A customer picks up a pack of herbal meat Impossible Burger during the launch of Impossible Foods Inc. at Gelson’s Markets in Los Angeles, California, USA, Friday, September 20, 2019.
Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Impossible Foods reduces suggested retail prices for US grocery stores by 20%, pushing it closer to achieving parity in the prices of the meat it is trying to replace.
The recommended retail prices for meatless burgers from Impossible are now $ 5.49 for cakes and $ 6.99 for a 12-ounce package. Price cuts make meat alternatives cheaper than ever, but consumers will still pay more than double for Impossible Burger, based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s national beef retail report for next week. ends on February 4.
Outside the United States, double-digit price reductions for impossible products are also being launched in grocery stores.
This marks the first time the private start-up has reduced its retail prices, but the third time in the last year that the company has permanently reduced its products. Restaurant distributors received price reductions in 2020 and again in January.
In the last year, the number of supermarkets carrying Impossible Foods meat substitutes has increased 113 times. It is also in a test of 47 locations at Costco Wholesale, which could result in more retail stores transporting their products.
The coronavirus pandemic has fueled new interest in meat substitutes, as more consumers have turned to grocery stores, and outbreaks of Covid-19 in meat packaging factories have led to some stocks of meat products.
“Our plan was not to move so fast in retail last year until Covid failed,” President Dennis Woodside said in an interview.
The Impossible’s production capacity has increased sixfold since 2019, helping it meet all new demands. Woodside said the company’s production has become more efficient as it runs its production lines more frequently and adds more changes to its schedule. He also said that with the growth of impossible foods, his suppliers are also growing.
“They are able to pass on their savings,” he said.
Rival Beyond Meat has also worked to reduce prices as more competition enters the market. Last summer, he sold frozen packets of meatless burgers. Beyond shares have risen 61 percent in the past year, giving the company a market value of $ 11.1 billion.
In addition to facing competition from other companies selling realistic meat alternatives, Impossible and Beyond could soon face pressure from cell-based meat producers. Future Meat Technologies, an Israeli company, said Monday that it has reduced the production cost of farmed chicken breast to $ 7.50. Singapore is so far the only country that has approved the sale of meat grown in the laboratory after granting permission to eat only in December.
“Ultimately, what we’re all competing for is the £ 1 trillion industry, which is the current animal protein industry,” Woodside said.