With the opening of a new factory, the plant-based company Impossible Burger says it plans to have its much-anticipated burgers on 1,000 menus by the end of 2017.
“In mid-August, a factory in Oakland quietly began accepting shipments of wheat protein, potato protein, and heme, a “plant blood” produced via genetically modified yeast, says New Food Economy. “This factory, which can whip up a ready-to-grill burger in a fraction of the time it takes to turn a calf into a cow, represents the eagerly anticipated next step for the Impossible Burger, an all-vegan patty that looks, bleeds, sizzles, and tastes pretty damn close to the real thing.”
By December, the company plans to produce at least a million pounds of vegan burgers each month. According to the USDA, the U.S. consumes 25 billion pounds of beef every year.
“So far, the burger’s distribution has been largely limited to restaurants in coastal cities,” says New Food Economy. “But the new factory is likely to mean the patty will make its way inland in the coming months. At a Facebook Live event on Tuesday, audience members were eager to learn when the fake meat would hit Chicago, Charleston, and Long Island.” The company plans to focus exclusively on restaurants for now.