It’s not exactly the best time to promote ultra-processed foods as healthy and delicious, but that’s exactly what two major plant-based meat producers are trying to do.
Beyond Meat wants to convince people that its vegan versions of meat products are healthy. So does its competitor Impossible Foods, which recently changed the color of its packaging from green to blood red, to better appeal to carnivores.
Over the past year, Beyond Meat has reformulated some products to reduce saturated fat and sodium and simplify its ingredient list. Impossible Foods launched a “health center” and changed its name to emphasize flavorful meat. Both companies’ products have been deemed healthy by the American Diabetes Association and the American Heart Association.
It’s all part of an effort to reverse declining sales of plant-based meat at a time when foods made through industrial processes, with long ingredient lists, are facing increasing scrutiny . Governor Gavin Newsom of California, a Democrat, ordered a crackdown on ultraprocessed foods, new research has shown a link between ultraprocessed foods and adverse health effects and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald J. Trump’s pick for health secretary, has criticized processed foods.
Plant-based meat is ultra-processed, but not necessarily unhealthy, according to several experts. The products generally contain less saturated fat, no cholesterol and more fiber than animal meat, and zero hormones or antibiotics.
A analysis Dozens of studies published last year in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology found that, compared to meat, plant-based alternatives “generally fall between about neutral and beneficial,” said Matthew Nagra, a naturopathic doctor in British Columbia who edited the review.
The studies found no evidence that some of the “concerning aspects” of plant-based meat, such as food processing and high sodium content, outweighed the potential cardiovascular benefits of eating it instead. animal meat, he said.
Health and nutrition concerns are among the top reasons people seek out plant-based meat, and Beyond Meats and Impossible Foods want to distance themselves from the ultra-processed label, or at the very least add nuance . Ethan Brown, founder and chief executive of Beyond Meat, said the company’s method of extracting protein from legumes and converting them into meat-like products simply avoided using animals as middlemen.
“It’s a beautiful process that comes directly from the ground and the farm, unlike a CAFO or factory-farmed animal,” he said, using the acronym for concentrated animal feeding operations .
If plant-based meat is to be classified as a processed food, the argument is that it is more like canned beans than Twinkies, and a far cry from processed meats, the category that includes hot dogs, bacon and cold cuts, as the World Health Organization has been classified as a human carcinogen.
“Processed, if you really want to look at it from a food perspective, means highly artificial and very little nutritional value,” said Peter McGuinness, chief executive of Impossible Foods.
“We are a nutrient-rich product,” he continued. “This is not the traditional definition of processed.”
It remains to be seen whether more consumers can be influenced. In recent years, the plant-based food sector has come under severe strain.
Five years ago, protein alternatives seemed poised to take primacy from red meat by offering a healthier, more ethical, and better-for-the-climate option. The market has since contracted and a shadow hangs over the sector, due in large part to the Beyond Meat saga. Since the company went public in a blaze of glory in 2019, its stock price has fallen from $234 to less than $4 per share, and the company is more than $1 billion in debt.
Mr Brown blamed attacks from the meat and livestock antibiotic industries and criticism from whole-food purists. Plant-based meats were also increasingly seen as “woke,” while a series of scathing ads linked to former tobacco lobbyist and public relations strategist Richard Berman characterized the products as loaded with produce chemicals. Between 2020 and 2022, the number of plant-based meat consumers who thought the products were healthy fell from 50 percent to 38 percent, according to FMI, the Food Industry Association, a trade group.
Mr McGuinness said the sector had probably also been too hyped and overrated, leading other companies to rush in with inferior products that failed, prompting critics to say plant-based meat was a fashion.
Impossible Foods, a privately held company, is on surer footing than Beyond Meat, an analyst says. Mr McGuinness said the business was “on the path to profitability”, with a strong balance sheet and no debt. Still, the company faces the same challenges as Beyond Meat in trying to win over meat eaters, the vast majority of whom have never tried plant-based products.
“I think this is one of the greatest communications challenges in business history,” Mr. McGuinness said.
Compared to that of meat, the market for plant-based alternatives is relatively small. Plant-based meat and seafood accounted for $1.2 billion in U.S. retail sales in 2023, compared to $100 billion for conventional meat and seafood, according to the Good Food Institute. a research organization. And global meat consumption is increasing.
Emma Ignaszewski, senior associate director of the Good Food Institute, said the expansion of the plant-based sector depends on consumer priorities and how quickly companies can innovate, improve taste and lower prices – meats Herbal products can cost at least twice as much. their animal counterparts.
“Growth is not inevitable,” Ms. Ignaszewski said. Nonetheless, she said research showed the majority of young consumers in 10 countries planned to spend more on plant-based products in the future, out of concern for health, sustainability, animal welfare and change. climatic. Plant-based alternatives have on average 11 percent of the environmental impact of meat, according to the Good Food Institute.
Beyond Meat hopes its reformulated burgers and beef, which contain more legumes and avocado oil, will help silence critics and win over consumers. The company consulted with Joy Bauer, a registered dietitian and nutritionist, and Dr. Matthew Lederman, co-author of the books “Forks Over Knives Plan” and “The Whole Food Diet.” Both said the goal of plant-based meat is to provide healthier options when people crave burgers.
“For most people, myself included, putting beans and lentils on a hamburger bun just won’t satisfy that need,” Dr. Lederman said. When his patients swapped plant-based meat for red meat, they often made other lifestyle changes, like exercising more and eating more vegetables, he said. “It catalyzes a transformation to a healthier lifestyle,” he said.
Dr. Lederman also challenged perceptions that conventional meat is natural; an estimate 99 percent of farmed animals in the United States live on factory farms.
“They feed them abnormal diets,” he said, referring to livestock raised on factory farms. “They put them in abnormal conditions. They inject them with hormones and antibiotics. They’re in these little confined areas. Their bodies are flooded with stress hormones.
Not everyone will be won over. Michael Pollan, the influential writer who once urged people not to eat foods their great-grandmothers wouldn’t recognize, was critical plant-based meat. Mr. Pollan declined to comment for this article.
Marion Nestle, professor emeritus of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University, said plant-based products were still ultra-processed and long-term studies of their impacts were needed. . Still, she admitted there were probably relative advantages. “I’m sure it’s better for the environment than beef, everything is,” she said. “My prediction would be that if you don’t eat beef and eat this instead, you will be more successful than people who eat beef.”
Even if more consumers are attracted to its products, Beyond Meat’s challenges remain immense. The company reported revenue growth in the third fiscal quarter of 2024. But John Baumgartner, a consumer food analyst at Mizuho Americas, a financial services group, said the growth was due to rising prices and that it It was unlikely that Beyond Meat shares would be able to rebound. He also said that while Beyond Meat was working to improve its burger, Impossible Foods likely benefited from launching a wider range of products, including faux chicken options.
Notably, in their latest posts, Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods downplayed the climate benefits of their products over meat, which is a major driver of greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation and water pollution . Under Mr. McGuinness’ leadership, Impossible Foods spread a “delicious and nutritious” message. “Once you get into that, then you can talk about climate, but people are also quite selfish,” he said.