Live data from Hacker News

Meatless meat is nothing new

economist.com

31–40 of 109 posts

Re: Meatless meat is nothing new

#31
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a tangent, but so much of the supermarket nowadays is junk. Go to the protein section, and there is literally no product that is just protein, everything has added artificial sweetener or some lab concoction with god knows what. Go to the frozen food section. 80% junk. Ice cream, frozen potato chips, frozen pizzas. Oh look, some frozen fruit in the corner. Go to the cereals section. 80% junk. If you look real…

I never seen frozen fruit, but frozen vegetables are super common.

Frozen fruit is usually in its own section and isn't often mixed in with the vegetables. I'm more used to seeing it near desserts. It is, believe it or not, super common.

I promise it is common, though: I could find it in pretty much every grocery store I visited in the US (Including aldi) and can find it in most stores here in Norway as well. Some folks seek out frozen peaches and frozen mixed fruit for fruit salad as well - at least they did where I grew up in the Midwest.

Re: Meatless meat is nothing new

#32
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a tangent, but so much of the supermarket nowadays is junk. Go to the protein section, and there is literally no product that is just protein, everything has added artificial sweetener or some lab concoction with god knows what. Go to the frozen food section. 80% junk. Ice cream, frozen potato chips, frozen pizzas. Oh look, some frozen fruit in the corner. Go to the cereals section. 80% junk. If you look real…

I never seen frozen fruit, but frozen vegetables are super common.

Frozen berries tend to be pretty common from my experience in supermarkets across the US.

Re: Meatless meat is nothing new

#33
In Germany the Rügenwalder brand was, at least for me, always associated with sausages. Since they changed to also produce meatless vegan products, they become almost omnipresent in every supermarket with vegan and vegetarian products. I personally like them and, in my opinion, the initial change of the direction was brave. My personal perception is, that Rügenwalder and LikeMeat (with some exceptions) do a great job. I think, the target customer isn't always the established vegan who also has sympathies for PETA work but the interested and health aware consumer who wants to reduce the overall meat consumption or the meat lover who is open to just try it out (because of interest).

I'm aware that this products are always creatures of food laboratories ... well done but somewhat artificial. But if you got an invitation to some BBQ event and don't have your own DIY sausages at hand, this products are convenient (yes I know peppers, zucchini and other vegetables are just fine to put it on a grill and taste good but the BBQ master must have some experience with it and it's sometimes a bit of a struggle to be well fed with that only ... for a man).

By the way ... I think the marketing of this traditional meat based sausage company Rugenwalder is just interesting. I think this model can also work for established fast-fashion brands which want to change to sustainable, fair paying product model ... not to change the world but to make it right and because the market wants it so

Re: Meatless meat is nothing new

#35
post #30
post #9

As a lapsed vegetarian I've always seen mushrooms as the original meatless meat. Praise be glutamates.

As a meat eater, I love mushrooms and I think they are so much better as a healthy food than those weird Beyond meats. I also love vegan patties made with various kind of nuts, beans and veggies. I don’t get this appeal of turning goos and veggies into ‘meat’. Just make them their own thing. You don’t rly have to compete with meat.

Eh, as a vegan I prefer Beyond burgers to mushroom burgers or those healthier vegan patties made out of various veggies/beans.

I'm a meat eater at heart, and the junky meat and cheese substitutes really scratch an itch that the healthier options can't.

Given the huge year over year rise in consumption of these substitutes it seems like a lot of people similarly are more down to have the occasional Impossible or Beyond burger from a fast food chain than the old school veggie/bean patties.

Re: Meatless meat is nothing new

#36
post #30
post #9

As a lapsed vegetarian I've always seen mushrooms as the original meatless meat. Praise be glutamates.

As a meat eater, I love mushrooms and I think they are so much better as a healthy food than those weird Beyond meats. I also love vegan patties made with various kind of nuts, beans and veggies. I don’t get this appeal of turning goos and veggies into ‘meat’. Just make them their own thing. You don’t rly have to compete with meat.

"I don’t get this appeal of turning goos and veggies into ‘meat’. Just make them their own thing. You don’t rly have to compete with meat."

So, people are supposed to go without the comfort food of childhood completely and are supposed to never get some of the textures of these products?

I'm not personally a fan of the beyond meat most of the time, but I do use other fake meat from time to time (Quorn, for example, or ground meat made from soy). I can make bean burgers - and do, usually chickpeas and brown rice - but if I'm buying, I'm buying stuff with a nice chewy texture that I can't quite get at home. I make some childhood comfort food, too, and sometimes it just gives and easy protein.

And I don't look at it as a competition. I don't care that it tastes of meat and I wouldn't really know anyway - it has been too long. I care that it tastes good enough and has a good texture. Making it taste (or 'bleed') like meat isn't a gimmick for me, but for meat eaters.

Re: Meatless meat is nothing new

#37
"Meatless meat". That doesn't make any sense.

I enjoy quality meat. I'm all for consuming much less meat. In fact, that's already what I do day to day. I enjoy vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, cereals, everything. I can have delicious meals without meat, no need to disguise these as meat, they're fine as-is. And maybe once a week I'll have a delicious piece of cow from my local butcher.

But eating some fake industrially processed junk ? No, thanks, not even once.

Re: Meatless meat is nothing new

#38
post #2

I don't understand how can those companies afford to put those fake meat sections on all supermarkets across the globe. At least in my european country all supermarkets seem to have this section and from what I've been told most of the products just end up being thrown away because nobody is buying them. I assume they expect to lose a lot of money now but then to make it big at some point in the future. But those com…

This is a tangent, but so much of the supermarket nowadays is junk. Go to the protein section, and there is literally no product that is just protein, everything has added artificial sweetener or some lab concoction with god knows what. Go to the frozen food section. 80% junk. Ice cream, frozen potato chips, frozen pizzas. Oh look, some frozen fruit in the corner. Go to the cereals section. 80% junk. If you look real…

[deleted]

Re: Meatless meat is nothing new

#39
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a tangent, but so much of the supermarket nowadays is junk. Go to the protein section, and there is literally no product that is just protein, everything has added artificial sweetener or some lab concoction with god knows what. Go to the frozen food section. 80% junk. Ice cream, frozen potato chips, frozen pizzas. Oh look, some frozen fruit in the corner. Go to the cereals section. 80% junk. If you look real…

I never seen frozen fruit, but frozen vegetables are super common.

https://www.google.com/search?q=frozen+fruit&tbm=isch

Re: Meatless meat is nothing new

#40
post #2

I don't understand how can those companies afford to put those fake meat sections on all supermarkets across the globe. At least in my european country all supermarkets seem to have this section and from what I've been told most of the products just end up being thrown away because nobody is buying them. I assume they expect to lose a lot of money now but then to make it big at some point in the future. But those com…

This is a tangent, but so much of the supermarket nowadays is junk. Go to the protein section, and there is literally no product that is just protein, everything has added artificial sweetener or some lab concoction with god knows what. Go to the frozen food section. 80% junk. Ice cream, frozen potato chips, frozen pizzas. Oh look, some frozen fruit in the corner. Go to the cereals section. 80% junk. If you look real…

You can buy almost pure protein in some supermarkets - look for powdered egg whites which are like 99% protein.
Post reply on HN