2019-08-26 Bloomberg Businessweek

totalktovaryingdegrees about saving the

world.Butthecompanies took very different

pathstomassmarket.Beyond went first into

WholeFoodsMarketand then bigger channels

suchasKrogerCo.and Safeway; Impossible

unveileditsburgerin restaurants, starting

withcelebritychefssuch as David Chang.

Ofcourse,eachcompany claims it has the

superiorproduct,and picking a favorite is

subjective.ButatBareburger Group LLC, an

upscalechainwithboth burgers on the menu,

ImpossibleoutsellsBeyond by a 3-to-1 ratio,

saysfounderEuripides Pelekanos. Impossible

pointstoheme,its“magicingredient,”asthe

reasonitsburgeris thebestfakebeefonthe

market.It saystheiron-containingmolecule,

madefroma genetically modified yeast, is

whatgivesitsburgers their essential metal-

licmeatiness(thinkof the iron-heavy taste

ofblood).Afterwinning U.S. Food and Drug

Administrationapproval in July for retail sales,

ImpossibleBurgerscould be in supermarkets

assoonasSeptember.

At Beyond,Brown draws attention to

hisproduct’slackofgenetically modified

organisms (GMOs),a not-so-subtle dig at

Impossible’shemeanditsprimaryingredi-

ent,geneticallyengineeredsoy.“Itwould

makeourjobsa loteasiertobeabletogeneticallymodify

plantmaterialtomakeit behaveexactlyaswewant,”hesays.

Butinthecompany’searlydays,whenhetalkedtoconsum-

ersduringsamplingsatstores,hospitals,anduniversities,

“theymadeverycleartomewhatwasacceptable,”hesays.

AndGMOsandsoywerenot.

Fornow,concernaboutGMOsisn’tdissuadingImpossible’s

consumers,chefs,orrestaurants,eventhosewhogravitate

tonaturalingredients.Beyond,though,hasthenumbers:

Itsproductsaresoldinmorethan53,000restaurantsand

otherlocations,overthreetimesasmanyasImpossible.And

Beyondhasanotherproductlinethatmayimpressconsum-

ersevenmorethanitsflagshipburger:sausages.“Ithinkthe

Beyondbratwurstis theclosestyou’llevercometotrickinga

meateater,”Pelekanossays.“Thatsausageis oneofthebest

plant-basedmeatproductsoutthere.”

WithBeyondsafelyinsupermarketsandImpossible

movingintothemassmarket,themosthigh-profilebattle

oftheburgerwaris happeninginrestaurantchains.Beyond

notcheditsfirstmajorwinlastyear,announcingthatits

burgerswouldbeavailableatTGIFridaysfromcoasttocoast

inJanuary2018. A few months later, in April, Impossible

landed White Castle, its first fast-food customer. Since then,

Beyond has put its “meat” in Carl’s Jr. and Del Taco, but the

biggest win so far goes to Impossible: In August, the Burger

King Impossible Whopper went national.

The ultimate prize is McDonald’s. And the expectations

for a McBeyond are high. Former McDonald’s Corp. CEO

Don Thompson is on Beyond’s board, and Brown was asked

during Beyond’s very first earnings call, in June, about the

company’s ability to supply the fast-food giant. “I’m assuming

you guys drew straws to see who’s gonna ask the McDonald’s

question,” he joked, before launching into his explanation

about how Beyond will ready itself to produce the number

of burgers a McDonald’s-level deal would require. “I don’t

see anyone out there that would break our system,” he said.

Impossible, famously, has had some trouble keeping cus-

tomers supplied. (Bloomberg developed an online Burger

Stalker to keep track of which restaurants were holding.)

The shortage was first reported the same day the company

announced it would launch nationally in Burger Kings.

Mission Taco Joint, a small chain based in St. Louis, used

to sell Impossible “meat” in its tacos. Then it was jilted.

“They kept providing for fast-food chains but stopped for

small restaurants,” says Jason Tilford, chef and co-owner. (He

switched to Hungry Planet Inc., a maker of meatless alter-

natives he says is “arguably better than Impossible.”) Soon,

White Castle and Red Robin experienced shortages, too.

Beyond’s stock price duly rose about 7%.

Adding customers while being unable to serve cur-

rent ones may seem like a questionable business tactic; a

Bloomberg News survey in July found that more than 30% of

Impossible’s listed restaurants weren’t serving its product

54

Bloomberg Businessweek August 26, 2019

◼BeyondBurger ◼ImpossibleBurger ◼Veggieburger ◼ None

Number of U.S. locations

Where the Fake Meat Is and Isn’t

500

1,000

Wendy’s

DairyQueen

Sonic

Jackin

theBox

Hardee's

Checkers/

Rally's

Whata-

burger

Culver's

STEAKSHAKE’N

In-N-

Out Carl'sJr.

FRIDAY'STGI

A&W

Five

Guys

BurgerKing

TheImpossibleWhopperis

offeredat15,000locations—

assumingit’sin stock

CASTLEWHITE

McDonald’s

Thechaindoesn’tsellplant

burgersin theU.S.yet,

butin Aprilit announcedthat

it wouldsellNestlé’s

IncredibleBurgerin Germany

ROBINRED

KRYSTAL

SMASHBURGER FREDDY’S

COOK OUT

THEHABIT

JOHNNY ROCKETS SHAKESHACK

FUDDRUCKERS

WAYBACK HWY 55

DATA: COMPANY WEBSITES