The Impossible Burger will make its worldwide debut in grocery stores Friday at all 27 outlets of Gelson’s Markets in Southern California—the first time that the general public will be able to buy and experience the Impossible Burger at home.
The Impossible Burger is the award-winning, plant-based meat that rivals ground beef from cows for taste, nutrition and versatility. The Impossible Burger is on menus in more than 17,000 restaurants, but home chefs never had a chance to work with the Impossible Burger—until now.
“Three years ago, we introduced plant-based meat to top chefs in America’s most important restaurants. They consistently told us that the Impossible Burger blew them away,” said Impossible Foods’ CEO and Founder Dr. Patrick O. Brown. “We can’t wait for home cooks to experience the magic—whether using Impossible Burger in their family favorites or inventing new recipes that go viral.”
To celebrate its global retail launch, Impossible Foods is sponsoring a cooking show-style VIP event Thursday night with Vilailuck “Pepper Thai” Teigen, who will pay homage to the world’s most influential home chefs: grandmothers. Pepper Thai is a culinary enthusiast, grandma and mom of Chrissy Teigen.
On Friday, a diverse crew of grandmas will share their culinary wisdom and cook their favorite dishes in Los Angeles. Impossible Foods’ retail launch party, “Grandma’s House,” will celebrate its debut in retail and serve up free samples from 11 am to 6 pm PT (until supplies last) at the Westfield Century City’s Cabana, located on Level 3 of the shopping center.
Throughout the fourth quarter and in early 2020, Impossible Foods will expand its retail presence by launching the Impossible Burger in industry-leading grocery stores in key regions. Impossible Foods will launch in additional grocery stores later this month, when the Impossible Burger makes its East Coast debut.
As the leading food tech startup scales up production and capacity—both at its own plant in Oakland, California, and with leading food co-manufacturer OSI Group—it will accelerate its retail push.
“Our first step into retail is a watershed moment in Impossible Foods’ history,” said Impossible Foods’ SVP Nick Halla, who oversees the company’s retail expansion. “We’re thrilled and humbled that our launch partners for this limited release are homegrown, beloved grocery stores with cult followings in their regions.”
Founded in 1951, Gelson’s has been on the forefront of grocery trends that have since gone nationwide—from Saturday farmers markets to popular holiday tasting parties.
Earlier this year in its annual supermarket rankings, Consumer Reports named Gelson’s “Best in the West” and one of the top grocery chains nationwide. In particular, Gelson’s earned the magazine’s highest possible score in meat quality.
“People who shop at Gelson’s know and appreciate great food, and the Impossible Burger is going to become a go-to favorite in home-cooked meals, from dim sum to barbecue,” said Gelson’s President and CEO Rob McDougall. “We’ll also be unveiling delicious new recipes featuring Impossible in Gelson’s Kitchen and offering an Impossible Burger at our Wine & Tapas bars. We’re excited to bring another important world-wide first-to-market product to our customers, who love trying innovative, delicious food.”
Beginning in October, shoppers can get free samples of the Impossible Burger and participate in homestyle cooking demos at select Gelson’s outlets. For details, visit ImpossibleFoods.com/Recipes. Browse the growing collection of Impossible recipes—from the classic American barbecue burger to lasagna, chili, meatloaf, dumplings and more. Home chefs can share their favorite recipes and photos by tagging #CookImpossible.
The Impossible Burger is kosher, halal and gluten-free certified, and it’s plant-based and bioengineered. A 12-oz. package of Impossible Burger will cost $8.99 at Gelson’s Markets, available in the meat cases, both fresh and frozen. Gelson’s is limiting each customer purchase to 10 packages per visit.
The Impossible Burger has as much bioavailable iron and protein as a comparable serving of ground beef from cows. A 4-oz. serving of Impossible Burger has 0 mg cholesterol, 14g of total fat, 8g of saturated fat and 240 calories. (A conventional 4-oz. “80/20” patty from cows has 80 mg cholesterol, 23g of total fat, 9g of saturated fat and 290 calories.)
Designed to disrupt, built to scale
Founded in 2011 by Brown, a Stanford biochemistry professor emeritus and former pediatrician, Impossible Foods makes meat from plants with a much smaller environmental footprint than meat from animals. The company uses modern science and technology to create wholesome food, restore natural ecosystems and feed a growing population sustainably. Impossible Foods’ mission is to eliminate the need for animals in the food chain by 2035.
At the International Consumer Electronics Show in January 2019, Impossible Foods launched the award- winning and “shockingly good” Impossible Burger 2.0—the company’s first significant product upgrade. The Impossible Burger, the first food ever featured at CES’ roster of game-changing technologies, won the show’s top prizes.
Since the launch of 2.0, Impossible Foods’ sales have surged. Growth has come from every sales category in which the company does business—independent restaurants, large restaurant chains such as White Castle, Burger King, Red Robin, Cheesecake Factory and Qdoba, and non-commercial outlets such as theme parks, museums, stadiums, and college campuses.
The Impossible Burger is sold at restaurants in all 50 states and in nearly every type of cuisine—from pizza to poke sushi burritos. The Impossible Burger is now America’s most popular late-night delivery snack, according to Grubhub’s “State of the Plate” report, with delivery sales surging 529 percent in the first half of 2019.
