US fast-food chains are turning to "alternative meat"

NEW YORK – Burger King has become the latest fast food chain in the United States to add an alternative meat option to its menu, thus joining an industry movement aimed at attracting a growing number of health-conscious consumers and consumers. # 39; environment.

In early April, 59 restaurants in the Saint-Louis fast food giant began offering Impossible Whopper, a vegetarian version of its signature $ 1-dollar burger. that of the original.

After the successful test, Burger King announced that it would introduce the meatless option nationwide by the end of the year.

"Restaurants are really trying to take advantage of consumers' growing tendency to change their diet or adopt a plant-based diet," said Aaron Adalja, badistant professor of food and beverage management at Cornell University.

Faced with the growing demand for meat substitutes in the United States – a market up 23% in 2018 to exceed $ 760 million (¥ 83.1 billion) in sales – companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods have led the development of herbal products, look and taste like meat.

The offerings of these two Californian companies target a growing population of "flexitarians", people who, for health and environmental reasons, have turned to plant-based foods to replace some or most of their diet. regular consumption of meat.

Founded in 2009, Beyond Meat uses a protein blend derived from mung beans, peas and brown rice in its Beyond Burger, with small amounts of beetroot and pomegranate for a meat-like color.

Mitsui & Co., an investor in the company since 2016, has announced its intention to sell plant-based meat substitutes in Japan without revealing details of its plans.

Impossible Foods was established in 2011 and launched its Impossible Burger restaurant at trendy New York restaurant Momofuku Nishi in 2016. The company uses soy and potato proteins in its hamburger, as well as a molecule containing iron called heme, which provides both a red color and a distinctive meat flavor.

Both companies have grown in importance in an overcrowded market. Beyond Meat products are available in more than 30,000 outlets, including the Health-conscious Grocer, Whole Foods, and Carl's Fast Food chain Jr., while Impossible Foods items are used in some 5,000 restaurants in the United States and Asia. year.

In April, Red Robin became the largest restaurant chain to deploy the Impossible Burger. White Castle also debuted with the Impossible slider this month, offering the national herbal version priced at $ 1.99, compared to the original $ 1 slider.

"More and more customers have told us that they are craving vegetarian options," said Jamie Richardson, vice president of White Castle. "Impossible Foods is a great partner and we are excited to work with them."

Bareburger, a biologics chain, serves both the Impossible Burger and Beyond Burger stores in all of its more than 30 locations in the US, allowing customers to replace a meat cake with other herbal for a price increase of about $ 3.

Although there are currently six Carl's Jr. restaurants and two Bareburger establishments in Japan, neither company plans to offer alternative meat options in the country in the near future.

The first stated that he had not been able to obtain a sufficient amount of herbal meat products for his sites in Japan, while the latter raised the issue of cost in as an obstacle.

Critics have also reacted to the race for fake meat production.

"Many innovative products on the market are highly processed and contain components such as soybeans that have bad press," said Ricardo San Martin, head of the Alternative Meats Lab at the University of California at Berkeley.

"They are also high in salt or saturated fats, and the price is still high," he said of the products, many of which use coconut or sunflower oils to mimic the content. fat beef.

The use of new genetic engineering processes prior to the collection of long-term safety data has also been the subject of close scrutiny, particularly in the case of Impossible Foods. Its flagship ingredient – soy leghemoglobin, a protein that contains heme for a meat color and taste – is produced by the fermentation of genetically modified yeast.

In 2017, critics such as the ETC group have expressed concerns about the US Food and Drug Administration's inconclusive findings on the safety of protein consumption. After conducting other studies, Impossible Foods, the FDA finally approved last year.

"I think that overcoming this perception that these meat substitutes are heavily processed will be a barrier to wider adoption," said Adalja of Cornell. "(But) I think the fact that some big fast food chains have started experimenting is certainly promising."