Next vegan burger giant wants to go to Europe

After Beyond Meat, it is now Impossible Foods' turn. The American company wants to enter the European market with the meat substitutes and has submitted an application in the Netherlands.

Impossible Foods is one of the largest producers of plant-based products that replace meat. The company uses 'heme' for this, a specially developed soy protein, which provides the meat flavour. The substance is extracted from genetically modified yeast by Impossible Foods. Admission in Europe, by means of an application in the Netherlands, is therefore not self-evident. Manipulated nutrients are subject to stricter rules in Europe.

In the United States, Impossible Foods, which was founded in 2011, is best known for the popular Impossible Burger. At the beginning of this year, a test was carried out in a number of Burger King branches. According to various media, the vegetarian Whopper is not inferior in taste to a real hamburger. McDonald's also introduced a vegetarian variant earlier.

Market growth of 8%
The market for vegetarian products is growing. ABN Amro calculates that we spend an average of €10 per household per year on meat substitutes, while we spend €640 annually on meat. RTL Z reported this earlier this year. Important reasons for consumers not to eat meat substitutes are the range, taste and structure. Now that larger brands are focusing more on meat substitutes, that is quickly changing. In the Netherlands we mainly know 'The Vegetarian Butcher'. In May announced Beyond Meat entered the European market with the construction of a production location in Zoeterwoude. ABN expects the market for meat substitutes to grow by 8% this year.

Jeanette Pennings

Jeannet has her roots in the flower bulb sector and she grew up on an agricultural company in the northern part of North Holland. As a generalist she reports for Boerenbusiness across all sectors. She is also exploring the possibilities of sponsored advertising.

j.pennings@boerenbusiness. Nl

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