Plant based meat industry hits hard times


 
Lynn Dollar

Lynn Dollar

TVWBB Emerald Member

The Fake-Meat Revolution Has Stalled​

Consumer trends suggest a meatless near future is increasingly unlikely.​


The Food Dive report also notes that other makers of fake meat, including Maple Leaf Foods, admit the sector's growth has "stalled."

"Refrigerated plant-based meat grew 59% in 2019 and 75% in 2020," a senior Maple Leaf official said, "but in 2021 it only grew 1%."

In addition to floundering sales, other data points include, for example, that Dunkin' halted sales of the Beyond Sausage vegetarian breakfast sandwich at most locations after sales didn't meet expectations.
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Interesting, my next project is an impossible food lab and kitchen in the Bay Area, one of a few they are currently building.
Personally I wouldn’t touch the stuff, be interesting to see how it turns out.
Lab created meat seems gross, if I’m going meatless I’m ok with beans and rice.
 
Bruno, much to my own surprise..... don't count them out. I've been making a smoked queso with the Beyond Meat(tm) breakfast sausage (we have a vegetarian in the crowd,) and it's been turning out pretty darned good. I don't know how good this stuff would be without being dressed up to the nines, though.

I don't think that fully plant based meat substitutes will really be it, I think that vat grown meat may actually be it (anybody else remember H. Beam Piper's carniculture concept? Or Fred Pohl & Cyril Kornbluth's Chicken Little?)
 
I don't have a problem with most of the fake meat products I have tried. Some of them are actually quite good. My only problem with them is cost. I'm not going to pay as much or more for plant based meat than I do for real meat.
 
Steve Hoch said:
I don't have a problem with most of the fake meat products I have tried. Some of them are actually quite good. My only problem with them is cost. I'm not going to pay as much or more for plant based meat than I do for real meat.
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I think a lot of people think that way. Make them the same or less in cost and people may use them, especially if there are health benefits. I think it will be a while before they 3D print a nice ribeye for me.
 
JSaus said:
I think a lot of people think that way. Make them the same or less in cost and people may use them, especially if there are health benefits. I think it will be a while before they 3D print a nice ribeye for me.
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A real ribeye is more of a health benefit than any of the plant based stuff for me.
Probably because I've got an allergy/intolerance to soy protein.
 
But, I must ask, how environmentally and financially sound is the process of turning beans et al into “meat”? Is it cost efficient? What is the waste proportion? Energy consumption, carbon impact? I’ve not tried any of the products primarily due to these issues which I have not seen and reporting on. I very well may have missed any disclosure of those facts but, in my mind they are valid concerns.
Additionally what about the sheep, cattle, pork producers who are facing their own supply concerns? Their livelihood is not immediately a worry but, for me, I’ll try to keep those guys in business as much as I can.
 
Between the prices and all the crap they put in some of it to make it taste sort of like meat, I don't understand why people think it's a healthy alternative. I will admit though, Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo is pretty good but about all you taste in any Mexican style Chorizo are the spices.
 
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