Impossible (but happening) Foods
Plant-based meats should get more attention…
Recently in the pandemic, I’ve been into trying a bunch of the plant-based foods that are coming up in the market, especially Impossible Burgers. This has nothing to do with going vegan, but for the obvious environmental impact and benefits that Impossible Foods lays out very well in their Impact Report.
There’s much to be said about how food tech startups like Impossible can reverse global warming by reducing agricultural resources and emissions, and I’m here for it. It’s one of the few companies that I find important to improving humanity and pushing us to a brighter future (literally… I write this during a smoky day with forest fires). I’m not arguing Impossible is the one-stop shop to completely eradicate climate change, but in an ideal world where it is the go-to for meat, it’ll make a significant dent in livestock greenhouse gas emissions. And that’s just one company. There’s a whole industry emerging and exploding for the plant-based foods, and you could argue that companies are actually running against the clock (if only the herculean effort to make COVID vaccines could be stretched to these companies).
All of this is great, but it’s success comes down to cultural perceptions. It’s important to not make plant-based foods just a trend. It needs to stay for the very long term. Sometimes, I talk with people who eat the Impossible Burger because it’s a vibe and feels healthy (when in reality, it’s probably not healthier for you, yet). Most of the people I know who eat it are already vegetarian/vegan, which is fine, but these foods need to target those who actually eat meat regularly (those like me). From a business standpoint, just having vegetarians/vegans eat Impossible is too small of a market, and from an environmental standpoint, has minimal impact.
This is why doing marketing for something like Impossible Foods is so important. It’s a genuine challenge that has a pretty massive reward. How do you convince the classic southern dad who regularly BBQs to eat a plant-based patty? How do you get those where eating true, authentic meat is ingrained in their personality, culture, and nature, to switch to an Impossible Burger? We could wait for Impossible to make their production line more efficient and decrease the prices of their foods so it’s cheaper than real beef (or make the taste a lot better), but is there a marketing tactic that could change people’s mindsets? Pretty tough in my mind, but people love problem-solving and I’m excited to see where the company goes with Pat Brown’s lead.
On another note: I think it’s pretty fun to try out different plant-based products, just to taste test them (Burger King had a cool campaign a while back). I regularly use Oatly, and I recently tried Just Egg from Eat Just and it was fine (not great, so I’m still going to stick with real eggs, but give it 5 years and I could be on that train).
Actually, give the whole plant-based food industry 10 years and I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m rarely eating anything from an animal at all. In N Out will still probably be a staple for me. However, if that chain ever goes (or even offers) plant-based meat, it’ll be a good indicator of the plant-based industry’s popularity.
