Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Americans Are Gobbling Up Plant-Based Burgers
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
July 31, 2019

Share

After months of shortages, Impossible Foods is partnering with a veteran food production company to ramp up supplies of its popular plant-based burgers.
The Redwood City, Calif.-based startup is partnering with OSI Group, an original supplier to McDonald’s and one of the world’s largest food producers. OSI, based in Aurora, Ill., will immediately begin production of the Impossible Burger at one of its Midwest plants and expand to other facilities soon.
Impossible Foods has been struggling since April to meet demand from customers, including big chains like White Castle and Burger King. Over the last two months it doubled employment at its 68,000-square-foot Oakland, Calif., plant to 200 people, and it made a record volume of burgers in June. But that still wasn’t enough. On Wednesday, the company confirmed that it plans to sell the Impossible Burger at grocery stores beginning in September.
Impossible isn’t the only company having trouble meeting the scorching demand for plant-based meat. U.S. sales of meat alternatives have grown an average of 8% per year for the last five years, according to Nielsen. Meat sales were flat in the same time period.
The successful IPO of Beyond Meat, a California plant-based burger and sausage maker, has further stoked the interest of consumers and investors. Beyond Meat’s share price has leapt nearly 700% since its May debut on the Nasdaq.

The Impossible Burger Is Sold at 10,000 Restaurants Worldwide

Beyond Meat dealt with shortages throughout 2017 and 2018. It responded by increasing capacity at its Missouri production facility, but also by partnering. In May, it signed an agreement with Zandbergen World’s Finest Meat to produce Beyond Meat products in the Netherlands.

“The demand is real, and we think it’s going to be sustained for a long time. We hadn’t quite planned for the success that we had in the market.”  Impossible Foods President Dennis Woodside
Rebellyous Foods, a Seattle startup that makes plant-based nuggets, has contracted with meat companies while it’s waiting for its own production facility to open in October.
“The demand is real, and we think it’s going to be sustained for a long time,” said Impossible Foods President Dennis Woodside, a former mobile phone executive hired in March to help Impossible scale more quickly. “We hadn’t quite planned for the success that we had in the market.”
The Impossible Burger is sold at 10,000 restaurants worldwide, up from 5,000 at the beginning of the year.
Woodside says OSI will help the company double its production in the near term and quadruple it by the end of 2019. OSI Group has 65 facilities in 17 countries.
OSI will also help Impossible develop new products like frozen foods. That development process got a boost Wednesday from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which approved one of the company’s key ingredients — soy leghemoglobin — as a color additive. The FDA had already agreed that the substance is safe to eat, but required Impossible to go through a second process to ensure its safety as a color additive.
Some say manufacturing tie-ups are crucial for plant-based meat companies to get products out more quickly, especially as big manufacturers like Tyson Foods prepare to enter the market.

Impossible Had a Lot of Internal Discussions About How to Scale Up

“After the product quality and branding is in place, I think the most important thing for these companies is to grab market share as quickly as they can,” said Nick Cooney, managing partner of Lever VC, a New York venture capital firm that invests in plant-based meat companies.
But Rebellyous founder and CEO Christie Lagally said co-manufacturing isn’t ideal, since plant-based companies have to compete for time and space with other products. Machines used for meat also aren’t ideal for use with plant-based products, she said.
Eric Schiffer, the CEO of The Patriarch Organization, a private equity firm, thinks it’s “bone-headed” for plant-based meat companies to form partnerships because they risk losing their core intellectual property.
Woodside said that was a concern, but OSI is making the Impossible Burger in an area separate from other companies and Impossible retains all intellectual property rights. He also said OSI has a long history of making food for competing restaurant chains. OSI would not reveal any of its current customers.
Woodside said Impossible had a lot of internal discussions about how to scale up, and had plans drawn up to go it alone. But the company ultimately decided it would be better to have an expert partner.
“We don’t have to do everything ourselves,” Woodside said.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

FDA Approves Moderna’s New Lower-Dose COVID-19 Vaccine

DON'T MISS

Cabrera, Three Relievers Combine to Lead Marlins to Win Over Giants

DON'T MISS

Spike in Steel Tariffs Could Imperil Trump Promise of Lower Grocery Prices

DON'T MISS

Dodgers’ Mookie Betts Out With Broken Toe After Late-Night Bedroom Mishap

DON'T MISS

California Gubernatorial Candidate Steve Hilton Vows to Repeal Transgender Athlete Law

DON'T MISS

Trans Athlete Competes in California Championships in Clovis Despite National Controversy

DON'T MISS

Tim Walz Urges Democrats to Fight Back Harder Against ‘Bully’ Trump

DON'T MISS

US Defense Secretary Warns Indo-Pacific Allies of ‘Imminent’ Threat From China

DON'T MISS

Hamas Responds to the US Ceasefire Proposal for Gaza While Seeking Amendments

DON'T MISS

No. 15 Overall Seed UCLA Eases Past Fresno State Behind a Season-High 22 Hits

UP NEXT

Loretta Swit, Emmy-winner Who Played Houlihan on Pioneering TV Series ‘M.A.S.H.,’ Has Died at 87

UP NEXT

Medicaid Work Rules Could Leave a Million Californians With No Health Insurance

UP NEXT

California Lawmaker Won’t Be Charged After Citation for Suspicion of Impaired Driving

UP NEXT

1 in 4 US Children Have Parents With Substance Use Disorder, Study Finds

UP NEXT

Dozens Sickened in Expanding Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Recalled Cucumbers

UP NEXT

Newsom Tussles With Local Officials Over Homelessness

UP NEXT

How Trump’s Vow to Revoke Chinese Student Visas Could Hurt California

UP NEXT

Speaker Johnson Raises Campaign Money in Fresno

UP NEXT

A Program Paying CA Jurors $100 a Day Would End Due to Newsom’s Budget Cuts

UP NEXT

‘I’m Really Scared’: Elderly and Disabled Californians Could Lose Medi-Cal Over $2,000 Limit

Ancient DNA Reveals a New Group of People Who Lived Near Land Bridge Between the Americas

7 hours ago

FDA Approves Moderna’s New Lower-Dose COVID-19 Vaccine

21 hours ago

Cabrera, Three Relievers Combine to Lead Marlins to Win Over Giants

21 hours ago

Spike in Steel Tariffs Could Imperil Trump Promise of Lower Grocery Prices

21 hours ago

Dodgers’ Mookie Betts Out With Broken Toe After Late-Night Bedroom Mishap

21 hours ago

California Gubernatorial Candidate Steve Hilton Vows to Repeal Transgender Athlete Law

1 day ago

Trans Athlete Competes in California Championships in Clovis Despite National Controversy

1 day ago

Tim Walz Urges Democrats to Fight Back Harder Against ‘Bully’ Trump

1 day ago

US Defense Secretary Warns Indo-Pacific Allies of ‘Imminent’ Threat From China

1 day ago

Hamas Responds to the US Ceasefire Proposal for Gaza While Seeking Amendments

1 day ago

Townsizing? Land Snorkeling? A User’s Guide to the Latest Travel Lingo

For your next trip, have you considered townsizing? What about choosing a detour destination? And instead of forest-bathing, maybe it’...

6 hours ago

6 hours ago

Townsizing? Land Snorkeling? A User’s Guide to the Latest Travel Lingo

6 hours ago

Trump Trade War Has Already Had Huge Effect on California Ports

7 hours ago

Cambodian American Chefs Are Finding Success and Raising Their Culture’s Profile. On Their Terms

7 hours ago

Ancient DNA Reveals a New Group of People Who Lived Near Land Bridge Between the Americas

21 hours ago

FDA Approves Moderna’s New Lower-Dose COVID-19 Vaccine

21 hours ago

Cabrera, Three Relievers Combine to Lead Marlins to Win Over Giants

21 hours ago

Spike in Steel Tariffs Could Imperil Trump Promise of Lower Grocery Prices

21 hours ago

Dodgers’ Mookie Betts Out With Broken Toe After Late-Night Bedroom Mishap

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend