02/23/23 Plant-Based Alternative Meat Companies Scramble to Stay Afloat

In 2009, Beyond Meat was established. Two years later, Impossible Foods was founded. Over the next ten years both companies made notable strides in the plant-based alternative meat sector, such as Impossible Foods launching the Impossible Burger and Beyond Meat becoming the first plant-based manufacturer to go public. Interest in plant-based meat boomed in 2019 when the products were able to find their way into grocery stores and onto restaurant menus across the nation. During that year, Burger King launched its Impossible Whopper and Dunkin’ Donuts launched their plant-based breakfast sausage sandwich. The plant-based meat industry was ready to start a food revolution, and for good reason, for as their market access expanded, the future was looking bright. Bullish investors were calling for plant-based meat to make up 15 percent of all meat sales by 2030. Demand for fake meat remained strong throughout the pandemic as prices were comparable to traditional meat. Like so many other products during the pandemic, there was a shortage of traditional meat in some locations, however fake meat was still available.  While the fake meat was the last to sell in the meat case, showing clear consumer preference for traditional meat, some consumers were forced…