If you’re looking for the right time to introduce more meatless options into your diet, two food technology companies took different steps this week to make their products more appetizing.
Impossible Foods, makers of the plant-based Impossible Burger patty, is cutting suggested retail prices by 20% for grocery stores throughout the U.S. The cuts bring the company’s suggested prices for Impossible Burger to $5.49 for patties and $6.99 for a 12-oz. package.
Impossible said on-shelf prices may vary depending on location and retailer, but the company is “strongly encouraging” the roughly 17,000 grocery stores, supermarkets and retailers that sell Impossible Burger to pass the savings to consumers as soon as possible.
The 10-year-old Silicon Valley-based company, which counts burger-lover Bill Gates among its backers, makes a product that is designed to be indistinguishable from animal meat — both with how it tastes, and even how it bleeds.
Impossible credited tremendous growth and economies of scale over the past year as the reason behind the price drop. CEO and founder Dr. Patrick Brown said in a blog post that Impossible intends “to keep lowering prices until we undercut those of ground beef from cows,” and he added that the cut is the latest, not the last.
“Impossible products are becoming increasingly affordable, and this in turn is accelerating our rapid retail growth,” company president Dennis Woodside said. “It’s a virtuous cycle for our customers, consumers and the planet.”
Meanwhile, on the fake chicken portion of the menu, Seattle-based Rebellyous Foods announced that it was rolling out three new plant-based products.
The company is offering a new formulation of its faux nuggets and also adding patties and tenders to the mix. All are 100% plant-based with no cholesterol, antibiotics, or hormones, and less saturated fat than real chicken nuggets.
The new items will be available in the coming weeks at more than 20 stores in Oregon and Washington, with a suggested retail price of $5.99. Select restaurants are also offering Rebellyous products.
The 3-year-old startup, founded by former Boeing engineer Christie Lagally, raised $6 million last April. It initially aimed to serve the food-service market, including universities, hospitals, sporting arenas, and business cafeterias. But much like other companies in the food industry, its business dried up overnight when COVID-19 began spreading in the U.S.
“We’ve been hard at work creating the next generation of products that taste exactly like one expects when they bite into a chicken sandwich, nugget, or tender: crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside,” Lagally said in a news release. “We believe these are a game changer and set a new industry standard for taste.”
