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Beyond Meat fights for survival

foodinstitute.com

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Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#91

Post by burnt-resistor »

dmazin wrote: post #68

It’s interesting that alternative meat consumption in the U.S. is struggling but taking off in Europe. One thing I noticed after moving to the UK: alternative milk is normalized here. Like, it’s so common to avoid milk that if you order coffee without specifying, you will be asked what kind of milk you want.

Here in hill country Texas, even Walmart sells MorningStar corn dogs. H-E-B carries most of the Impossible line including meatballs. I made some dirty rice with the IF ground "beef" and it was awesome. There's almost no oil in it, browning onions and peppers required adding some avocado oil (never use olive oil for high temperature cooking).

PS: I'm a lazy vegetarian who will eat a real burger every few months. When vegan parm and swiss cheese get as good as the real stuff, then I'd go vegan.

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#92

Post by dmazin »

karahime wrote: post #84
dmazin wrote: post #68

It’s interesting that alternative meat consumption in the U.S. is struggling but taking off in Europe. One thing I noticed after moving to the UK: alternative milk is normalized here. Like, it’s so common to avoid milk that if you order coffee without specifying, you will be asked what kind of milk you want.

Having lived in both the US and Europe, I have to imagine at least some of that comes down to cost. In Europe, the plant based alternatives (at least where I lived) were actually cheaper, and meaningfully so.

Interesting, in Britain it's completely the opposite. Alternative milk is way more expensive.

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#93

Post by JoshTriplett »

burnt-resistor wrote: post #91
dmazin wrote: post #68

It’s interesting that alternative meat consumption in the U.S. is struggling but taking off in Europe. One thing I noticed after moving to the UK: alternative milk is normalized here. Like, it’s so common to avoid milk that if you order coffee without specifying, you will be asked what kind of milk you want.

Here in hill country Texas, even Walmart sells MorningStar corn dogs. H-E-B carries most of the Impossible line including meatballs. I made some dirty rice with the IF ground "beef" and it was awesome. There's almost no oil in it, browning onions and peppers required adding some avocado oil (never use olive oil for high temperature cooking). PS: I'm a lazy vegetarian who will eat a real burger every few months. When…

> There's almost no oil in the ground beef, so adding some avocado oil while browning onions and peppers was required.

Their sausage works well for that, no added oil needed.

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#94

Post by JoshTriplett »

randycupertino wrote: post #38
armchairhacker wrote: post #5

I posted before: I care more about the nutritional content being close to meat than the look and taste; specifically, similar macro-nutrient ratios and whatever micro-nutrients are rare outside of meat. I also care about it being cheap in theory, even if it's more expensive in practice because the company hasn't scaled up. But really, as long as it's not ridiculously expensive, and isn't missing some nutrient or bala…

I remember when veggie burgers first came out and they actually featured veggies and tried to taste like veggies instead of psuedo-meat patties. They were so good! Then everything tried to just clone meat, poorly, in taste and texture and they were so much worse. But those first ones that really tasted like veggies were delish.

I'm glad that people have the option of those if they like them. Personally, I find the veggie patties to be awful in both taste and especially texture. I was thrilled when there started being options other than the pervasive gardenburgers.

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#95

Post by microtonal »

karahime wrote: post #84
dmazin wrote: post #68

It’s interesting that alternative meat consumption in the U.S. is struggling but taking off in Europe. One thing I noticed after moving to the UK: alternative milk is normalized here. Like, it’s so common to avoid milk that if you order coffee without specifying, you will be asked what kind of milk you want.

Having lived in both the US and Europe, I have to imagine at least some of that comes down to cost. In Europe, the plant based alternatives (at least where I lived) were actually cheaper, and meaningfully so.

Also, they taste better? I have been a vegetarian since 1999. Even in the small village I lived with my parents, the local supermarket had a meat replacement section. Later I moved to a larger city and the product selection at supermarkets is very large and nice. A few years ago, supermarkets also started carrying Beyond Meat products. We tried them a few times, but they taste absolutely horrible compared to local offerings that have been developed for decades now.

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#96

Post by JoshTriplett »

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…

> You know that thing you don't eat, don't like, and don't have cravings for anymore?

That is not everyone's experience with being vegetarian.

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#97

Post by haiku2077 »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #59
randycupertino wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember when veggie burgers first came out and they actually featured veggies and tried to taste like veggies instead of psuedo-meat patties. They were so good! Then everything tried to just clone meat, poorly, in taste and texture and they were so much worse. But those first ones that really tasted like veggies were delish.

Are you a vegetarian? I'm not, and really enjoy a good black bean patty. But when I crave a juicy beef hamburger, I have one. Vegetarians might prefer to satisfy cravings with something closer to their childhood memories than a black bean patty.

I remember the veggie burgers they're talking about and they weren't black bean patties. The one I remember had potato with peas in it... god, it was delicious

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#98

Post by JoshTriplett »

joelrunyon wrote: post #72
sampo wrote: post #63

How is their competitor Impossible Foods doing? It's a private company, so we can't as easily look at stock prices.

Not great - https://x.com/joelrunyon/status/1931091407294312956

You seem to be single-purpose posting to promote your legal case.

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#99

Post by cortesoft »

dmazin wrote: post #68

It’s interesting that alternative meat consumption in the U.S. is struggling but taking off in Europe. One thing I noticed after moving to the UK: alternative milk is normalized here. Like, it’s so common to avoid milk that if you order coffee without specifying, you will be asked what kind of milk you want.

I feel like most coffee shops here in California always ask what type of milk you want, too.

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#100

Post by submeta »

The hidden message of the title: Plant based alternatives may not succeed. I don’t believe that. I rather see more and more friends and people avoid eating meat or reduce their consumption drastically. Many buy plant based alternatives to milk as well. Twenty years ago only a few people would ask for oat/soy milk when ordering a coffee. But these days many do.

I have been eating plant based meat alternatives for four years now, and I am never going to go back to eating meat. Yes, these products may be ultra processed food, but I cannot justify the ecological consequences and the suffering brought upon the animals just so I can eat a piece of their muscle tissue.

Our lifestyle is not sustainable, we have to look for alternatives. And young folks already grow up with a very critical attitude towards meat consumption.

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