Meatless is having a moment, as pandemic fuels change in consumer appetites.
“We’re not anti-animal meat. We’re just saying there are protein options you need to look at," said one plant-based foods manufacturer.
From May 2020 to 2021, fresh meat sales were over $60 billion, according to checkout data tracked by NielsenIQ, an analytics company. While sales for meat alternatives were just $932 million, they grew by 25 percent in that period, compared to about 9.5 percent for meat. In 2018, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture asking the agency to define meat as coming from animal-based products. In 2020 alone, agribusiness spent over $140 million lobbying, according to Open Secrets, a nonprofit research group that tracks lobbying. Impossible Foods said it employs a single government relations employee.Both companies have had some help in the fight.
“It’s got ground pieces of fat, it has things that mimic the texture,” said Josh Teder, a 26-year-old business development analyst. “It’s eerily similar [to beef], considering it’s all made from plants.”