It’s never been the best time to promote ultra-processed foods as healthy and delicious, but two major manufacturers of plant-based meat are trying to do just that.
Beyond Meat wants to convince people that vegan meat products are healthy. Competitor Impossible Foods has also recently changed the color of its packaging from green to blood red in an effort to attract carnivores.
Beyond Meat reformulated some of its products last year to reduce saturated fat and sodium and simplify ingredient lists. Impossible Foods launched Health Hub and changed its brand name to emphasize the deliciousness of meat. Both companies’ products are recognized as healthy by the American Diabetes Association and the American Heart Association.
It’s all part of an effort to reverse slumping sales of plant-based meat amid increased scrutiny of foods made by industrial processes with long ingredient lists. Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered a crackdown on When it comes to ultra-processed foods, new research shows a link between ultra-processed foods and negative health effects, and President-elect Donald J. Trump’s pick for Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Criticizing food.
Even though plant-based meat is ultra-processed, it doesn’t necessarily have to be unhealthy, experts say. These products generally have less saturated fat, less cholesterol, more fiber, and are free of hormones and antibiotics than animal meat.
Ann analysis Dozens of studies published last year in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology found that plant-based alternatives “generally range from neutral to beneficial” compared to meat. , a British Columbia naturopath, reviews.
Study finds that some of the “concerning aspects” of plant-based meat, such as food processing and high salt content, outweigh the potential cardiovascular benefits of eating plant-based meat instead of animal meat. He said he found no evidence that this was the case.
Health and nutrition concerns are the number one reason people seek out plant-based meat, and Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods want to distance themselves from, or at least add nuance to, ultra-processed labels. Beyond Meat founder and CEO Ethan Brown said his company’s method of extracting proteins from legumes and processing them into meat-like products simply omits the use of animals as intermediaries. He said he just did it.
“This is a beautiful process that comes directly from the soil and the farm, as opposed to CAFOs or factory-farmed animals,” he said, using the acronym for intensive animal feeding operations.
If plant-based meats have to be classified as processed foods, they’re more like canned beans than Twinkies, and a far cry from the World Health Organization-recognized processed meats, which include hot dogs, bacon, and deli meats. The discussion becomes. It is classified as carcinogenic to humans.
“If you really want to look at it from a food perspective, processed means it’s highly artificial and has very little nutritional value,” said Peter McGuinness, CEO of Impossible Foods. said.
“We are a nutritious product,” he continued. “It’s not the traditional definition of processed.”
It remains to be seen whether even more consumers will be moved. The plant-based food sector has been in decline in recent years.
Five years ago, protein alternatives seemed poised to take over red meat’s dominance by offering healthier, ethical and climate-friendly options. Since then, the market has shrunk, and a shadow has loomed over the sector, due in no small part to the Beyond Meat legend. Since the company went public in all its glory in 2019, its stock price has fallen from $234 per share to less than $4, and its debt exceeds $1 billion.
Brown denounced attacks from the meat and livestock antibiotic industry and criticism from natural food purists. A series of flashy ads linked to former tobacco lobbyist and public relations strategist Richard Berman characterized plant-based meat as containing chemicals and portrayed plant-based meat as “woke” too. It is considered. The number of consumers who believe plant-based meat products are healthy decreased from 50 percent to 38 percent from 2020 to 2022, according to industry group Food Industry Association FMI.
McGuinness said the sector was likely overheated and overhyped, other companies rushed to introduce inferior products and failed, and plant-based meat was a fad. He said it spurred criticism.
Impossible Foods is privately held and has a more secure foothold than Beyond Meat. Mr McGuinness said the company was “on the path to profitability” with a strong balance sheet and no debt. Still, the company faces similar challenges to Beyond Meat in attracting meat eaters who have never tried plant-based products.
“I think this is one of the biggest communication challenges in the history of business,” McGuinness said.
Compared to meat, the market for plant-based alternatives is relatively small. Plant-based meat and seafood will account for $1.2 billion in U.S. retail sales in 2023, compared with $100 billion in sales for conventional meat and seafood, according to the Good Food Institute. . And global meat consumption is increasing.
Emma Ignaszewski, senior associate director at the Good Food Institute, said the expansion of the plant-based sector is driven by consumer priorities and how quickly companies can innovate, improve taste and lower prices. Plant-based meat could be at least twice as expensive, he said. their animal counterparts.
“Growth is not inevitable,” Ignaszewski said. Still, the survey found that the majority of young consumers in 10 countries plan to increase their spending on plant-based products in the future due to concerns about health, sustainability, animal welfare and climate change. said. According to the Good Food Institute, plant-based alternatives have an average environmental impact of 11 percent compared to meat.
Beyond Meat hopes its reprocessed burgers and beef with more legumes and avocado oil will help silence critics and win over consumers. The company consulted registered dietitian and nutritionist Joy Bauer and Dr. Matthew Liederman, co-author of The Fork Over Knives Plan and The Whole Food Diet. The pair said the goal of plant-based meat is to give people a healthier option when they’re craving a burger.
“For most people, myself included, just beans or lentils on a hamburger bun doesn’t satisfy that craving,” Dr. Lederman says. Once patients replaced plant-based meat with red meat, she said, they often made other lifestyle changes, such as exercising more or eating more vegetables. “It promotes healthier life changes,” he said.
Dr. Lederman also challenged the perception that conventional meat is natural. Estimation 99 percent 40% of U.S. livestock live on factory farms.
“They feed them abnormal diets,” he said of livestock raised on factory farms. “They put them in abnormal conditions. They pump them up with hormones and antibiotics. They’re in such a small, confined area. Their bodies are flooded with stress hormones. ”
Not everyone is convinced. Influential author Michael Pollan once urged people not to eat foods that his great-grandmother did not recognize. deadly Plant-based meat. Pollan declined to comment for this article.
Marion Nestle, professor emeritus of nutrition, food research, and public health at New York University, said plant-based products remain ultra-processed and long-term studies of their effects are needed. Still, she acknowledged that there are probably relative benefits. “I’m sure it’s better for the environment than beef. Everything is,” she said. “My prediction is that if you don’t eat beef and eat this instead, you’ll do better than people who eat beef.”
Even as more consumers become attracted to its products, Beyond Meat’s challenges remain enormous. The company reported sales growth for the third quarter of 2024, but John Baumgartner, consumer food analyst at financial services group Mizuho Americas, said the growth was driven by higher prices. He said that Beyond Meat’s stock price is unlikely to recover. He also said that while Beyond Meat is working on improving its burgers, Impossible Foods likely benefited from launching a wider range of products, including a faux chicken option.
Notably, Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods have highlighted the climate benefits of their products compared to meat, which is a leading cause of greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, and water pollution in their latest messaging. is disrespectful. Under McGuinness’s leadership, Impossible Foods has built a message of delicious and nutritious food. “Once you cover that, you can talk about the climate, but people are also very selfish,” he said.
