Part 2 – Trends in Consumption
Last week we talked about the difference between the two leading mock-meat burgers: the Impossible Burger and the Beyond Burger. Both are now commercially available in grocery chains and in fast food chains. The Impossible Burger became part of the White Castle lineup in early 2018,[1] followed by the Beyond Burger’s debut at Carl’s Jr. in January 2019.[2] In April of 2019, Impossible Foods and Burger King joined forces to create the Impossible Whopper (distinct from the Impossible Burger and designed to replicate the specific taste of the Whopper).[3]
How realistic is it?
I had the somewhat dubious pleasure of trying the Impossible Whopper a few weeks ago when the Burger King near my office started carrying them. I am a big fan of the regular Impossible Burger, and I really enjoy the Gardenburger that Burger King normally carries. The last time I ate an actual beef whopper was probably in 1999 or earlier, but the Impossible Whopper tasted utterly identical to what I remember, which I don’t necessarily consider to be a good thing. I was actually afraid that they had given me the wrong order, and I was so preoccupied with wondering whether or not I was actually eating beef that I can’t say I enjoyed the burger. I have since heard of other vegetarians having the same reaction when trying it for the first time – the Impossible Whopper specifically, not the Impossible Burger.
In my little bubble, I forget that only a small number of people in our country identify as vegetarian and that many of my friends don’t make a habit of eating plant-based alternatives to meat. After enough people asked me what these burgers tasted like, I decided to write up a summary of the major options for this blog. In the process I noticed an unexpected pattern in my own enjoyment of the various veggie burgers I’ve tried over the years. For the sake of providing some detail here, I made a list (and then a chart – because why not?). I left out small-scale restaurant creations and listed only widely-available commercial options, but if you’re in the Pittsburgh area, I can make some great recommendations (including an amazing falafel burger I can get near my office, which is the last thing I want to eat before I die).
- On the low end are products like a veggie burger carried by McDonalds for a short time maybe 15-20 years ago that tasted like nothing more than a patty of compressed vegetable chunks, only with less flavor.
- That was exceeded greatly by the Gardenburger which is still essentially vegetable particle board, but a good-tasting option. I enjoy eating it every time I go to Burger King and greatly hope they keep it on the menu.
- Next up the scale is the Morningstar black bean burger. I have a stack of these in my freezer and order one whenever we’re out at any place that includes a black bean patty substitution on their burger menu. It has a hearty, rich flavor that is enjoyable but not mistakable for meat by any stretch of the imagination.
- The Beyond Burger is the first “mock meat” burger on this list. It is pink when raw, brown when cooked, and has a meaty, ground-beef-like texture. It’s chewier than beef and doesn’t have any semblance of meaty flavor. I can’t say I enjoyed it as much as the Impossible Burger, but I would order it if it were the only option on a menu.
Note: since the writing of this post, I tried a Beyond Burger at a restaurant near my office. It was very different from the one I tried at the cookout, which was purchased from the grocery store. I thought the restaurant option had a slightly better taste with an almost nutty flavor and a Gardenburger-like texture, but it was less like beef than the grocery store option. - The Impossible Burger is a more realistic mock meat burger, in my opinion. I actually go to certain restaurants and look forward to ordering this burger. (And the servers remember me because I specifically order my burger rare, which they think is hilarious.) The texture and flavor are much more believable, and because of that I enjoy the experience of eating the Impossible Burger more than that of the Beyond Burger. But that’s where my enjoyment ends on this scale.
- The Impossible Whopper, to me, is too realistic to enjoy. It tastes too much like an actual beef patty for me, and I have no desire to buy another one. If Burger King stopped carrying the Garden Burger, and I were starving while on a long car trip, I would probably order the Impossible Whopper in the absence of other options, but I don’t see myself seeking one out again.
But why are we even seeing this trend?
Many people have asked me why vegetarians want accurate meat substitutes if we don’t want to eat meat. That is a great question, especially for me, as someone who never liked the taste of meat to begin with and didn’t have trouble giving it up. I certainly won’t attempt to answer that question on behalf of all vegetarians, but it is a topic worth examining since we are currently seeing a major uptick in the market for vegetarian foods. This week alone, KFC launched a meatless chicken nugget in Atlanta, in collaboration with Beyond Meat[4]. We are witnessing an industry trend, a movement.
This trend, however, is an unexpected one, given the numbers. The United States has some of the highest meat consumption per capita in the world. Only 5% of Americans identify as vegetarian, and that number has remained mostly the same over the last 20 years. If vegetarians make up a small fraction of our society, and if vegetarians are already willing to eat (or even prefer) meat alternatives that don’t resemble meat, this uptick in sales must be coming at least in part from people who don’t identify as vegetarian. While the number of strict vegetarians isn’t increasing, more people are becoming “flexitarian” (sometimes vegetarian, limiting meat intake to a few days a week). Survey numbers on “flexitarian” behaviors aren’t forthcoming, but the popularity of plant-based alternatives indicates an upward shift. The market for plant-based food grew over 8% in 2017, with over $3 billion in sales.[5]
Image Credit: [6]
Beyond Meat has spent $21 million in research and development over the last three years (2016-2019), employing 63 people for R&D alone.[7] I couldn’t find the numbers for Impossible Foods as easily, but given all of their work with soy-based, yeast-propagated heme and its subsequent testing for FDA approval, I would imagine it’s at least that much, if not more. It is worth noting that the price point for these new burgers is currently higher than that of their beef equivalents. The goal is to drop that price to a level comparable to beef in the coming years, presumably after some of the research and development costs are covered.
Here is the point, though: these companies are not trying to market to vegetarians by giving them plants that accurately mimic something they may or may not even miss eating. According to Impossible Foods’ CEO, the goal is to provide omnivores with a meat-like option that has a significantly smaller impact on the environment so they can, in turn, reduce their own footprints without giving up the taste they love.
Tune in next week when we will compare the environmental impact of beef vs. the new plant-based “meat” burgers.
Have you tried any of the plant-based meat options in mainstream restaurants?
If price and taste were the same, would you be willing to switch to plant-based meat?
I’m curious to hear what you think.
Thanks for reading!
[1] https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/12/impossible-foods-goes-to-white-castle/
[2] https://thespoon.tech/beyond-meat-continues-fast-food-partnerships-with-carls-jr/
[3] https://www.geek.com/culture/burger-king-introduces-meatless-impossible-whopper-1781160/
[4] https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelpellmanrowland/2019/08/27/kfc-debuts-plant-based-chicken-nuggets-cars-are-double-looped-around-the-building/?fbclid=IwAR0LtgWMfxUvdCwPDFvzT8u48YBbypXwCFzX3Y5nu4uCv6bzHTcEpTvVlME#3f2231062252
[5] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/food/wp/2018/08/03/you-might-think-there-are-more-vegetarians-than-ever-youd-be-wrong/
[6] https://www.bbc.com/news/health-47057341
[7] https://www.marketwatch.com/story/brett-arends-i-tried-beyond-meats-burgers-three-times-heres-what-i-thought-2019-05-17
0 Comments