Beyond Meat versus Impossible Foods – how do they stack up against each other?
Vegan burger patties that bleed might sound like a horror movie plot for vegetarians, but it isn’t. it is reality. Five years ago, The Peak wrote about a new breed of meat, derived from vegetable protein and made to taste like beef. It sounded like a bad futuristic joke then, but guess what: The future is now.
Beyond Burger, which features Beyond Meat’s patties, made a quiet debut in Singapore last year and, in recent months, Impossible Foods has been beating a fast and furious chase, with high-profile restaurants serving some unique creations made from its plant protein.
The global plant protein market was valued at US$10.6 billion (S$14.3 billion) in 2017, and the meat alternative is set to be a big driver. The big boys all know this: Li Ka Shing is cashing in on the trend by putting his money on Impossible Foods, while Bill Gates has backed both Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods.
Closer to home, Temasek Holdings led a US$75 million investment round for Impossible Foods in 2017. But the proof of the patty is in the eating, so let’s cut the fat and get to the beef.
BEYOND MEAT
ORIGIN
The 10-year-old Los Angeles-based company’s first product was a chicken substitute that was launched in 2013; the beef substitute was introduced in 2014. The patty’s main ingredients are water, pea protein isolate, canola oil and refined coconut. And, while the company has its own production facilities in the United States, it also works with co-manufacturers.
HOW THE MEAT TASTE IS CREATED
While the main ingredients create the heft and juiciness of a beef burger, yeast extract is added to give it a more meaty taste. Beet juice extract is also added so that the patties “bleed” as they are being cooked – just as real meat does.
NUTRITIONAL VALUE
Each 113g patty contains 270 calories and 5g saturated fat (25% of daily value, or DV, based on a 2,000 calorie-a-day diet). It also contains 380mg sodium (16% of DV), 3g dietary fibre (13% of DV) and 20g protein (32% of DV).
TASTE
The Beyond Burger from Lime Restaurant strikes a pretty picture with its charcoal burger buns, crimson beetroot slices and yellow vegan cheese. However, the Beyond Meat patty, with its crumbly texture and muted brown hue, didn’t look quite as appetising. Taste-wise, it’s a decent vegan patty, but fails to deliver the savoury punch of a real meat patty.
HOW IT CAN BE SERVED ASIDE FROM IN A BURGER
At Pizza Express, curried Beyond Meat mince is used both as a pizza topping and in its pasta. Outside of Singapore, tacos and burritos made with the same mince can also be found. The meat substitute is also available in sausage form.
AVAILABILITY IN SINGAPORE
IMPOSSIBLE FOODS
ORIGIN
The meat substitute from this eight-year-old California-based company is manufactured in the company’s own production facility in Oakland, United States. The bulk of it is made from water, soya protein concentrate and coconut oil, fortified with a whole load of vitamins.
HOW THE MEAT TASTE IS CREATED
The secret ingredient is a molecule called Heme – what makes meat taste like meat. The heme in its patty is harvested from a genetically engineered yeast which Impossible Foods grow.
NUTRITIONAL VALUE
Patties from the original recipe are 290 calories per 113g serving, and contain 14g saturated fat (70% of daily value, or DV, based on a 2,000 calorie-a-day diet), 580mg sodium (25% of DV), and 17g protein (28% of DV). According to Impossible Foods, the recipe has been revised so that each patty now has 240 calories and contains significantly less saturated fat (8g, 40% of DV) and sodium (370mg, 16% of DV), and more protein (19g, 31% of DV). Also bumped up is its dietary fibre content, which went from zero to 3g. It might be vegan, but don’t fool yourself into thinking that this counts as a serving of vegetables.
TASTE
The patty in the Impossible Chedda burger from Potato Head Singapore looks like beef, tastes just like it, and had one taster commenting: “It’s not super soft like wagyu, but has the satisfying texture of angus, roughly ground.” If not for the fact that it lacked the gamy smell of beef, the Impossible Foods patty would have passed for the real McCoy. A rich housemade ketchup, onion puree, melted cheese and toasted brioche bun complete the package – making this one burger we’ll reach for again.
HOW IT CAN SERVED ASIDE FROM IN A BURGER
While Violet Oon Singapore at Jewel Changi offers Impossible Foods’ vegan meat as a Balinese-style satay, Rang Mahal serves it as a vegan kheema bao – Mumbai’s special minced masala lamb served with buttered buns. At Empress, it is served in mapo tofu. Go crazy.
AVAILABILITY IN SINGAPORE
Available only in restaurants such as Cut by Wolfgang Puck, Bread Street Kitchen by Gordon Ramsay, Violet Oon Singapore, Veganburg and select restaurants under the Prive Group. This high-end tact isn’t applied worldwide though; last month, a few Burger King outlets in St Louis in United States started serving the Impossible Whopper.
