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When my wife and I tried these meat alternatives -- a burger, and Dunkin' Donuts breakfast sausage -- our conclusion was that they have a real chance at replaci

When my wife and I tried these meat alternatives -- a burger, and Dunkin' Donuts breakfast sausage -- our conclusion was that they have a real chance at replacing low quality meats. If you've ever eaten good fresh sausage or a quality burger, you know how it differs from the fast-food burgers and breakfast sausages served at chain restaurants. Beyond and Impossible will have a hard time competing agains the quality stuff. But compared to the lower-quality meats, they hold up just fine in terms of taste. As long as they can bring the price down, they'll do alright in the non-quality meat markets. I predict that if they can get their unit economic down, they can sign deals with many mass-market restaurants and gradually use their non-meat as filler for real meat. Ratchet that up over time, don't tell anyone, and all of a sudden, everyone is eating less meat. They are having a hard time convincing the world that their product tastes better and is healthier than meat. They won't have as hard of a time convincing the world that their product taste better and is healthier than currently-used meat fillers at mass-market outlets. But that just does not sound like an exciting business plan for a VC founded California company, so unless the ego steps aside, it will be a hard win.

inferiorhuman 4y ago
I'd flip that on its head and venture to guess they can do well against most meat except the nicest stuff. It works a treat for the super low end stuff (e.g. fast food like McDonalds or Burger King). For a lot of dishes I'd cook meat is a background flavor (e.g. mapo tofu) where the nuances of super fresh ground meat would be lost and for that Impossible did well enough. The issue I had is that Impossible has a more beefy flavor when I'd typically use pork in that dish. For the mass market high end stuff I'd expect lab grown meat to be the thing to keep an eye on because… As long as they can bring the price down, they'll do alright in the non-quality meat markets. Prices are going to continue to increase for the things that go into meat production. Water. Fertilizer. Grain or grass. Depending on how things go I'd bet that the fake meat would only have to keep their costs steady to compete on price.
acdha 4y ago
I think this is the key. This isn’t a business which will be an overnight success but it’ll grow over time, especially as climate change, water shortages, or rising fuel costs start making real beef more expensive.
- ryandvm 4y ago
  Don't count on it. I'm not sure about the rest of the world, but in the US, the way we solve this problem is to provide ever-increasing subsidies to the entrenched corporate entities that are "sponsoring" the politicians. It will be exactly like what we've done with hydrocarbon fuels over the last 50 years. To the consumer, gasoline is seemingly half as expensive in the US when compared to the rest of the world; which is why every other vehicle on the road is a 5,000 pound monster truck. Beef, poultry, and pork are likely going to continue to be cheap because the agriculture lobby is so damn powerful. And the culture war against fake meat hasn't even begun...
  - acdha 4y ago
    I’m not counting on it but I think we are hitting a breaking point which people under, say, 50 are increasingly aware of. It’s not like you can look at how much of the Colorado river goes to beef production and not see a problem.

inferiorhuman 4y ago

I'd flip that on its head and venture to guess they can do well against most meat except the nicest stuff. It works a treat for the super low end stuff (e.g. fast food like McDonalds or Burger King). For a lot of dishes I'd cook meat is a background flavor (e.g. mapo tofu) where the nuances of super fresh ground meat would be lost and for that Impossible did well enough. The issue I had is that Impossible has a more beefy flavor when I'd typically use pork in that dish. For the mass market high end stuff I'd expect lab grown meat to be the thing to keep an eye on because… As long as they can bring the price down, they'll do alright in the non-quality meat markets. Prices are going to continue to increase for the things that go into meat production. Water. Fertilizer. Grain or grass. Depending on how things go I'd bet that the fake meat would only have to keep their costs steady to compete on price.

acdha 4y ago

I think this is the key. This isn’t a business which will be an overnight success but it’ll grow over time, especially as climate change, water shortages, or rising fuel costs start making real beef more expensive.

ryandvm 4y ago
Don't count on it. I'm not sure about the rest of the world, but in the US, the way we solve this problem is to provide ever-increasing subsidies to the entrenched corporate entities that are "sponsoring" the politicians. It will be exactly like what we've done with hydrocarbon fuels over the last 50 years. To the consumer, gasoline is seemingly half as expensive in the US when compared to the rest of the world; which is why every other vehicle on the road is a 5,000 pound monster truck. Beef, poultry, and pork are likely going to continue to be cheap because the agriculture lobby is so damn powerful. And the culture war against fake meat hasn't even begun...
- acdha 4y ago
  I’m not counting on it but I think we are hitting a breaking point which people under, say, 50 are increasingly aware of. It’s not like you can look at how much of the Colorado river goes to beef production and not see a problem.