Fake meat is a dead end

Food industry question of 2019: “What do you think of Beyond Meat and the Impossible Burger?”

Mostly, I haven’t thought about this. Here is what I tell people:

  1. Yes, meat consumption is broken
  2. Yes, this will likely reduce meat consumption
  3. No, they are probably not healthy
  4. No, they are not the future of food

I’d be cautious on investing. Are they blowing their R&D budget? Are they meeting revenue targets? What % of the meat market share do they expect to capture? (I have not looked at any of this.)

My hypothesis is food should be:

  • Nutrient dense
  • As unprocessed as necessary (waste of energy)
  • Help rather than hurt soil
  • Be part of a robust, sensible, safe and diverse farming system
  • Something consumers want to eat
  • Consider to nutrition ratio (go away bananas)

They should create plant-based, altogether new foods that consumers actually prefer to animal byproducts, covering the same nutritional value and then some.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/startupnationcentral/2019/05/15/ready-or-not-the-food-of-the-future-is-coming/#7352299c3e11