used in plant-based meat.

The spot, which aired in the DC market, showed a spelling bee where a cute child had to try and spell “methylcellulose,” which the spelling bee guide defined as “a chemical laxative that is also used in synthetic meat.” A voiceover went on to say that meat alternatives contain dozens of chemical ingredients and “if you can’t spell or pronounce it then maybe you shouldn’t be eating it.”

Synthetic Meat Spelling Bee Commerical: 30 sec

The commercial is a clear swipe at plant-based meat companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, both of which are already battling naysayers (including chains like Chipotle) who claim their product is too processed or artificial.

But Impossible Foods at least didn’t take the challenge lying down. The alternative meat company clapped back by releasing a parody of the CCF’s ad. In it, another spelling be contestant has to spell a much simpler word: “poop.” The pronouncer, played by Impossible Foods’ CEO Pat Brown, defined it as the bacteria-filled stuff that “comes out of your butt” and is also “in ground beef we make from cows.”

A voiceover then goes on to state that out of 300 samples of ground beef tested by Consumer Reports in 2015, all of it contained fecal bacteria (even samples from grass-fed and organic cows). “Just because a kid can spell poop, doesn’t mean that you or your kids should be eating it,” the spot concludes.

Impossible™ Spelling Bee

This isn’t the first time that the CCF has thrown shade at meat alternatives. Just last week the group took out a full-page ad in The New York Times featuring two lists of ingredients. On the top it asked “Fake Meat or Dog Food: Which is Which?”

It’s also not the first time that Impossible Foods has taken a stand against alt-meat critics. Last May the startup published a strongly-worded rebuttal against an article claiming that plant-based meat contained weed killing chemicals.

It’s tempting to dismiss the CCF, which is a right-wing organization with a sketchy-at-best agenda, as biased extremism. The lobbying group is “supported by restaurants, food companies, and thousands of individual consumers,” and it seems safe to assume that at least some of those companies have a stake (steak?) in the meat industry. Of course they want to criticize plant-based meat any way they can — and an easy tactic is to frame it as synthetic, heavily processed, and “fake.”

Personally, I think yesterday’s commercial-off goes to show that when it comes to the fight for consumer’s protein choices, there are lots of ways to spin it. Yes, plant-based meat has more ingredients, including some unfamiliar ones. But just because you can’t pronounce them doesn’t mean they’re inherently bad for you. In fact, as CNET points out, methylcellulose is an ingredient that’s also used in baked goods and desserts, making it relatively innocuous.

Meat, on the other hand, has a very simple ingredient list. But there are plenty of unsavory aspects to the meat industry, including environmental costs and the whole eating-dead-animals thing. It goes to show just how critical a role that marketing will play in framing consumer perceptions of meat, both plant-based and traditional.

Yesterday’s commercial-off illustrates that criticism against plant-based meat is not going anywhere. In fact, the more that the alternative meat space grows in popularity, the more fire it will attract from beefy opponents. Impossible and others should be ready to weather the storm (and fight back), both on the advertising field and off.

Future Food: Impossible’s Plans Post-CES and Snoop D-O-Double G Sandwiches

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Anyone who follows the alternative meat space even a little knows that last week Impossible Foods unveiled its latest product — plant-based ground pork — at CES 2020.

You can read our post (including a taste test) on the event here. But during the ensuing press conference with Impossible CEO Pat Brown, several interesting tidbits about Impossible’s strategy — regarding R&D, expansion, mission, and more — came to light. Here are some of the most intriguing plant-based nuggets from the evening:

Impossible goes international
“International markets, as they grow, will be a very important part of our future,” Brown told the crowd at CES.

One market in particular: China. Brown has already stated that Asia — and China specifically — is a major area of focus for the company. And how could it not be? After all, China is the world’s largest consumer of meat and is struggling as the African Swine Fever is causing pork prices to skyrocket.

The scene is set for plant-based pork to make its move, but Impossible isn’t the only one making its move. Omnipork, based in Hong Kong, just began selling its plant-based pork on the mainland, including in several Taco Bells.

I’ve tried both Omnipork and Impossible Pork and have to say that I preferred the Impossible version; it was juicier and fattier with a bit more flavor. However, Omnipork’s alt-pork was developed specifically to the tastes of Asian consumers, which could give it an edge over Impossible when both begin selling in China.

That said, with a population of 1.4 billion and the African Swine Flu still looming, there’s ample opportunity for multiple plant-based pork options to court Chinese audiences. (Beyond Meat, time to make your move.)

The Impossible Cheesesteak [Photo: Impossible Foods/LIveNation.]

What’s next?
Last year at CES Brown told us in an interview that next up the company would develop “whole cuts of meat,” AKA steak.

I’m sure Impossible scientists are hard at work on that right now, but steak ain’t all they’re making. “If it’s a food that comes from animals today you can be sure that people on our R&D team are working on a more delicious, healthier, and vastly more sustainable plant-based alternative,” Brown said during the Impossible Pork conference this year.

He mentioned steak, fish, and, a crowd favorite, bacon. “We’ve already played around with it,” Brown said. But he added that they wouldn’t release a product until it was so good that even “the most hardcore bacon worshipper thinks it’s awesomely delicious.”

Considering that bacon presents a much harder textural challenge than ground meat, like beef and pork, that could be a while. Especially since bacon requires differing strips of meat and fat, which cook to distinct textures. But once they do achieve it — and considering their massive warchest and heavy R&D focus, I really think they will — Brown mentioned another first for the company: “the world’s first kosher bacon cheeseburger.”

Meatballs made with Impossible Pork at CES [Photo: Catherine Lamb]

Mission: Impossible?
Brown has often repeated Impossible’s lofty and very ambitious mission: to make animal agriculture as food production technology obsolete by 2035. The company is trying to do that by replacing animal meat with plant-based in flexitarians’ diets. “A sale for us only counts if it comes at the expense of the animal-based food production industry,” Brown said at the press conference last week.

There’s no question that Impossible is selling a significant amount of its plant-based meat; it’s available at over 15,000 restaurants globally, including more 7,000 Burger Kings (some of which will soon begin selling Croissan’wiches made with Impossible pork sausage). It’s also sold in retailers in eight regions.

But does Impossible’s rise actually take away from meat sales? Sure, if a flexitarian decides to buy an Impossible burger instead of a beef one, that’s one less burger consumed at that juncture.

However, meat consumption is at an all-time high and projected to rise, especially in developing nations (where, admittedly, plant-based meat is not widely available). In short: just because consumers are demanding more plant-based options doesn’t mean they are necessarily using them to replace meat. We don’t have the data on how rolling out Impossible Whoppers impacted Burger King’s beef sales, but it’s something to keep an eye on.

As the dangers of climate change loom, it’s hard not to root for solutions, like Impossible’s, that can reduce our environmental impact — especially if they taste d**n good. But the statistics are daunting. If Impossible has a prayer of achieving its goal by 2035, it’ll have to double down on production capacity and keep forging new retail & foodservice partnerships, especially in fast food.

And get to work on making bacon, stat.

Photo: Sweet Earth Foods

Protein ’round the web
– Nestlé-owned Sweet Earth Foods, maker of the plant-based Awesome burger, has announced its inaugural national restaurant partner: Ruby Tuesday.
– Select Tim Horton’s locations in the U.K. will begin selling sandwiches made with meatless sausage from company Moving Mountains (h/t VegNews).
– This, a U.K. startup that makes plant-based chicken and pork (including bacon), just raised £4.7 million ($6 million) in seed funding (via Agfunder News).
– Good Catch Foods, maker of plant-based seafood including fish-free tuna, announced its $32 million Series B.

Photo: Beyond Meat

Finally, if you live near a Dunkin’ and do not care about your arteries, you might want to try the new ‘Beyond D-O-Double-G Sandwich,’ which consists of a Beyond sausage patty, egg, and cheese served on a sliced glazed donut. Then please tell me how it tastes so I can live vicariously through you.

Burger King to Launch New Impossible Sausage Croissan’wich to Compete with Dunkin’

When it comes to breakfast, Burger King diners will soon be able to have it their way with meatless Impossible sausage.

Last night at CES, Impossible Foods unveiled its plant-based pork, its second product since it launched its meatless “bleeding” beef in 2016. (We tasted it, and it was awesome.) Amid samples of meatless banh mi and dumplings, the company dropped one more doozy of an announcement: It had also developed plant-based pork sausage, which would start selling at select Burger King locations later this month.

Impossible sausage, which is essentially a pre-seasoned, pre-formed patty of its plant-based pork, will feature in the Burger King Impossible Croissan’wich, which will also include egg and cheese (so it’s not vegan). It will hit the menus of 139 Burger Kings in Savannah, Georgia; Lansing, Michigan; Springfield, Illinois; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Montgomery, Alabama starting on January 13. Pricing was not disclosed, though it’s worth noting that the Burger King’s Impossible Whopper is priced at only $1 more than a meaty Whopper.

This move is almost a no-brainer for Burger King. The fast-food chain has benefitted from media buzz plus increased foot traffic and check size ever since it unveiled the Impossible Whopper back in August 2019. It’s no wonder that the fast-food giant wanted to expand that popularity to its breakfast menu.

It’s also a way for them to challenge Dunkin’, which rolled out its Beyond Breakfast Sandwich nationwide a full three months ahead of schedule due to high demand. As I’ve noted before, breakfast is a lucrative, relatively un-crowded space primed for plant-based products. 2019 may have been the year many fast-food restaurants introduced meatless burgers, but I think 2020 will be the year they expand the offerings to vegan sausage, eggs, etc. Impossible also has an advantage since Burger King is a national chain, while Dunkin’ is mainly on the East Coast.

Those eager to try the Impossible Croissan’wich will have to hope that Impossible won’t run into production issues, which the startup has struggled with in the past. Impossible is very aware of the risk. At CES Pat Brown admitted to the audience that “production capacity is our biggest challenge right now,” but was confident that the company wouldn’t face a shortage again.

That remains to be seen, as does the quality of the Impossible Croissan’wich. But what’s not in question is that breakfast is a hot play for the meatless market — and Impossible/BK are smart to tap into it sooner rather than later.