Prabhu RamTo satisfy the global demand for meat at a fraction of the environmental impact, Impossible Foods developed a far more sustainable, scalable and affordable way to make meat, without the catastrophic environmental impact of livestock. At the recently concluded CES 2019, Impossible Foods’ next-generation, plant-based meat — which rivals ground beef from cows for taste, nutrition and versatility won big, and took all the accolades. Impossible Burger 2.0 was the first food ever showcased at CES.
Based in California’s Silicon Valley, Impossible Foods uses modern science and technology to create wholesome and nutritious food, restore natural ecosystems and feed a growing population sustainably. The company makes meat directly from plants — with a much smaller environmental footprint than meat from animals. The company claims that Impossible Burger generates about 87% fewer greenhouse gases, uses 75% less water and requires about 95% less land than conventional ground beef.
Shortly after its debut in 2011, with funding from Khosla Ventures, Impossible Foods’ scientists discovered that one molecule — “heme” — is uniquely responsible for the explosion of flavors that result when meat is cooked. Impossible Foods’ scientists worked on genetically engineering and fermenting yeast to produce a heme protein naturally found in plants, called soy leghemoglobin. The heme in Impossible Burger is identical to the essential heme humans have been consuming for hundreds of thousands of years in meat — and while the Impossible Burger delivers all the craveable depth of beef, it uses far fewer resources since it is plant-based.
Impossible Burger 2.0 contains no gluten, no animal hormones and no antibiotics. It’s delicious in any ground meat dish, including stews, chili, sauces, braises, minces, meatballs, meat pies or any other beefy menu item. It’s easy to cook on the BBQ, charbroiler, flat top grill, high speed oven, steamer or sauté pan. The new Impossible Burger has as much bioavailable iron and protein as a comparable serving of ground beef from cows.
Impossible Burger 2.0 has debuted at about 20 of America’s restaurants. In coming weeks, the next-generation Impossible Burger will be available at more than 5,000 restaurants in the US. Internationally, Impossible Burger is also available in more than 100 restaurants in Hong Kong and Macau. The company plans to launch the new recipe in Singapore later this year, with additional markets to come.
