Silicon Valley in California is home to countless high-tech startups. So why is it the headquarters of Impossible Foods? Because the company is using sophisticated technology to invent a meatless burger that looks, smells, cooks, and tastes like a flavorful, beefy, ground-meat hamburger. Dr. Patrick O. Brown founded Impossible Foods in 2011 with the mission of creating nutritious, healthy foods that are based on plants rather than made from animals. However, the company is not creating products specifically for vegetarians. Its long-term business goal is much more ambitious: By 2035, it envisions a world in which affordable and tasty plant-derived foods have replaced more expensive animal-derived foods. A transition away from meat would free up land and other resources for sustainable farming of grains and other foods for the growing world population. If Impossible Foods can entice billions of consumers to switch to plant-based foods, it expects to dramatically reduce global hunger, save a lot of water compared with traditional meat-production methods, and profit from increased demand. Because the hamburger is the most popular meat product in the United States, the company decided to focus its initial efforts on developing a good-tasting meatless burger. Its scientists carefully studied the physical properties of ground meat and analyzed how consumers experience the sensory aspects of a juicy, delicious hamburger, both on the grill and in the mouth. They discovered that heme is what gives a hamburger its characteristic meaty aroma, flavor, and color.

Questions for Discussion

1. Is the Impossible Burger a convenience product, a shopping product, or a specialty product? What are the implications for marketing this meatless burger?

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of marketing a meatless burger under the Impossible brand

3. How do you think Impossible Foods’ decision to introduce its meatless burger through restaurants first influenced the product adoption process?