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Beyond Meat is struggling, and the plant-based meat industry worries

nytimes.com

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Re: Beyond Meat is struggling, and the plant-based meat industry worries

#71

Post by CobaltFire »

linsomniac wrote: post #43
CobaltFire wrote: post #5

We actually prefer the Beyond Meat patty to a real beef one about 3/4 times in my house. We also prefer their Italian sausage for several recipes. They aren’t the same by any means; we just happen to like the Beyond Meat alternative for those dishes. I really hope they stick around.

I got some push-back from my family on Beyond Burgers, we were grilling them somewhat regularly this summer and I was perfectly happy with them, but then towards the end of the summer my wife said, and my kids agreed: they didn't like them. I think the Impossible is the better product. But, Beyond is listed on the stock market, so it's easier to see that they've been struggling?

I do think that their patties are a bit easier to get tired of; that's why once in a while we will do a beef patty instead.

One place they absolutely don't work for us is Loco Moco. For whatever reason a soft real meat patty just works so much better there.

I'll give a try to Impossible and see what we think.

Re: Beyond Meat is struggling, and the plant-based meat industry worries

#72

Post by notacoward »

lm28469 wrote: post #7

It really is not that complex to understand: You either love meat and won't touch these things with a 10 feet pole or you are vegetarian/vegan and usually take care of what you put in your body, meaning probably a limited amount of junk/processed food, meaning no fake meat substitutes. The market really isn't that big imho, there are already plenty of alternative to meat for most applications, which are cheaper, less…

That explanation doesn't really work for me. Meat eaters aren't all yee-hawing tailgate BBQ addicts, and vegetarians aren't all paragons of healthy/natural virtue. I know plenty of people who are happy carnivores, who also enjoy a Beyond or Impossible patty. Usually it's an "every little bit helps" thing, cutting down just a little bit on the health or environmental negatives of meat. Sometimes it's just for variety. Either way, there are people who love meat and also will touch these products gladly.

The "variety" contingent includes me BTW. I've enjoyed all sorts of vegetarian meat alternatives over the years - old school soy or peanut-based "TVP" in a can back in the 70s, tempeh, bean-based and rice-based and mushroom-based kinds, etc. I make both lentil and potato burgers according to my own recipes. One of the reasons I prefer Beyond to Impossible is that Impossible tastes too much like meat. I can easily tell the difference with Beyond, though, making it less of a direct replacement for beef and more like a different meat to experiment with. That's far more interesting to me.

Unfortunately for Beyond, I think I'm in the minority. Most in-betweeners seem to have settled on Impossible. Consumers want a direct replacement, apparently. Beyond has simply not won in a finite market. There's no need for a Manichean "two types of people" model to explain it.

Re: Beyond Meat is struggling, and the plant-based meat industry worries

#73

Post by ASalazarMX »

gwbas1c wrote: post #32

I married a vegan, and I eat a lot of vegetarian food. (I also still eat plenty of meat, just not every day.) One extremely frustrating aspect of plant meat is that they tried to aggressively push out traditional veggie burgers on restaurant menus. A familiar refrain I've heard in restaurants in the last few years is "we used to have a nice veggie patty, but they replaced it with the beyond/incredible/whatever patty.…

I can't understand why some entrepreneur saw vegetarian food existing, and decided to make a startup about ultraprocessed vegetarian food. It's as if they thought ideology was more important than health or environmental benefits.

Re: Beyond Meat is struggling, and the plant-based meat industry worries

#74

Post by linsomniac »

ok123456 wrote: post #58
linsomniac wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me, and I'm not sure how widespread this opinion is, it's not a health halo. I treat beyond/impossible burgers like I treat beef burgers: an occasional dietary splurge. I like them for a few reasons: more sustainably sourced, signalling with my pocketbook that alternatives are important, getting my kids ok with not eating meat occasionally (meatless Mondays sort of thing).

The main feature then is that these products make you feel better about your consumption.

Personally, I'd say: These products make me feel like part of the solution rather than part of the problem WRT climate change and Lake Mead drying up.

Re: Beyond Meat is struggling, and the plant-based meat industry worries

#76

Post by gwbas1c »

jitl wrote: post #65
tjpnz wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>One extremely frustrating aspect of plant meat is that they tried to aggressively push out traditional veggie burgers on restaurant menus. This upsets me because as a vegetarian the last thing I want is to be reminded of what meat tastes like. Who exactly is this for? Because the last I heard it was being marketed primarily at meat eaters.

I’m a meat eater and I would love to find a faux ground beef or faux ground pork that I can use in the kitchen exactly the way I use beef/pork in my recipes. I would prefer such a food if it was similarly priced to animal, but more sustainable, because I would rather be vegetarian but not to the degree that I need to give up my favorite recipes. I need it to provide essential umami, salt, fat, flavor. Often vegetaria…

Try tempah or mushrooms. (You might want to pan fry the mushroom first.) You could also try shelled edamame.

They aren't a one-to-one replacement for meat, but even when I've tried the impossible or beyond meat replacements, I find they taste like tofu instead of real meat.

Re: Beyond Meat is struggling, and the plant-based meat industry worries

#77

Post by freitasm »

gwbas1c wrote: post #32

I married a vegan, and I eat a lot of vegetarian food. (I also still eat plenty of meat, just not every day.) One extremely frustrating aspect of plant meat is that they tried to aggressively push out traditional veggie burgers on restaurant menus. A familiar refrain I've heard in restaurants in the last few years is "we used to have a nice veggie patty, but they replaced it with the beyond/incredible/whatever patty.…

The thing is BM (and others) aren't trying to create vega/vegetarian meat. They are trying to make meat in a sustainable way, so it has to taste more like beef/pork than chickpeas or tofu if they want to get the main market.

They are still not there.

Re: Beyond Meat is struggling, and the plant-based meat industry worries

#78

Post by ok123456 »

linsomniac wrote: post #74
ok123456 wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The main feature then is that these products make you feel better about your consumption.

Personally, I'd say: These products make me feel like part of the solution rather than part of the problem WRT climate change and Lake Mead drying up.

Yes that's what they're designed to do. Make you "feel" like you can contribute to meaningful solution not by pressuring large industrial polluters to do something but rather just make minor changes in your personal consumption habits.

Re: Beyond Meat is struggling, and the plant-based meat industry worries

#79

Post by gwbas1c »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #64
gwbas1c wrote: post #32

I married a vegan, and I eat a lot of vegetarian food. (I also still eat plenty of meat, just not every day.) One extremely frustrating aspect of plant meat is that they tried to aggressively push out traditional veggie burgers on restaurant menus. A familiar refrain I've heard in restaurants in the last few years is "we used to have a nice veggie patty, but they replaced it with the beyond/incredible/whatever patty.…

But what does your spouse think? I'm an omnivore and agree with you. But if I went a year without eating a real burger I'm sure I'd prefer a Beyond Meat burger over the nice black bean burger I'd currently prefer.

Pretty much what I and the other vegetarians in this thread said. She doesn't like eating things that taste like meat.

Re: Beyond Meat is struggling, and the plant-based meat industry worries

#80

Post by linsomniac »

ok123456 wrote: post #78
linsomniac wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, I'd say: These products make me feel like part of the solution rather than part of the problem WRT climate change and Lake Mead drying up.

Yes that's what they're designed to do. Make you "feel" like you can contribute to meaningful solution not by pressuring large industrial polluters to do something but rather just make minor changes in your personal consumption habits.

I'm not sure why you're putting "feel" in quotes, voting with your pocketbook is a legitimate way of signalling to large industrial polluters to do something, right?
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