The new meat substitute called “Beyond Meat” sold out in 2 days at the Whole Foods in Haight-Ashbury (San Francisco, Calif). It was supposed to be a week’s supply for the store, but this new product is “flying” off the shelves! It was reported that many other Whole Foods were selling out fast. “We’re a little taken back,” says the chain’s Northern California coordinator for prepared foods, Mathew Mestemacher. “The response is overwhelming.”
Some consumers say the chicken like meat substitute is amazing. This new one is different. “It’s clean; there’s no weird, processed taste.” The texture, too, is correct: pulled apart, it’s stringy—like chicken. Ethan Brown, founder the company that makes the pseudo-chicken (both company and product are named Beyond Meat) says his technology can fabricate beef or pork or fish. “Chicken just happened to be our first product.” He hopes his chicken will be the breakout product.
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Brown is aiming for meat lovers who want a healthier alternative. His “chicken” has no steroids, no animal fat, no hormones, no antibiotics and best of all it’s gluten-free! All it has is vegetable protein. It’s a mix that consists mostly of soy and pea powder, and carrot fiber.
In some blind taste testings, many were fooled into thinking they were eating chicken. The flavor is very mild but is best when used in salads, burritos, casseroles and wraps. The price is being negotiated at Whole Foods but it is said to be less than other meat subs and could be less than what real chicken costs.
At the moment, the only places you can buy Beyond Meat are at Whole Foods’ northern California stores and at Roots Market in western Maryland. It is not known how soon other Whole Foods will carry the product, but if there continues to be an excitement about it plus a demand, it could be 2 weeks instead of 2 months. Next Fall they hope to have a fake beef substitute out for consumers. That just might leave the consumers thinking, “Where’s the Beef?”