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The Beginning of the End of the Beef Industry?

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Re: The Beginning of the End of the Beef Industry?

#21

Post by snarf21 »

formalsystem wrote: post #9

I'm starting to think more and more that people promoting plant based burgers have either never tasted beef or never tasted a plant based burger. If the main concern is environment I get it and go for it. But if you are claiming that plant based burgers are healthier or tastier you are borderline delusional. Last time I cooked a Beyond Meat burger I noticed it was 30% canola oil. 30% CANOLA OIL, might as well just in…

I'm all for them trying to move it forward. Like you said, the "good taste" is coming from plant oils, Impossible uses coconut oil. Howerver, will we soon see a 'tropical oil plantations are accelerating global warming' backlash? Of all the environment issues for beef, water usage scares me the most. The Ogallala Aquifer is in trouble and there will be a reckoning.

Re: The Beginning of the End of the Beef Industry?

#22

Post by technotony »

The naysayers in the comment thread are missing the understanding that the fundamental technologies driving this are all moving exponentially. Beyond Meat's innovation came from a Stanford professor who is an expert in RNA molecules (he helped them figure out their protein structure/selection), impossible foods is a synthetic biology company. Exponential techs always underwhelm in the beginning but soon deliver more powerful products than people imagined. That's going to happen with this industry and faster than people expect.

Re: The Beginning of the End of the Beef Industry?

#23

Post by dashundchen »

formalsystem wrote: post #9

I'm starting to think more and more that people promoting plant based burgers have either never tasted beef or never tasted a plant based burger. If the main concern is environment I get it and go for it. But if you are claiming that plant based burgers are healthier or tastier you are borderline delusional. Last time I cooked a Beyond Meat burger I noticed it was 30% canola oil. 30% CANOLA OIL, might as well just in…

Agree that it's not as healthy as eating less processed plant based foods, however I don't think anyone is going to Burger King or White Castle expecting that.

But are these plant burgers actually claiming or marketing themselves as healthy?

The only places I have seen them served are in restaurants and bars alongside burgers and unhealthy bar food - which I think you might be surprised is a big chunk of many people's diets. I have many coworkers who eat next to no vegetables.

I am hoping they can provide a spring board into more traditional plant based foods for people, including the Med and Indian cuisines you mention.

Re: The Beginning of the End of the Beef Industry?

#24

Post by technotony »

frostyj wrote: post #17

I don't know if the statement on price is valid in this article. For me, while shopping in wholefoods, I found the price of beyond meat patties is almost doubled than other, actual meat, brands. I am not sure why it is so expensive, but I sincerely hope it is not the cost of production

Have a look at their IPO prospectus. Until they built their plant in 2018 they were selling at below COGS. But this is mostly a scale problem, which is why the stock is still performing well, as they are growing so fast the market is confident they will fix the cost problem over time.

Re: The Beginning of the End of the Beef Industry?

#25

Post by jessaustin »

WaitWaitWha wrote: post #8

um... "The California-based company said net loss widened to $6.6 million in the three months ended March 30, from $5.7 million a year earlier. First-quarter net revenue came in at $40.2 million, an increase of 215%, the company said. Analysts had expected revenue of $38.9 million." - reuters. I may be cynic, but that is not sound good. If your net losses outpace your net revenue, no matter how good that meat is, you…

Eventually one of the two companies will survive by raising prices drastically. Until then it's a VC-powered burn-rate battle...

Re: The Beginning of the End of the Beef Industry?

#26

Post by nwah1 »

formalsystem wrote: post #9

I'm starting to think more and more that people promoting plant based burgers have either never tasted beef or never tasted a plant based burger. If the main concern is environment I get it and go for it. But if you are claiming that plant based burgers are healthier or tastier you are borderline delusional. Last time I cooked a Beyond Meat burger I noticed it was 30% canola oil. 30% CANOLA OIL, might as well just in…

Didn't realize they had a new formula. I liked the old formula.

Re: The Beginning of the End of the Beef Industry?

#27

Post by Junk_Collector »

Xcelerate wrote: post #12

I don’t think most people will have a problem switching to plant based burgers as long as they taste good, but I think that’s still the sticking point at the moment. I’ve had an Impossible burger a few times and could always taste a strong difference (I even did a few blind taste tests). I don’t think it’s close to actual meat yet. Supposedly the second version of the burger has improved; I haven’t tried it yet. Chea…

Even with Wagyu and Kobe, the whole cow isn't getting turned into premium cuts of meat. Burger and sausage are going to be a byproduct of the parts that aren't high margin proportional to the demand for the rest of it. Kind of like how eggs are so cheap because they are a natural byproduct of the chicken meat industry and the insatiable American lust for all white meat breast. I wouldn't be surprised to see an effective advertising campaign to make burger et al more "premium" as plant based substitutes take off and the price go up as a result of that. Kind of how Angus cows got to be big in the first place.

Re: The Beginning of the End of the Beef Industry?

#28

Post by dr_orpheus »

Xcelerate wrote: post #12

I don’t think most people will have a problem switching to plant based burgers as long as they taste good, but I think that’s still the sticking point at the moment. I’ve had an Impossible burger a few times and could always taste a strong difference (I even did a few blind taste tests). I don’t think it’s close to actual meat yet. Supposedly the second version of the burger has improved; I haven’t tried it yet. Chea…

I think the second version of the Impossible meat is pretty good and tastewise is a decent substitute. I've had it as a burger and also in a burrito (Qdoba has the impossible meat now). For the burger you can still tell a difference but I don't think if you handed me two burritos, one with ground beef and one with Impossible meat, I would be able to tell a difference.

I think the next sticking point will be price. Impossible burgers still cost more at the moment. But if the price of Impossible burgers comes down or if the price of beef goes up I think you would see a change from a novelty item to a true alternative.

Re: The Beginning of the End of the Beef Industry?

#29

Post by Falling3 »

soperj wrote: post #18
omarhaneef wrote: post #11

I think the part that rings clearly in my head is the ethical part. I really cannot believe we eat animals. I know other animals do it all the time -- and I don't hold it against tigers and lions -- but its still strange to me that we, humans, do it. If you don't feel that strong surprise, then I think the other arguments may or may not work for you. But if you have that sense that it is strange and perhaps off, then…

I feel the same way about vegetables. I know other animals do it all the time, but when you add them up all the plant deaths are horrific.

If you honestly believe the harming/killing of animals and plants are equivalent, come by my place later. I've got some hedges in my front yard and a dog. I'll get out the hedge clippers and we can demonstrate there's no real difference between cutting parts off of a bush and a mammal.

Re: The Beginning of the End of the Beef Industry?

#30

Post by CaliforniaKarl »

On one of the podcasts I listen to (The Morning Stream), one of the co-hosts (Brian) has been on Weight Watchers for I think all of this year. One thing he has noted is that, assuming all else is equal (bun, toppings, etc.), an Impossible or Beyond burger costs many more 'points' than a regular beef burger. (One of the goals being to stay below a particular points limit each day.) That surprised me, until he explained that the plant-based burger is high in carbohydrates, which contributes to its high points value.

So I disagree that this is the end of an industry. I think it's the beginning of change in an industry, but not its end.

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