Beyond, Impossible Join The Crowded Plant-based Chicken Market
Beyond, Impossible join the crowded plant-based chicken market
Burgers made from realistic plant-based ingredients have proven to be a hit for Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, among others. Now, they're hoping to replicate that success in the rapidly expanding but already crowded market for plant-based chicken nuggets, which is growing rapidly.
Beyond Meat announced on Monday that its new fava bean tenders will be available in grocery stores across the United States starting in October. Walmart, Jewel-Osco, and Harris Teeter will be among the first retailers to carry them on their shelves.
Earlier this month, Impossible Foods began selling its soy-based nuggets at retailers such as Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons, and other supermarkets. By the end of the year, they'll be available in 10,000 stores.
The rival startups, both based in California, were instrumental in redefining the possibilities of plant-based burgers. Beyond burgers were the first plant-based burgers to be sold in grocery stores alongside conventional meat in 2016, and Impossible burgers followed suit a couple of years later.
Nonetheless, Beyond and Impossible will be stacked in freezers already bursting with plant-based chicken alternatives this time around. According to the Good Food Institute, which tracks plant-based brands, more than 50 brands of plant-based nuggets, tenders, and cutlets are already available in grocery stores across the United States.
For some companies, such as Morningstar Farms and Quorn, making plant-based meat has been a tradition for decades. Nevertheless, Beyond and Impossible have also inspired a large number of imitators who are creating realistic products that are targeted at omnivores rather than just vegans and vegetarians. 15 percent of those 50 brands were new to the U.S. market in 2020, including Nuggs, from New York startup Simulate, and California's Daring Foods, which were both founded in 2015.
Their efforts are directed at increasing their share of the plant-based market, which is still dwarfed by the conventional meat market but is rapidly expanding. According to Nielsen IQ, sales of frozen plant-based chicken tenders and nuggets in the United States increased by 29 percent to $112 million in the 52-week period ending August 28. During the same time period, sales of conventional frozen tenders and nuggets increased by 17 percent to $1.1 billion.
