8 ms·

This editorialized link title and the article's headline itself doesn't really match the article's content (as is increasingly common it seems). Sure, Beyond Me

• nxmnxm99 4y ago
  The problem is you could have said the same in the 90s for veggie burgers. Existing and slowly expanding doesn't mean it hasn't been a flop - especially considering the monumental amount of capital & hype that was put behind plant based meat From that perspective, it's definitely been a flop (so far). Jury is still out on long-term lab grown meat.
  • namlem 4y ago
    There was a hype bubble yes, and from the perspective of the people who bought into the bubble, it has been a flop. But the industry has still undergone slow and steady growth and this trend will likely continue.
• COGlory 4y ago
  The fundamental problem is that everyone has a different reason for wanting plant-based meat/fake meat. So by any particular metric, they have failed. Some people want fake meat to be a 1:1 meat substitute because they love meat but can't eat it (allergies, cardiovascular, etc). Some people want cheaper meat because quality meat you can trust has grown too expensive. Some people want more vegan/vegetarian options because they object to killing animals or economic externalities that cattle grazing causes. Some people want meat-based substitutes because the companies are public and they are looking for the next unicorn to invest in. The problem is, those looking for meat substitute think it isn't close enough, those who want cheaper meat think it's too expensive, vegans/vegetarians have actually vegetable based options and aren't necessarily looking for fake meat at all, and investors fell for hype. Every one of these entities has a different metric, and several of them are at odds with each other. In my opinion, if plant-based meat turns out to be a flop, it will be because its core market is too many different groups and it'll never satiate all of them. Case in point - read the comments on this article. Everyone has a different reason for wanting or not wanting this stuff.
  • nicoburns 4y ago
    Does any of that really matter if people are buying it anyway?
    • COGlory 4y ago
      Not sure. But I think it does help explain articles like this one.
      • DangitBobby 4y ago
        Not really, since the article doesn't support the title.
  • jasonjmcghee 4y ago
    I've been slowly cutting meat out of my diet, and stopped eating beef a few years ago. I think Impossible burgers are too close to beef for me- I feel ill after eating them and no longer do. Much prefer the classic veggie/bean patties
• barbariangrunge 4y ago
  Price has kept me away for a few years now. But now the price of everything else is rising to catch up, so maybe I should check it out again
  • julianlam 4y ago
    Hah, that's exactly my thought after reading some comments here. Last I checked, impossible burger was $7.99 on sale. More expensive than beef. That might have flipped recently, with beef rising to obscene prices because of grocery store gouging.
  • astura 4y ago
    I don't eat meat, personally, but my family does. When we do buy meat we get the organic grass fed kind because they prefer to eat less meat but of higher quality. Impossible's price is on par with the high end ground beef. So, at least for my family, there's no increase in cost. I just checked prices online and Impossible is actually 5 cents cheaper a pound.
• purephase 4y ago
  The article is pushing a narrative. Every once and awhile these flair up, since there's a lot of scared people in the traditional meat/dairy industries right now, since they're losing counter/shelf space in supermarkets and menu options in restaurants all over the world. I'm not sure if the author has stepped into a grocery store recently, but they're entire aisles/half-aisles dedicated to just plant-based options now, which was unheard of 25 years ago when I originally went vegan. Hanging the success of an entire movement and industry on two of the most recent entrants to the market seems like a very skewed metric to base your opinion on when the evidence to the contract is absolutely everywhere if you want to look for it or notice it. The fact that they're not is telling.
  • spoils19 4y ago
    Agreed. We definitely have to be more careful these days about which articles are pushing narratives that are designed to enrage or delude us. A long time ago I read an article about how Canadian kids were struggling to adjust with COVID restrictions. But my friend had a 4 year old daughter in Ontario who ate outside when it was -20C. Why? It's shameful.
• guestbest 4y ago
  Shelf space isn’t determined by the grocer so much as it is determined by the supplier. It’s called a slotting fee
• browningstreet 4y ago
  In every taste test I've watched, Beyond never scores as high as Impossible. Impossible just seems to be doing better because it tastes better.
  • pcthrowaway 4y ago
    I personally like Beyond better. I know I'm not alone. Impossible is still great though
  • asoneth 4y ago
    Odd. Personally there is something exceedingly off-putting in the aftertaste of Impossible and I occasionally get rancid smelling burps afterwards. Beyond is fine, but still not in my top 5 veggie burgers.
    • browningstreet 4y ago
      For me personally, Beyond has a weird taste upfront, and Impossible sometimes has the weird burp after. I don't always get it though, so I figure there's an element to who's preparing it.
  • mbreese 4y ago
    Impossible is also easier to cook with (for me). It can be difficult for either to cook burgers with if you don’t buy pre-formed patties. But Beyond seemed just a little more difficult. And gross. Uncooked Beyond was a little more gooey than Impossible. Just from that regard, I could see Impossible performing better because it is easier to integrate into existing recipes. Don’t discount the contribution of cooks in this equation.
• eloff 4y ago
  I’m a simple man. I prefer the taste of meat, and the protein quality, but some of these products are pretty good. If they were substantially cheaper than meat - which would be possible from a fundamental principles analysis - then I’d buy them. There is no way I’m paying a premium for these products.
• MR4D 4y ago
  Did we read the same article? FTA: > Supermarket sales of refrigerated plant-based meat plummeted 14% by volume for the 52 weeks ended Dec. 4, according to retail data company IRI. Orders of plant-based burgers at restaurants and other food-service outlets for the 12 months ended in November were down 9% from three years earlier, according to market researcher NPD Group. > Beyond lost sales in almost every channel last quarter. Over the past year it laid off more than 20% of its workforce That's a pretty good description of a failing growth industry.
  • HWR_14 4y ago
    Beyond losing sales and laying people off is compatible with a growth industry where numerous other entrants are starting to steal the customer base of the first mover by charging less or having better products. Of course, that is counterbalanced by retail and restaurant trends.
• joshvm 4y ago
  A friend and I did a (literal) blind taste test with impossible/USDA organic beef/beyond. I was excited to do this as we don't get Impossible in Europe. We baked our own buns etc, cooked to temp with a probe, got some nice cheese on top good stuff. We also did a blind tests of the proteins on their own, and in a plain burger. Neither of us had any trouble picking out which product was which, but it was really interesting. Beyond was the most divisive. It has a very distinct flavour which isn't anything like beef, and not everyone likes. I think it's fine, but it's more of a tasty protein than a beef replacement. Impossible is a really interesting product. It tastes good, texture is good, and I would happily eat a burger made from it. I can definitely tell the difference side-by-side, but I think if it's cooked well-done in a ragu or meatballs, it would be more difficult to tell. The main complaint I have is that it both can be quite hard to form and have a tendency to turn into sludge. So you have to handle them very cold before the fat melts. In Switzerland meat is expensive. Organic ground/minced beef from Farmy is something like $15-20/lb. Organic chicken breast is $50/lb (around $15/breast). Beyond is about $10/lb so there is certainly a cost saving to be had. All the supermarkets have extensive plant based options and vegetarianism/veganism is pretty common here. I think it'll be interesting to see how this pans out globally with improved animal welfare. My next experiment is eggs (which are almost 1 CHF/per!). Unfortunately the egg substitutes are almost the same price per weight from what I can see.
  • HWR_14 4y ago
    Is there non-organic meat in Switzerland? For fresh, organic, skinless, boneless chicken breast you can pay $27/lbs in the US at an upscale store. Or skin-on non-organic at Walmart for under $3. I have no frame of reference for if that is the beast chicken you can get from a fancy grocery store or the standard chicken from a standard store. Your eggs seem to be about 50% higher than US eggs right now. Which seems to work out to a similar multiple if your chicken breast prices are for high-end chicken in a high-end store.
    • trynewideas 4y ago
      > A random sample from this summer (2020) shows a kilogram of ham from conventional animal husbandry cost an average of 23 francs (21 euros), whereas a kilogram of organic ham cost 51 francs (47 euros) — more than twice as much. https://www.dw.com/en/switzerland-meat-animals-farmers/a-54550887 https://www.dw.com/en/switzerland-meat-animals-farmers/a-545...
• heresie-dabord 4y ago
  The full title of TFA: "Fake Meat Was Supposed to Save the World. It Became Just Another Fad Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods wanted to upend the world’s $1 trillion meat industry. But plant-based meat is turning out to be a flop." It is of course possible for any business to "flop", whether or not it makes good products. A "$1 trillion meat industry" with influential interests is not going to transform (much less disappear) suddenly. Consumers of meat products, like people who seem to need bigger and bigger vehicles, are accustomed (conditioned) to viewing their needs a certain way. The failure of a business that sought to deliver a product that would change the above is not a surprise. For sociological context, consider (as TFA states) that McDonalds is still selling its plant-based product in markets outside the US. None of this changes the principles of vegetarianism or veganism. These practices have existed for a long time and for good reasons.
• ricardobayes 4y ago
  Yes they are more available now, I live in the Spanish countryside and there is an abundance of plant-based meat options around me. Nuggets, burgers, schnitzels, even made into local tapas (alas, frozen).
• xnx 4y ago
  Agree. There are no headlines for: "People still eat tacos, so pizza has failed."