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Impossible Foods is on a mission: They aim to create delicious plant-based versions of every animal-based food on the market by 2035.
And if the past year is any indication, the company is bound to succeed! Their “meaty” Impossible Burger is such a success that it has sold out at huge chains like White Castle and Red Robin. When Burger King debuted the Impossible Whopper at select locations in the United States, the test markets were so receptive that Burger King has promised to serve the burger nationwide by the end of this year.
In an interview with The Spoon earlier this year, Impossible Foods CEO Dr. Pat Brown shared his plans for the future, including expansion beyond the company’s flagship ground beef to innovative new products like plant-based steak:
[Steak] has huge symbolic value. If we can make an awesomely delicious world-class steak … that will be very disruptive not just to the beef industry, but to other sectors of the meat industry.
Now the company is also setting its sights on plant-based fish. According to Brown, Impossible Foods has been reproducing the biochemistry of fish flavor using heme (the same protein in its Impossible Burger formula). Their most recent success was a plant-based anchovy-flavored broth they used to make paella. Brown said, “The only way we can succeed is to make fish from plants that is more delicious than the fish that’s strip-mined from the ocean.”
On their website, Impossible Foods calls animal agriculture a “destructive and unnecessary technology.” They also stress the urgency of acting swiftly, as global demand for animal products is having lasting and catastrophic effects on the earth’s climate, water resources, and ecosystem.
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They are not wrong. Raising farmed animals makes up 14.5 percent of global human-induced greenhouse gas emissions, uses about 30 percent of the earth’s ice-free land, and is the main driver of deforestation. Also, according to a recent U.N. report, 33.1 percent of global fish stocks are overfished.
But there is hope. Global consultancy AT Kearney recently predicted that 20 or so years from now, most meat will not be from slaughtered animals. Instead, 60 percent of humans will likely be eating plant-based or cell-based meat due to growing consumer awareness of the negative environmental impacts of animal agriculture.
We can all make a huge difference to the planet through our day-to-day choices. Discover the joy of eating more plant-based meals by ordering a FREE Vegetarian Starter Guide today!
