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Canadian meat giant Maple Leaf debuts new plant-based burger

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Re: Canadian meat giant Maple Leaf debuts new plant-based burger

#91
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a meat eater, I would absolutely replace some of the meats I buy with meatless products if I liked them.

As a consumer, I would absolutely replace some of the consumables I buy with perfect substitutes if I liked them. This is exactly what economists assume.

"If I liked them" is a much lower bar than "perfect substitute".

Re: Canadian meat giant Maple Leaf debuts new plant-based burger

#92
post #59
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd also disagree with - People who want meatless products aren't buying meat so they're an expansion opportunity. I think that's a fair assessment. I think that the desire to eat meat-like products is much lower than a lot of people assume in vegetarian/vegan people. Products like Seitan and other "meat texture" items have always done poorly when compared to vegetarian/vegan offerings that simply omit any meat-like…

I agree about the "desire" to eat meat-like products with the vegetarian/vegan set. None of my vegetarian/vegan are into the fake meats at all. Most don't even try it once. I think the market for this type of fake meat are meat eaters with an environmental awareness.

Agreed - also, both environmental awareness and nutritional/health awareness can justify eating less meat than the typical Canadian, American, German, Argentine, Brazilian, etc.

Re: Canadian meat giant Maple Leaf debuts new plant-based burger

#93
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does the meatless meat production costs compare to meat products? Their retail price is higher, so they may be increasing their profits in the process, not cannibalizing it.

I'm sure this is partially due to (lack of) scale and equal parts lack of competition.

They’ve got product development costs to recoup.

Re: Canadian meat giant Maple Leaf debuts new plant-based burger

#94
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd also disagree with - People who want meatless products aren't buying meat so they're an expansion opportunity. I think that's a fair assessment. I think that the desire to eat meat-like products is much lower than a lot of people assume in vegetarian/vegan people. Products like Seitan and other "meat texture" items have always done poorly when compared to vegetarian/vegan offerings that simply omit any meat-like…

> Products like Seitan and other "meat texture" items have always done poorly when compared to vegetarian/vegan offerings that simply omit any meat-like ingredients Hm... do non -vegetarians/vegans actually prefer these newer "meat texture" items over the classic veggie ones?

I have been a life-long vegetarian. Since, I never used to eat meat, I don't have a meat craving which people sometimes do when leaving meat behind.

I think I may have tried a meat imitation product once but didn't like it very much. I prefer sticky to the spicy, vegetarian food that I am used to :-)

Re: Canadian meat giant Maple Leaf debuts new plant-based burger

#95

I suspect the timing deliberately lines up with the launch of the new Canadian food guide yesterday. https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/

Exactly this. Now they recommend “protein foods”. Not related to this story but even the glass of juice is recommended to be replaced with a glass of water (and eating whole fruits and vegetables). Maple Leaf is doing the right thing to prepare to adapt quickly.

Re: Canadian meat giant Maple Leaf debuts new plant-based burger

#96
post #35

It seems to me that insect meat is the way to go taste, nutrition, and cost wise. But people are adverse to eating bugs. To me this seems to be a branding problem. One of the plant based burger producers should advertise that their food is supplemented with natural proteins and lipids, then stuff their plant burgers with ground up crickets or meal worms or whatever. I don’t think people would have as much a problem e…

Wouldn't people eventually look at the ingredients though? They will just find out about crickets there...

Perhaps I overembellished. I’m not suggesting outright hiding the insects, I’m suggesting reframing them as a supplement rather than the main substance.

It’s a veggie burger with bug proteins. Not just bugs.

Re: Canadian meat giant Maple Leaf debuts new plant-based burger

#97
post #22

It seems to me that insect meat is the way to go taste, nutrition, and cost wise. But people are adverse to eating bugs. To me this seems to be a branding problem. One of the plant based burger producers should advertise that their food is supplemented with natural proteins and lipids, then stuff their plant burgers with ground up crickets or meal worms or whatever. I don’t think people would have as much a problem e…

Insects have to eat something too. And some insects are carnivorous. So you would be inserting multiple layers into the food chain with all the associated efficiency losses and increases in carbon footprint. Going straight to the source seems reasonable if it can be made to work.

You’re not wrong, but it’s worth getting a sense of scale. Farming insects uses about 90% less land than beef, and similarly large savings in water and feed.

If people like meat, bugs are a pretty good way to solve for that.

Re: Canadian meat giant Maple Leaf debuts new plant-based burger

#98
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does the meatless meat production costs compare to meat products? Their retail price is higher, so they may be increasing their profits in the process, not cannibalizing it.

So the local diner sells an impossible burger on the menu along with a regular burger. The burger with fries is $5.99. The comparable impossible burger with fries is $11.99 If fries cost $2, then the regular burger costs $4 and the impossible burger costs $10 or 2.5 times the cost of the regular burger. That suggest there's a lot of room for profit for both the company and the retailer. But the key thing is that ther…

Most of the places I know of selling Impossible Burgers used to sell a veggie burger. Looks like an incremental improvement to me.

Re: Canadian meat giant Maple Leaf debuts new plant-based burger

#99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We have to reduce meat consumption as we understand the impact on climate change, and as ever more of the world gains a developed life. Meat consumption needs to trend like smoking. For the US I disagree. According to the math, if the entire country went 100% vegan it would cut emissions by 2-3%. If we're only going to look at individual habits there are other areas that are more impactful. Flying in airplane less…

> According to the math, if the entire country went 100% vegan it would cut emissions by 2-3%. I would love to see something, anything that validates that claim as it is wildly at odds with everything I have seen. > Meat consumption has also declined in the US by ~25% since the 1960s. You made a typo, you meant increased. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3045642/

> I would love to see something, anything that validates that claim as it is wildly at odds with everything I have seen.

This article talks about and links to a paper discussing: https://qz.com/1131428/if-the-entire-us-went-vegan-itd-be-a-...

Their estimate was a 2.6% reduction.

> You made a typo, you meant increased.

I was thinking of beef consumption. Of course, consumption of poultry has increased. Which is supposedly the "healthy" option.

https://www.wri.org/blog/2018/01/2018-will-see-high-meat-con...

Re: Canadian meat giant Maple Leaf debuts new plant-based burger

#100
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a consumer, I would absolutely replace some of the consumables I buy with perfect substitutes if I liked them. This is exactly what economists assume.

"If I liked them" is a much lower bar than "perfect substitute".

And there's possibly an "even if they were more expensive" dimension to such a claim too.
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