Impossible Foods Review
Impossible Foods is a new company devoted to creating foods that should be impossible: like vegan-friendly cheeseburgers. Here’s our Impossible Foods review.
What is Impossible Foods?
Impossible Foods is a company that makes vegan-friendly foods out of things that have no business being vegan friendly: like dairy and meat products.
The company breaks down animal products at the molecular level and selects specific proteins and nutrients from vegan-friendly sources to re-create the flavor and texture of different foods.
The company describes its mission like this:
“Impossible Foods is developing a new generation of delicious and sustainable meats and cheeses made entirely from plants….For thousands of years we’ve relied on animals to transform plants into meat, milk, cheese and eggs. Impossible Foods has found a better way to make the foods you love, directly from plants.”
Impossible Foods is planning to release its first product, the Impossible Cheeseburger, in 2016.
The Vegan-Friendly Impossible Cheeseburger
One of the company’s flagship inventions is its Impossible Cheeseburger. If you look at that cheeseburger, it looks exactly like an animal-based cheeseburger: complete with the red meat inside and the crispy brown meat on the outside.
That Impossible Cheeseburger has made the rounds on publications like The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg. NPR even tasted the burger. Here’s how they described it:
“If I’d tasted it at a fast-food joint, I probably wouldn’t have noticed a difference. At the same time, it’s not as good as the grass-fed burger that I get at my favorite restaurant, and that’s what Impossible Foods is going for.”
Google Ventures recently invested in Impossible Foods. The company has also been labeled as a “disrupter” by many as it seeks to disrupt the $74 billion beef industry.
Although the burger is available in prototype form, it has not yet reached the consumer market. According to the official FAQs section, the company plans to release the burger in 2016.
When the burger is released, it will be the first product sold by the company. The company expects to create more vegan-friendly beef replacement products in the future.
How Do You Make Vegan-Friendly Meats and Cheeses?
Impossible Foods doesn’t extensively describe its manufacturing process. They do, however, explain that they separate molecular components from meats and cheeses and then find ways to replicate those molecules using plant-based sources.
The company starts with plants like grains, greens, and beans, and then separates proteins, fats, and other nutrients from each one.
Then, the company chooses the ingredients that give foods “desirable flavors and textures”.
The proteins are combined with all of the other ingredients – like the amino acids and fats – to make the company’s meats and cheeses.
The end result is meat and cheese that comes from simple plant ingredients without cholesterol, hormones, antibiotics, or slaughterhouse contaminants. The food also requires far less energy, water, and land to produce.
How to Buy the Impossible Cheeseburger and Other Impossible Foods Products
The Impossible Cheeseburger plans to launch in the United States in 2016. Here’s what the company has to say about its distribution plans:
“Our distribution plans for the first Impossible burgers are still in the works—but we will keep you posted. After we launch in the U.S., we plan to expand our production capacity and make the burgers as widely available as possible!”
Impossible Burger Versus a Veggie Burger
One of the most frequently asked questions Impossible Foods gets is how its meat differs from say, a veggie burger.
The company responds by saying:
“Veggie burgers are great for those looking for an alternative to conventional meat, but not for true meat-lovers. We are creating uncompromising meats for people who love meat, directly from proteins and other ingredients found in plants.”
In other words, veggie burgers are a replacement if you need some food to go between two buns for your meal. The Impossible Burger is a simulated burger.
The burger is about more than just the taste and texture of real beef: the company also promises to recreate the visual appearance and versatility of the raw meat – including the smell and sizzle during cooking.
About Impossible Foods
You can contact Impossible Foods by emailing [email protected].
The company was founded in 2010 to “solve the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced”, according to the careers section on the official site.
Impossible Foods is headquartered in Redwood City, California.
Expect to hear more from Impossible Foods over the coming months as the company’s products start to arrive on US supermarket shelves.
