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Plant-based meat is turning out to be a flop

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Re: Plant-based meat is turning out to be a flop

#261
post #171
post #161

Can we add an "in the US" at the end? Since for EU countries this is not true. I'm living in sweden now and lived in germany and poland. Plant-based meat products are growing in numbers and the price of meat is going so high that its cheaper to buy the plant-based one. In Germany one producer of meat sausages want to turn 100% plant based[1]. I will not go into the whats better and not for you. Since this highly depe…

Sausages always seemed such obvious candidates. Many nondry sausages are already often a majority nonmeat. They get their flavor already from plant derived flavorants. Yet mostly fake meat products are burger and chicken nugget replacements. I've got to say, the fake chicken schnitzels are the first one that I really can't distinguish from the real chicken schnitzel. (Before the purists pour in, yes, compared to supe…

Yup, things where the texture is very removed from the original food definitely make sense.

Re: Plant-based meat is turning out to be a flop

#262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wanted to say the same thing. Here i Germany the choice of vegan sausage and cold cuts is huge, even in small grocery shops. I know lot of people who eat meat regularly _and_ buy the vegan alternatives on a regular basis.

Which totally puzzles me. Nothing wrong with a vegetarian diet, but would I prefer processed food, vegan or otherwise, over unprocessed one?

I would prefer unprocessed food as well but it sounds like cost is a major driver in this case.

Re: Plant-based meat is turning out to be a flop

#263

Of course, this is in the US. Impossible doesn't sell its products in Europe (or none of the good ones anyway). Here we have things like Burger King UK which has a more or less 50/50 plant based/meat split on its major products advertised in store. Or McDonald's that has a dedicated menu of 100% Vegan options: https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb/menu/vegan.html

I don't know why but I just can't keep myself from laughing at the name of McPlant. (I do think plant based meat is a great thing though, it's just a hilarious name.)

Re: Plant-based meat is turning out to be a flop

#264

Maybe unpopular opinion, but for me, best plant based patties are those that do not try to replicate meat taste. I much prefer patties made from actual plants&vegetables/mushrooms/chickpeas/beans like potato, carrot, some spices and so on. They have like actual 'natural' flavor, almost like something homemade. Those that add a ton of additives often taste awful, even beyond/moving mountains...

I'm a meat-eater, but those "classic" plant-based patties often taste perfectly fine. Not like meat at all, but they don't have to, that's okay. It's not like I only eat meat. But the new breed of patties that claim to be meat taste really awful, definitely. They sometimes smell really weird, too.

The oil-ness is not pleasant.

Re: Plant-based meat is turning out to be a flop

#265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fable mushrooms are the closest thing to steak-like that I've ever had. It's even better than the fake meat steaks I've found in supermarkets. I was never a lover of mushrooms in the first place, but these don't even taste or feel like a traditional mushroom. It looks and feels more like steak.

I love fable mushrooms and mushrooms in general. They are not steak substitutes. I’m surprised by people who make this claim. 100/100 if a good chef cooks fable mushroom and a filet or ribeye or sirloin and blind taste tests they are distinguishable. And that’s ok. Mushrooms and steak are different. The textures are a little similar but definitely different. Things can be different, that’s ok.

Indeed. Impossible meat etc are also different, and that's OK too.

I'm confounded by folks hammering on about how close they are to 'meat'. Hey, chicken, pork, beef are all different too! So what's the problem? Are they good? Do you know a good recipe? That's all that counts.

Re: Plant-based meat is turning out to be a flop

#266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wanted to say the same thing. Here i Germany the choice of vegan sausage and cold cuts is huge, even in small grocery shops. I know lot of people who eat meat regularly _and_ buy the vegan alternatives on a regular basis.

Which totally puzzles me. Nothing wrong with a vegetarian diet, but would I prefer processed food, vegan or otherwise, over unprocessed one?

Vegan chicken nuggets are similar easy food than processing vegetables yourself.

For me, I love meat, makes it easier to buy the 'better' processed food having this option.

If your supermarket doesn't have a vegi option than I can't buy it, try it etc.

Re: Plant-based meat is turning out to be a flop

#267
post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aldi has a great chicken replacement and the meatballs packaged with a pack of ketchup are excellent. I would wish for them to be available in a larger version without the ketchup. Another problem I have with all of this is the plastic packaging for everything. Getting something like that at a veggie butcher would be cool.

"Getting something like that at a veggie butcher would be cool." Wouldn't it just be shipped in plastic and repacked in plastic?

They could ship a lot of them in less plastic to a vendor where you could get them in a paper bag.

Re: Plant-based meat is turning out to be a flop

#269
post #146

How strange, we massively subsidize meat production, we don't even consider letting meat producers pay for the externalities they cause, and then plant-based alternatives have a hard time competing. It's a real mystery.

We also massively subsidise plant based food production. And non-food production like tobacco...
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