Impossible Foods facts for kids
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| Private | |
| Industry | Food |
| Founded | 2011 |
| Founder | Patrick O. Brown |
| Headquarters | Redwood City, California, US |
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Key people
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Dennis Woodside (President) Peter McGuinness (CEO) |
Impossible Foods Inc. is a company that creates delicious plant-based foods that taste and feel like real meat. Their most famous product is the Impossible Burger. It was first launched in July 2016 as a vegan option for a beef burger.
The company also teamed up with Burger King to offer the Impossible Whopper all over the United States by summer 2019. Besides burgers, Impossible Foods makes plant-based sausage and chicken products too!
Contents
The Story of Impossible Foods
Impossible Foods was started by Patrick O. Brown in 2011. In July 2016, they launched their first product, the Impossible Burger. It's made entirely from plants!
The company says that making an Impossible Burger uses much less of our planet's resources. It uses 95% less land and 74% less water than making a regular beef burger. Plus, it creates about 87% less greenhouse gas, which is good for the environment.
The plant-based burger also has some cool health facts. It has more protein, less total fat, and no cholesterol compared to a similar beef patty. It does have a bit more sodium and saturated fats than plain beef. The Impossible Burger is also approved for special diets, getting Kosher certification in May 2018 and Halal certification in December 2018.
In January 2019, Impossible Foods released an improved version called the Impossible Burger 2.0. By July 2020, you could find Impossible Burger patties in grocery stores like Trader Joe's and many Walmart locations across the United States.
How Impossible Foods Makes Meat from Plants
What makes the Impossible Burger special is an ingredient called heme. Heme is a molecule that gives meat its red color and meaty taste. It's found in animals, but it's also found naturally in plants, especially in the roots of soy plants.
Impossible Foods uses the heme from soy plants. To make a lot of it, their scientists use a special process. They take a tiny bit of the soy heme, put it into yeast, and then grow it using a process similar to how some types of beer are made. This way, they can create lots of plant-based heme without needing animals.
The company worked closely with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make sure their heme ingredient is safe to eat. After many tests and reviews, the FDA agreed in July 2018 that the heme protein is safe for food. This approval first allowed the burgers to be sold in restaurants. Later, in September 2019, the FDA also approved it for sale in grocery stores.
Some other plant-based meat companies have talked about how Impossible Foods uses "hyperprocessed" ingredients. Impossible Foods has said that these claims are not fair. Also, a group called the Center for Consumer Freedom, which gets money from the meat industry, has made ads criticizing plant-based meats for using additives. Impossible Foods even made a funny ad to respond to this!
Where to Find Impossible Foods
Impossible Burgers in Restaurants
When Impossible Foods first started, they made their burgers in smaller amounts. So, you could only find them in certain restaurants, not in grocery stores. They also explored making plant-based chicken, pork, fish, and dairy, but decided to focus on their burger first.
The very first restaurant to serve the Impossible Burger was Momofuku Nishi in New York in July 2016. Soon after, more fancy restaurants in California started offering it. By March 2017, Impossible Foods built a big factory in Oakland, California, to make a lot more plant-based burger meat every month.
More and more restaurants began to offer the Impossible Burger. In April 2018, White Castle started serving Impossible Burgers, and soon it was available in all of their locations! By July 2018, the Impossible Burger was available in about 3,000 places in the United States and Hong Kong. By the end of 2018, it was in 5,000 restaurants across all 50 states.
In April 2019, Burger King started testing the Impossible Whopper in some cities. It was a big hit! Later that year, the Impossible Whopper became available in Burger King restaurants all across the country.
Impossible Burger in Stores
The Impossible Burger first arrived in grocery stores in October 2019, starting with Gelson's stores in Southern California. By May 2020, you could buy Impossible Burgers at many other grocery chains like Fairway Market, Wegman's, Jewel-Osco, Vons, Pavilions, Albertsons, Safeway, and various stores owned by Kroger.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States in April 2020, the FDA even allowed restaurants to sell uncooked Impossible beef directly to customers. This helped people get their hands on the plant-based meat even when dining out was difficult.
Impossible Sausage and Chicken
Impossible Foods also makes other plant-based products. In May 2019, Little Caesars started testing a pizza with Impossible Foods' first plant-based sausage. The company worked hard to create the perfect sausage taste and texture.
Now, you can find Impossible sausage in sandwiches at many restaurants, including Burger King and Starbucks. Impossible Foods has also created plant-based chicken nuggets!
Funding and Growth
Impossible Foods has received a lot of money from investors to help them grow. Big names like Google Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Bill Gates, and others have invested in the company.
Over the years, Impossible Foods has raised more than $1.3 billion in total funding. This money helps them create new products, build more factories, and make their plant-based meats available to more people around the world.
See also
