Impossible Foods Aims to Put Plant-Based Burgers on European Menus This Year

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(Bloomberg) — Impossible Foods Inc. is set to add its plant-based burgers to European menus this year, ending a six-year quest to enter the world’s biggest market for meat alternatives.

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It would mark a major breakthrough for the Redwood City, California-based company as industry sales of plant-based meat substitutes shrink in its core American market. Before rolling out all its products to countries including Germany, the Netherlands and the UK, the firm is waiting for final regulatory approvals for its genetically-modified ingredient, according to Chief Executive Officer Peter McGuinness.

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Alternative proteins are a more environmentally friendly option to meat, but makers have been hit by consumer backlash against their taste, texture and concerns about ultraprocessed ingredients. Meanwhile, demand for meat has been boosted by weight-loss drugs and a wave of MAGA masculinity rhetoric. By contrast, European retailers are still rolling out plant-based ranges to consumers who care more about sustainability.

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“Plant-based has more consumption in the EU and the UK than the US and people are generally more open to it,” McGuinness said in an interview in London. “We’re ready to go. We know it’s going to get approved.”

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Impossible Burger mimics the taste and texture of beef with plant-based ingredients. It contains soy leghemoglobin, an additive known as heme, which helps the product taste, smell and even “bleed” like meat and is derived from a genetically-modified yeast strain. 

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The products are already available in countries including Australia, New Zealand and Canada, but Europe’s strict regulations on novel ingredients and GM foods have slowed the approval process. 

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While the EU’s food safety watchdog ruled late last year the ingredient didn’t raise safety concerns, Impossible Foods is now awaiting the final nod from the European Union officials in the next few months. It also has a pending risk assessment from the Food Standards Agency in the UK, which it hopes to obtain in late summer. 

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Impossible Foods already offers a limited range of plant-based “chicken” products, which don’t contain heme. 

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McGuinness took over as the CEO in 2022 — switching from yogurt maker Chobani Inc. — to oversee Impossible Foods’ expansion into retailers and supermarkets in the US, which now make up about half of the business, he said.

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But the US market has been shrinking, just as investor funding in alternative proteins has dried up and more startups are going out of business. Impossible Foods has laid off workers over the past few years, as the value of the company’s shares slumped.

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McGuinness is dialing down climate rhetoric, which he thinks alienated many people, and is targeting meat eaters by emphasizing the taste, protein content and nutrient-density of its products. His pitch includes changing the color of packaging from green to red.