How Impossible Foods plant-based burgers satiate 'hardcore meat eater' palates
Impossible Foods COO and CFO David Lee on the growing popularity of the company's Impossible burgers.
Meal replacement company Impossible Foods is satiating the palates of meat-eating masses.
“I am a hardcore meat eater -- and I am exactly the target of Impossible Foods,” said its COO David Lee to FOX Business’ Stuart Varney on Tuesday and he added that more than 90 percent of its customers keep coming back because they’re “meat eaters who want that crave ability that hits the spot… feel better about their health… [and] the impact they’re having on the world.”
The company has also caught the attention of some high-profile celebrity backers including Jay-Z, Serena Williams, and Katy Perry. It can also be found in restaurants, including White Castle. They have raised more than $750 million and just scored another $300 million in the latest round of funding.
So what exactly is in a meatless burger?
According to Lee, it’s made entirely out of plants and is environmentally friendly.
“It uses a fraction of the world's resources at a fraction of the amount of water it produces, I think an eighth of the greenhouse gases you would get from a burger from a cow,” he said.
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But its key ingredient, which is patented exclusively by Impossible Foods and described by Lee as the same “magic molecule” that a “cow needs to turn itself into delicious beef,” is the protein heme.
It looks like meat and even tastes like it, but it’s not made from cows. Impossible Foods CEO Patrick Brown explains the process behind creating the company’s plant-based protein, and how hamburger restaurants around the country are taking bite out of it.
Company rival Beyond Meat went public two weeks ago, but when Varney asked about its plans to go public, Lee responded: “We are in no rush.”