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Future Food: In Its Second Year, the Good Food Conference is All About Growth

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

Greetings! I’m writing this week’s newsletter from the Good Food Conference — the place where all the cool kids in the alternative protein space gather to network, listen to panels on plant- and cell-based meat, dairy, and eggs and sample all the latest alt-protein treats. It’s a madcap ride fueled by plant-based breakfast burritos (verdict: amazing) and lots of coffee.

I attended the first Good Food Conference last year, when it was a relatively intimate gathering of folks in the plant-based and cell-based meat space — a lot of startups and academics. Stepping into the event this year, I was blown away by how quickly it has grown. In terms of audience and venue size, sure — but also in terms of legitimacy. Here are a few things I noticed:

Playing with the big boys

Last year’s attendees and speakers consisted mostly startups and a few investors. This year, however, representatives from Big Food companies JBS, Perdue, and ADM all took the stage to talk about why they were interested in getting in on the alt-meat revolution.

“We are the biggest protein company and will remain the biggest protein company,” said Christy Lebor, the Global Innovation Lead for JBS, on the conference stage. “If plant-based is what it takes then we’ll do that.”

When I asked Bruce Friedrich, co-founder and executive director of the event’s organizer the Good Food Institute, why he thought there was all this new interest. He pointed to Beyond’s success on the stock market and the popularity of the Impossible Whopper as reasons why major food companies — and specifically meat companies — are waking up to the value of participating in a conference so blatantly focused on their disruption.

Friedrich welcomes these companies to join the conversation. “I don’t think anything is more exciting than getting Big Meat and Big Food to invest in plant-based proteins and cultivated meat,” he told me. After all, in order for meat alternatives to go mainstream big companies have to get involved: they have the power to manufacture plant-based meats on a massive scale, distribute them widely, and sell them at a low price point.

Next year he expects Big Meat to have an even larger presence. “I feel like we will make more inroads into the meat industry,” Friedrich said. “They’ll feel like they should have been here this year and they’ll want to be on the dais next year.”

Growth mindset

Eclipse’s plant-based softserve.

The alternative protein companies themselves are also growing and improving rapidly. Since last year’s event, both Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods have come out with versions 2.0 of their plant-based burgers, which we all agree are massive improvements.

At the event I tasted Eclipse’s plant-based soft serve, which I thought was a significant step up from the last time I tried their ice cream just a few months ago. JUST’s new animal-free egg, which they launched this spring, was also much improved. Next up, a team member told me they’re going to add more sulfur in a play to appeal to Asian consumers, who apparently like the taste.

Sampling these new-and-improved products made me think about a concept my colleague Chris Albrecht wrote about last week:

Plant-based foods, especially those that aim to re-create the look and feel of animal meat, are ushering in a new era, one where new versions of the product are constantly being tweaked, updated, and released. In short, we are entering an era where food is becoming more like software.

Based on what I’ve seen at the conference that certainly seems to be the case. And it’s not just about taste — health is also becoming more and more of a priority for meat alternatives, especially since they’ve been getting serious flack lately by critics who say that their high levels of fat, calories, and sodium make them unhealthy.

As they iterate, scientists will likely be able to find ways to cut down on the sodium, saturated fat, and other health concerns in meatless burgers and more. Heck, they could theoretically tweak fake meat’s entire nutritional profile to make it actually good for you and still taste delicious. After all, plant-based meat can constantly be improved — the cow can not.

Who will be the next Beyond Meat?

Atlast Food Co.’s mycelium scaffolding for meat alternatives

One of the most exciting parts of the entire conference was the startup pitch sessions. We heard from a company making actually delicious plant-based bacon, mushroom root scaffolding for cultured meat, 3D printed vegan steak, vegan chicken nuggets and a jackfruit-based meat alternative.

Some of the ideas seemed a little far out. But as the moderator, Brian Cooley from CNET, noted, it’s the out-there startups that are the ones that are the next Impossible Foods and Beyond Meats.

In fact, the success of those two companies is what’s really behind a lot of the growth and energy at the Good Food Conference. Everyone is hungry to make the next meat alternative to hit it big — or to invest in it.

While the high levels of interest certainly make for an exciting event, it also makes me wonder if we’ll soon hit a point of market saturation. Okay, there’s not a really good plant-based bacon option out there right now. Or a company 3D printing steak. So there’s definitely room for new products and innovative production methods.

But what about next year? As more startups and Big Food companies try to cash in on the popularity of meat alternatives, the space could become so crowded that it’ll be nearly impossible (ha!) for new players to enter the plant-based space at all. Certainly it’ll become incredibly difficult to strike gold the way that Beyond did.

Then again, consumer interest in the alt-meat space shows no signs of waning. And as cell-based meat heads onto the scene we’ll see a whole new vertical ripe for innovation.

You can bet I’ll be there next year to report on it.

Photo: Integriculture

Protein ’round the web

That’s it from me this week! I’m off to go see what kind of plant-based snacks are hanging around the conference — here’s hoping.

Eat well,
Catherine

With Beyond Meat and Impossible Burgers, Food is Now Software

I was excited when my wife brought home Beyond Burgers the other night, but I was soon crestfallen (don’t tell her this) when I saw that they were the old recipe of Beyond Burgers. That version of Beyond Burgers was fine — enough to get me into the plant-based burgers in the first place, but the new recipe the company released earlier this year, is so. much. better.

Because my wife doesn’t write about food tech for a living, she was probably unaware that there even are multiple versions of Beyond Meat at the market. Why should she be? Food is typically food. You have your list, you go to the grocery store, put your items in the cart without looking at them too carefully, and bring them home.

But plant-based foods, especially those that aim to re-create the look and feel of animal meat, are ushering in a new era, one where new versions of the product are constantly being tweaked, updated, and released. In short, we are entering an era where food is becoming more like software.

This was fully apparent when I visited the Beyond Meat R&D facility down in Los Angeles last year. Teams of scientists were putting the company’s patties through various machines, simulations and tests, all to find the right combination of ingredients to create the optimal elasticity, flavor, texture and more of meat.

Beyond Meat certainly isn’t alone in its constant state of iteration. Impossible Foods was the belle of the ball at CES this past January as it launched a new recipe for its heme-burger. Like Beyond, Impossible will continue to improve its recipes even after it comes to retail next month. And the recipe tinkering won’t end this year, or with Beyond and Impossible. Nestlé is already revamping its Incredible Burger, Rebellyous is sure to improve upon its fake chicken nuggets, Omnipork will update its plant-pork, and JUST is always exploring new ways to make its mung-bean eggs (let’s not even get into the cultured meat that will make its way to market in a few years).

It’s not hard to see why there is so much recipe tweaking. First, plant-based meat companies like Beyond and Impossible are trying to do something that hadn’t really been done before. Instead of offering a veggie alternative to meat like a black bean burger or portabello mushroom “patty,” they are trying to re-create meat from the ground up. There wasn’t a playbook to go by, and the chances that they would get it perfect right out of the gate were pretty slim.

The new version of Beyond Meat (and the sister product, Beyond Beef ground) is so much better than the first version. At least for meat eaters and flexitarians who were looking for something like meat, but less ethically and environmentally complicated. As Beyond and Impossible spend more on research and development, they will uncover new ingredients, new combinations and new manufacturing techniques to make their products even better and tastier. (For more check out our interview with Impossible CEO Pat Brown.)

The same can’t be said for traditional animal meat. Sure, there will be varying degrees of quality, but beef is going to always taste and feel like beef, chicken like chicken and pork like pork. The cow (or pig or chicken) is not going to become a different animal.

Of course, this is part of the appeal of meat — you pretty much know what you’re going to get, and you will always know how to cook it. The same can’t be said for plant-based proteins, which will undergo constant tweaking. With these new iterations comes the chance that Beyond and Impossible will forget that perfect is the enemy of the good, and they will keep messing with it to create the Windows Me of plant-based meat: a recipe foisted upon the consumer that is just… awful.

But unlike software, there is no “Umami patch” that can be downloaded to the patties on store shelves to correct an off flavor. Think: New Coke, but only much more complicated. Coke, however, only had to deal with flavor, plant-based proteins need to have not just the right flavor but texture and appealing looks as well. A misstep could result in entire production runs being scrapped and new marketing campaigns to bring people back to a brand.

All of this tweaking and recipe improvement also plays into the criticism that plant-based proteins are too processed. It’s not hard to imagine critics already lined up against plant-based proteins to point fingers at scientists in white coats and petrie dishes creating “meat” in sterile lab environments. Animals, on the other hand, are familiar and all natural (well, in theory, I don’t think anyone would argue that factory farming of meat is in any way natural).

Aside from market realities and public perception though, I’m most fascinated by food as software because it represents a whole new way of thinking about food itself. The basic building blocks of our meals can be improved upon, resulting in new flavors and textures that we never even considered.

The natural endpoint for all this goes way beyond, well, Beyond, and the way we think of food now. At some point food will literally become software that is beamed to your 3D food printer, where meals that match you precise flavor and dietary needs are extruded directly onto your plate.

But until that day comes, just pay attention to the label to make sure you are buying the correct, that is, the newest, version of that plant-based burger.

Future Food: Pigging Out on Omnipork in Hong Kong

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

I just got home from a stopover in Hong Kong after the whirlwind of SKS Japan, and boy it was anything but boring.

In between sampling bubble waffles and copious amounts of dim sum, I got to meet with David Yeung, founder of the Green Monday enterprise. Green Monday is an umbrella organization which includes a non-profit educating consumers on the benefits of meat alternatives, a vegan grocery and wholesale operation, a venture arm, and a branded plant-based pork product called Omnipork.

Yeah. David Yeung is busy.

During my visit I also got to put Omnipork to a taste test. I sampled it tucked in a fried gyoza, crumbled on top of a bowl of ramen, and stuffed inside sweet puff pastry dim sum.

Overall, I thought Omnipork worked pretty well as a pork substitute. It doesn’t have the same unctuous fattiness of actual pork, at least partially because it’s lower in saturated fat, but it’s still tasty and the texture hits close to the mark.

Omnipork is essentially flavorless — which is both a good and bad thing. Yeung told me this was very intentional; he wanted to make a product that was endlessly versatile so it could be incorporated into a wide variety of Asian dishes. However, it can also make for a pretty bland bite if not properly seasoned or combined with tasty sauces.

The versatility bit is key. Yeung’s overarching goal is to make a comprehensive platform to cut down on Asia’s consumption of animal products, starting with the continent’s most popular meat: pork. Yeung said that Asian consumers might have a burger every month or so, but they incorporate ground pork into multiple meals daily. He figured that if he wanted to create a plant-based protein that could have a shot at taking a bite out of growing meat consumption in Asia, he had to make a product specifically tailored for that audience.

Crazily enough, he’s the first to do so. When people think about the new wave of fake meat products, their thoughts automatically turn to Silicon Valley. While there’s certainly plenty of innovation there, Asia is actually the area that seems in most need of tasty, cheap plant-based protein: meat consumption there is projected to rise by 78 percent by 2050, and recent outbreaks have made meat prices skyrocket and also triggered consumer demand for a safer alternative.

I left Hong Kong feeling both inspired by Yeung’s progress and daunted by how far he has to go. If he wants to take a bite out of Asian pork consumption, he’ll need to get Omnipork on a lot more plates. Making it into tasty gyozas is certainly a good start.

Photo: Beyond Meat

Beyond Meat skips Japan

Like any alternative-protein nerd, I kept my eyes peeled during my time in Tokyo to see if I came across any plant-based meat, eggs, etc.

No dice. And now it seems that at least one major alt-protein player won’t be entering the Japanese market at all, at least for a while. Last week Reuters reported that Beyond Meat had dropped plans to start selling in Japan, instead opting to double down on the U.S. market.

This is a change in tune from Beyond CEO’s Ethan Brown statement during the company’s first earnings call a few months ago. Then, he outlined Beyond’s aggressive expansion plan, naming Asia as one of the key areas of focus.

That being said, it makes sense why Beyond has to hit the pause button on outward growth and turned their attention back stateside. The company has announced multiple fast-food partnerships over the past few weeks alone, including large rollouts with Dunkin’ and Subway. A product shortage would be very, very bad right now, as Beyond competes with Impossible Foods in a race to snag the most fast-food partners and steels itself for Impossible to enter retail later this year.

No wonder Beyond has turned its attention back to the U.S.

Photo: Aramark.

Cafeteria special: Meatless meat

As I mentioned above, alternative meat companies have been grabbing headlines lately by partnering with large fast-food chains like Burger King, Subway and Dunkin’. But recently, two new alt-meat partnerships have flown relatively under the media radar — and they shouldn’t.

Last week food service management company Sodexo announced it would launch a new product line featuring the Impossible burger at 1,500 locations in the U.S. A few days later, news broke that food and facilities management giant Aramark would begin using Beyond Meat products to build out its plant-based meat portfolio.

Partnerships like these may not get as much press as fast-food launches, but teaming up with major food and facilities management companies is an important strategic move for companies like Impossible and Beyond.

Most obviously, it’s an opportunity for plant-based meat companies to massively expand their footprint and get their products on even more plates, selling to a captive audience at sports venues, concert halls, and cafeteria. Since both providers also serve a lot of university cafeterias, also a way for them to train younger generations of consumers to expect alternative proteins wherever they dine.

Beyond and Impossible may be just starting to ramp up foodservice expansion, but they’re not the first to do so. Plant-based chicken nugget company Rebellyous has been targeting large clients like cafeterias from the start (they just got into the Microsoft canteen).

If meat alternatives want to give real meat a serious run for its money, they’ll need to capture audience not just in restaurants and grocery stores, but also during their office lunch or ball game dinner. These partnerships are a great start.

Photo: Integriculture

Protein ’round the web

  • An Australian startup is growing kangaroo meat in a lab (via the Wall Street Journal). They currently estimate it would cost about $600 Australian dollars (~$400 USD) to produce one kilogram.
  • Edible insect company Chapul is no longer making protein bars. Instead, they’ll focus on growing bugs to use as fish and poultry feed (h/t Foodnavigator).
  • At SKS Japan we spoke with Integriculture’s founder about his plan to sell cell-based foie gras in restaurants by 2021.

That’s it from me this week. I’m off to grab another coffee to keep my jet lag at bay.

Eat well,
Catherine

I Tried Burger King’s Impossible Whopper (and so Did a Lot of Other Customers)

I’m pretty sure I haven’t been in a Burger King since they were giving away The Empire Strikes Back commemorative glasses. But I, and it seems like a lot of other people, are now stopping by the BK Lounge to try the new plant-based Impossible Whopper.

We’ve been watching Burger King roll out its Impossible Whopper nationwide with great interest to see if and how consumers would take to the heme burger. Early results from BK’s market tests showed that Burger Kings serving the Impossible Whopper saw an 18 percent increase in foot traffic over those that did not carry it.

The Impossible Whopper was certainly enough to get me in the door. I honestly didn’t even know there was a Burger King near my suburban Washington home until I Googled it to see how far I’d have to drive to try one.

Thankfully it was only fifteen minutes away, but before leaving I actually called ahead of time to make sure that a) they carried the Impossible Whopper, and b) that they were in stock — Burger King had warned the Impossible Whopper would be available “while supplies last.” They didn’t pick up the phone so I drove up with a little trepidation.

Evidently, I overthought it because the people taking my order had no reaction when I asked for the plant-based burger. A little more than six bucks (the Impossible Whopper is $5.89 plus .50 for cheese) and it was mine. This was a popular order at the time: the customers before me in line ordered three Impossible Whoppers and the customers after me ordered two more.

I asked one of the managers how well the Impossible Whopper was doing and she replied “We sell a lot of them,” complete with a head roll gesture to emphasize the point. She could just be toeing the company line, but given the number of Impossible Whoppers I saw served up, I’m inclined to believe her.

I unwrapped my Whopper and disassembled it to take some pictures. Seeing the patty “naked,” I was surprised at how fake the Impossible patty looked. It was like a large coin with perfect edges. Like an MS Paint drawing of a burger patty.

I reassembled the Whopper and took my first highly-anticipated bite. It was… fine. I mean, it was good, but it’s missing some of the deep flavor complexity and texture of ground beef, and the Impossible patty was a little more dry. It definitely wouldn’t fool a meat eater. I much prefer the Impossible burger served at my local waterfront restaurant. Perhaps Burger King needs more training in the preparation of the patty, so it tastes less mass market.

My thoughts echoed Spoon reader Tom G‘s, who sent us his Impossible Whopper review awhile back. And a favorite food podcaster of mine, Dan Pashman of The Sporkful posted pretty much the same thoughts on Instagram:

I asked the customer next to me, an older gentleman, if he liked his. He said he did, but not in a particularly enthusiastic way. When I asked why he ordered it, he said it was for environmental reasons.

And that’s where I net out. I don’t think I’ll drive out of my way for an Impossible Whopper, but if I find myself in a Burger King, I’d get one again. Not because of the taste, but because I feel better about eating a burger that is better for the planet.

Anecdotally speaking, the Impossible Whopper seems to be drawing lapsed customers back into Burger King, so I’m sure the fast-food giant will see a spike in initial sales with the nationwide introduction of the Impossible Whopper. The question that remains now is how many people will come back for another.

Interested in more reviews and news about the Impossible Burger and other alternative protein stories? Subscribe to our Future Food newsletter!

Future Food: Finally, Impossible is Headed to Retail

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

Hey guys. We may not be having record-breaking heat levels in Seattle, but as we wade into the depths of summer it still seems harder and harder to do anything that’s not jumping in a lake.

One group that doesn’t have the luxury of summer chilling is Impossible Foods. Fresh off of a headline-grabbing four-month shortage, this week the plant-based meat company announced that it had partnered with one of the world’s largest food manufacturers, the OSI Group, in order to increase its production capacity.

Impossible is going to need all the help it can get. Just yesterday it officially announced that it will launch its plant-based meat in retail this September. That means the company has two months maximum before it needs to be prepared to supply not its growing list of restaurant partners — including fast-food behemoths like Burger King, which is rolling out the Impossible Whopper nationwide on August 8 — but also grocery stores. Hopefully Impossible’s shortage really is donezo, because otherwise they could get some serious backlash when shoppers find an empty retail shelf where they were expecting some Impossible “meat.”

Wait, Impossible is going to retail?

Yes it is! We may now know that Impossible will hit grocery shelves in September, but there are still a lot of question marks.

What will its first product be?
A safe bet here would be burgers, as that’s the vast majority of what Impossible sells now to its restaurant partners and the first product that most people associate with its brand. However, since the launch of its new recipe 2.0 back in January, the company has been working to emphasize the versatility of its “bleeding” meatless meat.

Over the past year they have begun to branch out beyond burgers with some of their restaurant partners. At Qdoba, Impossible plant-based protein is turned into seasoned taco “beef,” and at Little Caesar’s, it’s a sausage-like topping for pizza (extra interesting, since that iteration skews more towards pork than beef). Just a few days ago it appeared on Wow Bao’s menu in the form of a spicy Mongolian bao bun.

Maybe instead of a pre-formed patty we’ll see something more ground meat-like, sort of like Beyond Beef? It seems less likely, but they could also to differentiate themselves and offer products that Beyond doesn’t already sell in retail, such as ground pork or breakfast sausage.

How much will it cost?
Obviously Impossible will need to price its product competitively with Beyond Meat. Because the two products are so similar — many people I talk to about them refer to them interchangeably — even a minimal price difference could push someone to put an Impossible product in their cart instead of Beyond.

What’s less clear is if Impossible will be able to hit that competitive price point. Unlike Beyond, its plant-based meat contains heme, which it makes from genetically engineered yeast. I’m not sure how expensive that process is, but it’s one step that Beyond doesn’t have to deal with. Then again, Impossible has been able to sell its products at a pretty competitive price through its fast-food partners (it’s only $1 more than the meat options at both Burger King and White Castle), so clearly they’re able to get their costs down at least relatively low.

Where will it launch?
We don’t yet know which retail partners Impossible will launch with, or how many stores.

But one thing that does seem clear is that Impossible has learned an important lesson from its recent product shortage. In the past, it has been burned by growing too big too quickly. The company is already hedging its bets with the nationwide Burger King launch, stating that Impossible Whoppers will only be available “while supplies last.” It’s likely that they’ll roll out slowly in grocery stores to avoid the embarrassment of another shortage, especially so soon after their last one.

Impossible heading into retail is a big deal not only for the company but for plant-based meat in general. Now consumers who want to try out meatless meat will have more than just one option in the grocery store.

Sure, there are other plant-based meat products sold on store shelves, but Beyond is unquestionably the leader in fake meat retail right now. It also has the first-mover advantage. All of which is to say that Impossible will have to keep hustling on marketing, production, and product innovation to make it stand out in the grocery aisle. Looks like the company won’t be able to chill for a long time.

(photo: Chris Albrecht).

It’s all a process

Speaking of Beyond Meat, the company’s post-IPO honeymoon might be coming to an end. Beyond’s share prices dropped significantly this week, and they’ve also been fielding some critiques regarding their heavy processing methods and long ingredient lists. Even Chipotle threw them some shade.

During their Q2 earnings call this week, Beyond’s CEO Ethan Brown directly addressed concerns by stating that their company’s production methods are admittedly complex, but no more so than those used by a cow to turn plants into muscle.

“When it comes to meat, it’s not a question of processed or not no matter which process they prefer,” he said, referring to making meat from plants and from animals.

That’s an interesting way to look at it. After all, the process of animals digesting plants and turn them into meat is definitely complex — far beyond the scope of my 11th-grade bio abilities. By comparison, extracting protein from peas and beans, adding vitamins and extruding them a machine seems, well, simple.

However, compare Beyond Meat to other veggie burgers — the kind many flexitarians now turn their nose up at — and the processing critiques hold a lot more water. A black bean burger may not be as “sexy” as a burger that turns plants into a pretty damn good simulacrum of meat. However, you also know exactly what’s going into it (mostly beans), and have a pretty good idea of how those ingredients were prepared and assembled (cooked, mashed, shaped, frozen). Both options are still made by machines, so in the end they’re both probably processed a similar amount.

But while people have a pretty good idea about how companies turn beans into burgers, most of us can’t say the same about Beyond, Impossible, and the like. Though I guess we could take Brown up on his offer and visit the Missouri production facility to find out.

Photo: Meatless Farm

Protein ’round the web

  • Fast-casual Asian restaurant Wow Bao is launching a meatless bao bun made with Impossible Foods “meat” on August 5th.
  • In Canada, fast-food chain Tim Horton’s is testing out JUST’s plant-based egg. Might there be Beyond/JUST breakfast sandwiches in our future?
  • U.K. company Meatless Farms, which makes plant-based burgers, sausages, and more, will launch in Whole Foods next week.

Eat well,
Catherine

Impossible Foods Announces It Will Launch in Retail This September

Mark your calendars, Impossible burger acolytes. The plant-based meat company will officially launch a product in retail this September.

That little tidbit was buried in a press release from the Redwood, Calif.-based company announcing that it had gained FDA approval for “use of a key ingredient as a color additive.”

That’s all fine and dandy, but the really juicy news didn’t come until halfway through the release. “Impossible Foods plans to launch the award-winning Impossible Burger in select retail outlets in September,” it noted.

We’ve known for a while that Impossible planned to make its retail debut this fall. Now we know exactly when — give or take 30 days. All of which means we have at most two months before we can buy an Impossible product of some sort alongside other plant-based meat offerings from Beyond, Tofurky, Meatless Farms, and others. No wonder Impossible has begun partnering with external food manufacturers to amp up production, especially in the wake of their recent product shortage.

There are still a lot of question marks around Impossible’s impending retail launch. We don’t know exactly which product they will launch with: maybe their iconic burger, or possibly a ground beef substitute? We also don’t know which retail partners will first start serving Impossible, or how much their products will cost.

What we do know is that the plant-based meat section in grocery stores is becoming more and more crowded. However, I don’t think Impossible will have an issue standing out. Lately Impossible has been building brand recognition by forging restaurant partnerships with everyone from White Castle to Red Robin to Burger King. That recognition will certainly help them pop in a grocery aisle that’s becoming more and more crowded with plant-based meat options, including others that claim to cook and “bleed” like real meat.

Impossible Foods Says after 4 Months, Its Product Shortage is Over

The wait is over. This week Impossible Foods sent a memo to its restaurant partners announcing that its much-publicized product shortage, which began in March, is officially over. The company informed restaurant partners that they now have ample stock of the Impossible Burger and are lifting allocation caps.

In the aforementioned memo, Impossible noted that they produced a record amount of plant-based beef in June and are on track to make even more in July. In an email to The Spoon, Impossible’s Chief Communications Officer Rachel Konrad also stated that since March the company has doubled staff and tripled production rates at their plant in Oakland, California. They’ll also soon announce a partnership with a “major manufacturing operator” to increase production capacity even further and accelerate the pace of innovation for new products (like fish!).

When we reported on the shortage last month, the company seemed to think Impossible burgers would be back in stock by mid to late June. Clearly that timeline was a bit ambitious, but not too much so. Impossible has put in some serious hustle to ramp up manufacturing lately. An Impossible spokesperson told The Spoon that the company was “literally working 24-7” to amp up production.

Interestingly, Impossible is only producing five-pound bricks of their meatless meat “to keep manufacturing efficiency,” so restaurants will have to form their own patties in-house. This shouldn’t be a huge hurdle for smaller mom & pop restaurants, but I wonder how major chains are reacting to this extra task (assuming the brick rule applies to them as well). For high-volume restaurants, having to divide and shape the bricks of meat could be a significant time suck.

Impossible isn’t the only plant-based meat company to struggle with production problems. Last year Beyond had some supply issues of its own — so much so it had to delay entry into the U.K. market until it could make more product. However, since then it hasn’t had any production hiccups. In fact, on its first-ever earnings call Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown said the company would have no issues providing product for new high-volume QSR partnerships.

It’s too early to tell if Impossible has similarly put a similar end to its own struggles. Dennis Woodside, President of Impossible Foods, was hesitant to say that the production problems were behind them. “I can’t say 100 percent with certainty that in nine months — if there’s a massive spike in demand — that we won’t see some spotty shortages, he told CNN Business.

Based on Impossible’s roadmap, some sort of spike in demand could very well happen. It’s currently in the process of rolling out to 7,200 Burger King locations and is simultaneously gearing up for a retail launch this fall. Plus, consumer demand for plant-based meat is on the rise with no sign of slowing down.

But for now, at least, Impossible seems to be out of the woods. Now excuse me while I go get pick up one of their burgers for lunch.

Impossible Foods Targets Asia for Plant-Based Expansion, But It’s Not Alone

Late last week Impossible Foods’ senior vice president for international, Nick Halla, spoke on CNBC about what’s next for the plant-based startup — or really, where’s next. “Asia is by far the number one focus for us,” he stated. “It is core to our mission; core to our business.”

Impossible has actually been edging into Asian markets for a while now: they’re currently in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Macau. But Halla’s interview shows just how intensely they’re setting their sights on the continent.

And honestly, it’s a smart strategy. Allied Market Research reports that the Asia-Pacific region is the fastest-growing market for meat alternatives, and the market isn’t as heavily saturated as it in the U.S. or Europe.

There’s also an environmental angle. Asia is the world’s largest meat producer, and, due to growing populations and shifting diets, meat and seafood consumption is projected to jump 78 percent by 2050. Countries are realizing this isn’t sustainable. For example, two years ago, the Chinese government announced an aim to cut national meat consumption by 50 percent. Pair that with recent food safety scares in the Asian meat industry, and the time seems ripe for protein alternatives.

But Impossible isn’t the only company that sees plant-based potential in Asia. Beyond Meat, Impossible’s most prominent plant-based competitor, has also set its sights on Asia. During the company’s inaugural earnings call, CEO Ethan Brown noted that Beyond would be expanding into areas with high market potential, Asia being one of at the top of the list (alongside South Africa and Chile). Currently, Beyond is available in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Korea, and Taiwan.

There are also several newer startups making plant-based meat within Asia. Omnipork, which makes meat-free minced pork, and is sold in several Asian countries. Newcomer Phuture Meat also makes a plant-based pork product. It’s notable that both of these companies are focused on pork, which is China’s most consumed meat. I wonder if Impossible will try to develop “pork” products in order to capture more of the local market?

Asia may be on the cusp of a plant-based protein boom, but the region will also play an important role for cultured meat. San Francisco-based startup JUST has stated it will have the first-ever sale of cell-based meat later this year somewhere in Asia. The location choice is mainly spurred by looser regulatory frameworks and the aforementioned growing demand for animal-free meat options.

Until then, though, Asia is fertile soil for international plant-based companies to grow. Impossible would be wise to establish as wide a footprint as possible in Asian countries before more competitors enter the scene.

We’ll be discussing alternative proteins with speakers from JUST and Integriculture at SKS Japan! If you’ll be in Tokyo this August, join us, won’t you?

Future Food: A Very Plant-Based Fourth of July, Plus a Glimpse Into Our BBQ Future

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

If you live in ‘Merica, it’s very likely that you will be partaking in some grilling at some point today. Maybe there will be some meaty plant-based meat options on the menu? You’ve got plenty to choose from, but if you’re bringing Beyond burgers or sausages to the party and aren’t exactly sure how to cook them, don’t worry — we’ve got the guide.

If you’re one of the lucky ones that already has Beyond Beef in their local grocery store, you could even form your own burger patties, maybe stuff them with cheese (vegan or otherwise) to make a Jucy Lucy? For those that do, be sure to send us a Tweet or a photo and let us know how it goes.

Impossible burgers aren’t available in retail yet, so you won’t be able to toss one on the grill today. But if you’re craving that “bleeding,” heme-heavy umami flavor, you could order one for delivery (assuming all the restaurants around you aren’t closed). According to a recent Grubhub report, Impossible Burgers are experiencing a huge boom in popularity for delivery — especially on late-night orders. Plant-based nightcap, anyone?

4th of July, 2025

Grilling meatless meats is about as radical as we’ll get in 2019 in terms of futuristic food ingredients. But looking ahead to a few years down the road, what sort of newfangled foods will be tossing on the barbie then?

It seems safe to assume there will be even more realistic plant-based meat options in the future, priced roughly on par with (or even cheaper than) traditional meat. We’ll also probably see some better vegan cheese, since the options available now are… not amazing. I’m really excited for the day when I can taste cheddar made from dairy by Perfect Day or New Culture, two startups creating animal-free milk. Unlike current vegan cheese options, their offerings will melt and taste exactly like cheese because, well, they are cheese. Just without the cow.

But let’s consider an even more out-there vision of future Fourth of July barbecues. There’s a very real chance we’ll see alt-meats made with protein created from CO2. That’s what Finnish company Solar Foods is working on. They plan to have solein — their protein made through a technology called gas fermentation — to market by 2021. That timeline strikes me as overly ambitious, but by 2025 I wouldn’t be surprised if solein makes an appearance on our grills in the guise of alt-meats.

Then of course there’s cell-based meat. By 2025 at least a few cultured meat products will hopefully already be to market, so we could theoretically be barbecuing chicken, steaks, pork sausages and salmon filets grown entirely in bioreactors. Chances are, cell-based meat products will still be relatively expensive, but also worth it for the thrill of asking your BBQ guests how they like their cultured burger.

Photo: Good Catch Foods

Protein ’round the web

  • American BBQ chain Famous Dave’s is testing out Beyond Meat sliders, tacos, and bowls in five locations.
  • This week a Mississippi law went into effect which stated that plant- and insect-based products can’t be labeled as meat. The Plant Based Food Association and meat alternative company Upton’s natural are suing them (h/t Food Navigator).
  • Good Catch Foods, whose plant-based tuna is available in Whole Foods, just raised $10 million. It’ll use the new dough to develop more fish-free products, like “crab” cakes and “fish” patties.

Finally, if you’re feeling very ambitious you could try cooking a plant-based sausage in a Pringle’s can. PSA: We have not tried this and can in no way promise that it will turn out okay. But it is cool looking.

Eat well,
Catherine

Report: Consumers are Loving Plant-based Food Delivery — Especially the Impossible Burger

Last week delivery service Grubhub released its “State of the Plate” report, which detailed popular food trends from the past year.

According to the report, in the U.S., Grubhub’s overall orders of vegan-friendly foods increased by 25 percent in the first half of 2019 compared to the same period the year before. Anyone who follows dining trends knows that consumers are demanding more plant-based options in grocery stores and restaurants. Apparently that demand extends into delivery, as well.

One vegan-friendly food in particular seems to be a Grubhub darling: The Impossible Burger. Grubhub reports that orders for the “bleeding” plant-based meat rose 82 percent in 2019. The Midwest in particular saw a huge uptick in orders (326 percent). Grubhub also noted that the Impossible burger was a popular late-night choice this year, with orders up 529 percent over the same time period last year.

We should take Grubhub’s report with a few hefty grains of salt, though. Since Grubhub conducted the survey, it doesn’t take into account how Impossible and other plant-based foods are doing via Doordash, Uber Eats, etc. However, Grubhub was the #1 delivery service in the country for the vast majority the timeframe covered by the report (Doordash took the title in May).

It’s also important to note that one of the reasons Grubhub is delivering more Impossible burgers this year is simply because the meatless burgers are more widely available. Since May 2018 Impossible has steadily growing, quickly forging partnerships with national chains like Burger King, White Castle, Umami Burger, and Red Robin. All of which could explain the insane 529 percent jump for the meatless burger.

I was particularly interested to see that Impossible was such a popular choice for late-night food delivery. At least for me, when ordering late-night food I typically go for something more indulgent, perhaps even something known for its alcohol soaking-up properties. It seems that, for a growing number of consumers, Impossible qualifies. That’s good news for the Redwood City, CA-based startup, which is trying to appeal to flexitarians and show them that plant-based meat can be just as juicy and delicious as meat from a cow.

One curious thing in the Grubhub report is the complete omission Beyond Meat. Grubhub only mentions the Impossible burger when outlining vegan-friendly options. However, Grubhub delivers from a wide range of restaurants that serve both Beyond burgers and Impossible burgers.

Likely the choice was simply because Beyond’s delivery sales didn’t increase in such eye-popping numbers as Impossible. After all, Impossible had a more dramatic uptick in restaurant partners over the past year. Beyond also gets about 50 percent of its revenue from grocery sales — unlike Impossible, which is just in foodservice for now — meaning it has to split its focus between restaurants and retail.

Despite its shortcomings, Grubhub’s report clearly shows that more and more people are looking to order plant-based food for delivery. As a growing number of companies wake up to this trend and put plant-based meat, milk, and eggs on their menus, customers will have even more options — and Impossible will have even more competition.

Keep up with consumer trends for plant-based dining and subscribe to Future Food, our weekly newsletter offering stories and analysis on the alternate protein landscape.

Beyond Beyond Meat: Which Companies Have Developed “Bleeding” Meatless Burgers?

When vegetarians went out to eat and ordered a veggie burger, even as recently as a few years ago they’d get a hardened puck of black beans or mish-mashed vegetables.

Now it’s a whole new world. Vegetarians and flexitarians alike can bring Beyond Burgers to backyard barbecues and order Impossible patties as a sub at local restaurants (if they’re in stock, that is).

Impossible and Beyond may be the two names that even most carnivores are familiar with, but they’re far from the only ones making plant-based burgers meant to look, grill, and even “bleed” like real beef. Should you want to venture — cough, beyond — here are a few other options in the grocery aisle.

Nestlé: The Incredible and Awesome Burger

Photo: Nestlé

Nestlé announced last December that it would be launching two meaty plant-based burgers over the next year. Launched under the Swiss giant’s Garden Gourmet brand, the Incredible Burger (in no way inspired by the Impossible Burger) became available in Europe this spring. It currently stars in the Big Vegan TS at McDonalds in Germany. Stateside, Nestlé plans to release the Awesome Burger under its Sweet Earth brand in the fall of this year.

Lightlife: The Plant-Based Burger

Lightlife’s plant-based ground “beef”

Earlier this year plant-based food brand Lightlife began selling its new plant-based burger, called… The Plant-Based Burger. Like Beyond Meat, Lightlife’s burger uses beets to get its red color. Interestingly, Lightlife (along with fellow vegan meat brand Field Roast) are owned by Maple Leaf Foods, a major Canadian meat processing company which recently announced it was building the largest plant-based protein factory in North America.

Dr. Praeger’s: The Perfect Burger

Photo: Dr. Praeger’s.

Natural food company Dr. Praeger’s just launched its new plant-based burger… today! Modestly called The Perfect Burger, it’s made of sweet potatoes, butternut squash, carrots and beets (presumably for color). Dr. Praeger’s offering is significantly lower in fat and sodium than options from Beyond and Impossible, and is seemingly trying to position itself as a more wholesome, natural alternative to their heavily-processed patties. The Perfect Burger is currently available for foodservice and will soon roll out in retail.

Morningstar Farms: Meat Lovers Vegan Burgers

Photo: Morningstar Farms.

Though not quite as meaty-looking as any of the above, Morningstar Farms, a stalwart of vegan animal products, released the Meat Lovers Vegan Burger last year. It comes pre-cooked and doesn’t contain any beets to get that rosy color, but it does have tomatoes, soy and wheat protein, and lots of spices, making it less of a neutral base and more like veggie burgers of yore. However, the Meat Lovers burger does have a whopping 27g of protein per serving — significantly more than Beyond or Impossible.

Moving Mountains: The Moving Mountains Burger

Photo: Moving Mountains burger.

If you’re in the U.K. or Europe you can try Moving Mountain’s eponymous plant-based burger. Made with a very similar ingredient list to the Beyond Burger — pea protein, coconut oil, and beets — the plant-based burger launched in select London restaurants last year. The Moving Mountains burger is currently available in over 3,000 foodservice establishments in the U.K. and Europe.

Have you tried any of the above meatless burgers? Which was your favorite? Sound off in the comments below!

An Impossible Whopper Review from a Spoon Reader

Living in the Pacific Northwest has a lot to offer: Trees, mountains, a Starbucks on just about every corner. But one thing we don’t have right now is the Impossible Whopper from Burger King. It’s only available in a few areas in the country, and was recently launched in the Bay Area as it starts to roll out nationwide.

It’s hard to justify a 13 hour road trip just to try BK’s plant-based burger, which is why we were lucky enough to have friend of The Spoon, and Bay Area resident, Tom G submit his review for us. His order of an Impossible Whopper, small fries and a small Coke cost him $11.85, after tax. And what did he think?

“It was good. Probably 85% of the way there. I should have ordered with cheese,” Tom texted me, “I think with cheese and had no one told me it was fake I probably wouldn’t notice.” He went on “It did have a slightly artificial taste but since the Whoppers do already that’s ironically in their favor.”

In addition to the positive review, the good news for Burger King is that Tom doesn’t typically ever go to one of its restaurants and went specifically to try the Impossible burger. Tom’s not the only new customer Burger King has attracted with the new Whopper:

This type of anecdotal evidence helps reinforce that the Impossible Whopper could bring an entirely new, or at least long-dormant, set of customers back to BK. In St. Louis, Burger King locations that offered the Impossible Whopper outperformed the chain’s national foot traffic average by 18.5 percent. The question now is whether these Impossible-curious customers are one-offs, or if they will come back for more.

In Tom G’s case, he said he’d go back to BK for another plant-based Whopper, though there are enough other restaurants serving the Impossible burger that he wouldn’t go out of his way for it. He prefers The Melt’s Impossible burger, even though it’s more expensive.

Have you tried the Impossible Whopper? What did you think? Did it bring you back to Burger King, and will you go back for more? Drop us a line and let us know!