Meat analogues have rapidly become more popular, and one firm is ahead of them all. California-based Impossible Foods, which creates meat alternatives from plants, has launched in the UK with the announcement of two new products.
Impossible Foods chicken nuggets. Credit: Impossible Foods
Credit: Impossible Foods
Starting from May 19, meatless chicken nuggets and sausage burgers - made from wheat and soy, respectively - will be available in select stores after being popularised by Starbucks in the US.
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By the end of the month, the firm claims its products will be available in over 300 establishments nationwide with plans to be based in thousands of restaurants and chicken shops within a year.
Selected for its "love" of chicken restaurants like KFC, the UK will be the fourth major market the firm has expanded into, following Australia, New Zealand and the UAE since its founding in 2011. It also operates in its native US, Singapore and Canada.
Chicken is one of the most consumed meats in the UK and additional research from Our World in Data suggests it is also the most heavily consumed meat per capita in the UK.
“The UK has a unique and unrivalled chicken shop culture that we’re confident our nuggets will compete in because first and foremost they taste better, and they’re also better for you and better for the planet,” said Peter McGuinness, CEO of Impossible Foods.
"And there’s more to come — later this year we’ll be expanding to supermarkets and rolling out additional products. We can’t wait for our friends and fans in the UK to finally taste our products.”
Partners include Chicken Cottage, Halo Burger and Le Bab, among others. In addition, the Impossible brand will soon be making its debut in more than 250 Hungry Horse pubs, currently owned by Greene King, which its business unit director Robert Calderbank claims exemplifies the pub's "home away from home" aesthetic.
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“We’re so excited to bring the Impossible ‘Chicken’ Nuggets to our pubs and really believe these will deliver on that promise, tantalising the taste buds of our customers across the country, we can’t wait," he added.
The expansion will be followed by a launch party hosted by comedian and actor Asim Chaudhry, which will serve as a venue for people to taste test the firm's products.
The meatless products are set to be catered to the needs of the specific restaurant, with Le Bab, a kebab house, using it to create "a new kind of kebab" according to co-founder Stephen Tozer.
The company has been looking at forging partnerships to meld global influences, good quality ingredients and an emphasis on sustainability.
“Impossible’s products are extraordinary," Tozer claims.
"I first tried Impossible years ago and it blew my mind. I’ve wanted to collaborate with them ever since, so this is a bit of a dream come true! I’m absolutely certain that their plant-based meats are going to fundamentally change the way the world eats.”
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On its website, Impossible claims its products use 87% less water, lead to 89% less greenhouse gas emissions and use 96% less land than livestock.
In addition, it claims its chicken nuggets, in particular, use 55% less water, 24% less land and leads to 24% less greenhouse gas emissions than poultry livestock while also containing 25% less salt.
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