White Castle becomes big with "Impossible Slider"

(Bloomberg) – Impossible Foods Inc., the Silicon Valley's alternative meat company known for its vegetable-based hamburger that tastes, smells and even bleeds like the real one, takes a big step forward with a small cake. The Impossible Slider will debut nationwide on Wednesday at 377 White Castle locations in the United States on Sept. 12. The compact delicacy, topped with cheddar cheese, gherkins and smoked onions, buried in the famous roll of the fast food chain, costs $ 1.99.

At first glance, it's a strange match. The stated goal of Impossible Foods is to eliminate meat consumption by 2035. The main product of White Castle is meat.

According to Jamie Richardson, Vice President of White Castle, the youngest customers are looking for healthier options, even in fast food restaurants. "We are not a burgers company, we are a slider company," he says. "If we do not meet customer expectations and we do not adapt them accordingly, we will not be relevant."

President Lisa Ingram, whose family co-founded White Castle almost 100 years ago, sees Impossible Sliders as the perfect product for loyal customers who have become vegetarians. Before, "they would order cheese sliders, our version of a slider without meat," she says.

The Impossible Slider was first shown at 140 locations in New York, New Jersey and Chicago in April. The new burger was an immediate success, with sales more than 30% higher than expected, according to White Castle. "Our market share is about 250% higher in places where we sell Impossible Sliders than those who do not currently sell them," says Ingram. Strong of the initial strong reaction of the customers, the company decided to deploy it across the country.

We now even consider a breakfast slider impossible. "The sky is the limit," says Ingram.

"From a disruptive point of view, hamburgers are the right product for the meat industry," said Patrick Brown, CEO of Impossible Foods. The data shows that ground beef accounts for about 60% of beef consumption in the United States.

White Castle is the main customer of Impossible Foods, but Brown sees partnership as the first step in the evolution of the mass market. "When we have production capacity, we intend to sell our product in any fast food chain that sells hamburgers," he says.

Impossible Foods products are currently sold in 3,000 restaurants in a variety of formats, from burgers in New York to fake döner kebabs in San Mateo, California, to Impossible bao in Hong Kong. "Some chains are selling 100 times more hamburgers than we can produce right now," says Brown. "But they will be among our best customers."

The company is not yet profitable, but Mr Brown expects this to change over the next decade. Impossible Foods has received approximately $ 450 million in funding from sources such as Khosla Ventures, Google Ventures, Sailing Capital and Bill Gates. According to Brown, a large part has been devoted to research. "Right now, our growth margin is positive," he says. "Every time we sell a pound of ground meat, we make money."

White Castle and Impossible Foods market the hamburger to an unusual sample of consumers: those who appreciate the cultural cachet of the classic slider and that of a typical Silicon Valley company. The campaign will kick off with a free concert in Detroit on Wednesday night with GZA and Ghostface Killah of the Wu-Tang clan, as well as local rappers Royce da 5 '9 & Dej Loaf. (According to Mr. Brown, the Detroit Metropolitan Area is one of the top 10 regions for Impossible Burger sales.)

Of course, no White Castle marketing campaign would be complete without a connection from Harold & Kumar's Go to White Castle. Kal Penn, one of the stars of the cult movie, will make her first promotional appearance for the channel to publicize the partnership.

–With the help of Leslie Patton.

To contact the author of this story: Kate Krader in New York at [email protected]

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Joshua Petri at [email protected]

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