News

Impossible Foods veggie patties in stores next month

Plant-based meat maker Impossible Foods plans to launch in grocery stores in September. The company tells CNBC it now has FDA approval to use a soy-based coloring called soy leghemoglobin, or heme, which is the iron-containing molecule that gives meat its taste and aroma and makes it seem like the real thing. The company genetically engineers yeast to create heme. Naturally occurring heme iron is what is only found in meat.

Impossible Foods has been selling in high-end restaurants, and more recently in fast-food chains like Burger King and White Castle.

The company’s biggest rival, Beyond Meat, sold more than $34 million worth of products in grocery stores in the latest quarter. Last year’s grocery sales of veggie burgers and other meat substitutes was $893 million.

The ratings firm Nielson says 98 percent of meat substitute buyers are flexitarians, meaning they also eat meat.