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Beyond Meat fights for survival

foodinstitute.com

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Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#41

Post by drewg123 »

bastawhiz wrote: post #6

I feel like I'm the ideal customer for Beyond Meat and its competitors. I am not price sensitive, I don't mind the idea of plant based meat products, and I am willing to try new things. My biggest reasons for not buying Beyond Meat are that I: 1. Would rather not cook, and eating Beyond Meat in a way that's financially meaningful for them as a company means me cooking 2. If I'm going to put in the effort to cook, I w…

Impossible has Impossible Bowls, which sounds like something that would be what you're looking for. They are available at Walmart https://impossiblefoods.com/media/news-releases/impossible-f...

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#42

Post by DangitBobby »

jahsome wrote: post #30
transcriptase wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s no way to say this without sounding like an asshole but perhaps in 8 years your memory of what meat is like has drifted. I only say that because the rest of us wish the fake stuff was remotely comparable in taste and texture.

Both can be true. I think they try desperately to be meat, and they fail miserably.

I both remember the taste of meat and wish meat alternatives would taste like it, and I think Impossible and Beyond are both very successful at that.

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#43

Post by o11c »

bluefirebrand wrote: post #36
iknowstuff wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

hmm.. you would buy it but aren't? 4 oz raw/patty: Impossible → 19 P / 14 F / 9 C, 240 kcal, 370 mg Na, 0 mg chol Beyond → 20 P / 13 F / 7 C, 220 kcal, 260 mg Na, 0 mg chol 80/20 beef → 19 P / 23 F / 0 C, 287 kcal, 75 mg Na, ? chol (high) Plants hit beef-level protein, ditch cholesterol, trade more sodium & a few carbs; beef still packs the fat.

I thought sodium was really bad for you though

Salt is only bad for you if you don't drink water.

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#44

Post by eximius »

bluefirebrand wrote: post #36
iknowstuff wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

hmm.. you would buy it but aren't? 4 oz raw/patty: Impossible → 19 P / 14 F / 9 C, 240 kcal, 370 mg Na, 0 mg chol Beyond → 20 P / 13 F / 7 C, 220 kcal, 260 mg Na, 0 mg chol 80/20 beef → 19 P / 23 F / 0 C, 287 kcal, 75 mg Na, ? chol (high) Plants hit beef-level protein, ditch cholesterol, trade more sodium & a few carbs; beef still packs the fat.

I thought sodium was really bad for you though

Zero sodium also kills you because you need electrolytes to live. Like almost literally every complex system, there is a zone of moderation/goodness/health.

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#45

Post by DangitBobby »

drewg123 wrote: post #40
SoftTalker wrote: post #17

It’s always been awful IMO. Tastes like sawdust with a congealed vegetable oil binder and chemical flavorings that approximate meat. A straight up bean burger is better and far less processed.

Its way better than a bean burger IMHO. As a vegan, what I like most about Beyond burgers are that they are consistent, and pretty amazing at not being awful. If I'm in a random restaurant with a few token vegan options, the last thing I want to do is take a chance on some potentially terrible homemade bean or chickpea burger. If they have Beyond or Impossible, I know exactly what I'm getting.

Absolutely better than the crappy black bean or chickpea patties you'd get at most burger joints. I'd much rather have Beyond or Impossible at a cookout as well.

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#46

Post by drewg123 »

angry_moose wrote: post #9

I've been vegetarian for about 8 years and won't buy them and try to avoid them in restaurants because they're too meat-like. Unfortunately they've made good non-fake meat vegetarian burgers (black bean, wild rice, etc) harder to find. It's a situation of "You know that thing you don't eat, don't like, and don't have cravings for anymore? We made something that tastes exactly like it. You're going to love it!" I'm gl…

I'm just the opposite.

I'm a vegan who loves & misses the taste of meat. Without Beyond (and Impossible), it would have been way harder for me to have become vegan. I think black bean burgers are disgusting. When picking a restaraunt for a team dinner with non vegans, I specifically look for menus that offer Impossible or Beyond, and I avoid restaurants that offer homemade bean/pea/etc burgers.

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#47

Post by drewg123 »

gonzalohm wrote: post #24
angry_moose wrote: post #9

I've been vegetarian for about 8 years and won't buy them and try to avoid them in restaurants because they're too meat-like. Unfortunately they've made good non-fake meat vegetarian burgers (black bean, wild rice, etc) harder to find. It's a situation of "You know that thing you don't eat, don't like, and don't have cravings for anymore? We made something that tastes exactly like it. You're going to love it!" I'm gl…

Why do you assume people will stop consuming them after a few years? I think most people enjoy the taste of meat but are concerned about the environmental implications of consuming meat. I would replace all animal products if they tasted like the real thing. I'm sorry but tofu is not cheese

Indeed. I've been vegan for nearly 5 years, and I still miss meat. Beyond and Impossible make being vegan tolerable for me.

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#48

Post by leguminous »

angry_moose wrote: post #9

I've been vegetarian for about 8 years and won't buy them and try to avoid them in restaurants because they're too meat-like. Unfortunately they've made good non-fake meat vegetarian burgers (black bean, wild rice, etc) harder to find. It's a situation of "You know that thing you don't eat, don't like, and don't have cravings for anymore? We made something that tastes exactly like it. You're going to love it!" I'm gl…

I've been vegetarian for a long time and I still think Beyond burgers are great. I have a pack of them from Costco in the freezer. I like black bean burgers, too, but Beyond burgers taste like my (distant) memory of a "normal" burger.

In any case, I assume Beyond was relying on getting more market penetration past just vegetarians and vegans. There just aren't enough of us to get to the revenue they seem to be targeting. Personally, I'll be disappointed if they end up disappearing.

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#49

Post by toast0 »

davidw wrote: post #32

One of the things I've noticed about shopping carefully at the local supermarket (Albertsons, in Oregon) is that they very often use beef as a 'loss leader' to get people to shop there, so beef is often cheaper than it 'should' be, and especially so if more of the externalities involved in the production of beef were included in the price. I like beef, but the price probably makes it harder to compete with.

Ground beef needs to move quickly, and you've got to sell some to go with the nicer cuts of meat, so it makes sense to sell at low or negative margins.

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#50

Post by fnordlord »

SoftTalker wrote: post #17

It’s always been awful IMO. Tastes like sawdust with a congealed vegetable oil binder and chemical flavorings that approximate meat. A straight up bean burger is better and far less processed.

It could have to do with how they're prepped. Even the real thing can taste like sawdust and grill marks if done incorrectly. I'm personally biased towards veggie burgers and prefer them over the real thing but in the last year, I've been to multiple cookouts where both "burger dudes" and kids have chosen beyond over meat.

I agree that the level of process is questionable but, if done well, I don't think it lacks in flavor.

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