The Incredible Impossible Burger and it’s many Possibilities

By Michele the Trainer

The Impossible Burger from Impossible Foods is showing us all what is absolutely possible.

The hip call it the IB.

Vegans have been trying mock meat dishes since time immemorial.  Like many vegans, I’ve been plant based for so long that I pay little attention to new mock meats, fake cheeses and I have never been a burger person.

The Impossible caught my eye – again and again and again.

We all know that for all the good reasons to be vegan, and stay vegan, our world is not vegan and this makes the Impossible Burger SO EXCITING on so many levels. The Impossible is blazing a mouth-watering reputable trail into the world followed by rave reviews from everyone, not just vegans.  Restaurants and chefs are creating specialty menus to feature this burger.  That is something, but there is so much more.

Wow, just look at this burger!

“The world loves meat. But relying on cows to make meat is land-hungry, water-thirsty and pollution-heavy.  That’s why we set out to do the impossible; make delicious meats that are good for people and the planet.”  https://www.impossiblefoods.com/

Impossible Foods is making delicious plant patties and shipping them to restaurants internationally, including Hong Kong!

photo credit Impossible Foods Inc., featuring star chef May Chow of Happy Paradise and May Chow’s Little Bao, Hong Kong

The Impossible is not just making its way into mainstream media and restaurants, it is FEATURED in mainstream media and upscale culinary brand restaurants.

https://www.vogue.com/article/impossible-burger-meat-free-vegan-david-chang

http://time.com/5247858/impossible-foods-meat-plant-based-agriculture/

This burger is boasted on the menus of elite establishments as well, such as Crossroads LA and Momofuku NYC https://techcrunch.com/2016/07/26/eating-the-plant-derived-impossible-burger-cooked-by-momofukus-david-chang/

The Impossible Burger is also sought after and promoted by well-known mainstream American hamburger chains. This burger has been invited into some of the most hamburger focused USA household name establishments like Fatburger and White Castle.

The Impossible is showing the world that being vegan is not only delicious, but necessary.

That’s not all!   How is the Impossible Burger impossibly better or different?

• The Impossible Burger is a Silicon Valley startup.

• Financed by luminaries; Bill Gates is one of the original investors.

Backed by leading investors

The company’s newest investors include Temasek and Sailing Capital. Temasek is an investment company headquartered in Singapore with a portfolio covering a broad spectrum of sectors including telecommunications, media and technology, financial services, transportation, consumer products, life sciences, energy, agriculture and biotech. Sailing Capital is a Shanghai- and Hong Kong-based global private equity firm that invests in market-leading companies across a range of sectors including healthcare, technology and consumer goods. Open Philanthropy Project, Temasek, Bill Gates and Horizons Ventures have invested in multiple rounds of funding. Early investors include Google Ventures, UBS and Viking Global Investors. The startup’s original venture capital backer was Khosla Ventures, which provided seed funding and invested in multiple subsequent financing rounds. Khosla Ventures shares Impossible Food’s mission to eliminate the need for animal agriculture, which currently occupies nearly half of the planet’s arable land and consumes 25% of global freshwater.

“Our world-class investors enable us to ramp up rapidly and accomplish our urgent mission,” said Impossible Foods’ CEO and Founder Dr. Patrick O. Brown. “We are proud of the progress we’ve made — but frankly there are still millions of restaurants and billions of people who want meat. We won’t stop until the global food system is truly sustainable.” (Source- Impossible Foods Inc. Press Release April 2018)

• How can we find the The Impossible Burger? This burger has its own handy location tool, and URL/link:

https://www.impossiblefoods.com/locations/

• The Impossible Burger will be featured in major sports stadiums, starting with the Oakland A’s stadium  https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/22/impossible-burgers-are-now-being-sold-at-oakland-as-baseball-stadium.html

This is huge.  This is just as important as upgrading school lunch offerings.  We all know sports has been known for unhealthy greasy carnivore food forever.  Many children participate in after school sports, and families have no healthy choices in those after school sports environments.  It’s long overdue to change it up, and this is great news as maybe healthier alternatives will catch on for Flag Football concessions, Little League concessions, etc.

• Let’s not forget our planet. Impossible Foods is focused on sustainability.  You can download and review this information packed 27 page Impossible Foods Inc. Sustainability Report PDF here: https://impossiblefoods.app.box.com/v/presskit/folder/27619672092

• The Impossible Burger is Kosher. This makes Kosher Cheeseburgers possible for those who are observant:

KOSHER CHEESEBURGERS: DREAM? OR IMPOSSIBLE?

Earlier this year, a Rabbinic Field Representative toured the Impossible Foods’ 67,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Oakland, Calif., which produces 500,000 pounds of plant-based meat per month. The rabbi confirmed that all ingredients, processes, and equipment used to make the Impossible Burger are compliant with kosher law, derived from the Torah’s Books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy.

Jewish dietary laws (known as “kashrut”) prohibit the consumption of pigs, shellfish and most insects, and they specify certain slaughterhouse processes. In addition, dairy and meat products may not be prepared or eaten together.

The Impossible Burger is produced without slaughterhouses, hormones or antibiotics. It contains no cholesterol or artificial flavors. It uses about 75% less water, generates about 87% fewer greenhouse gases, and requires around 95% less land than conventional ground beef from cows.

The Impossible Burger contains no animal ingredients whatsoever. It’s made from simple ingredients, including water, wheat protein, potato protein and coconut oil. (Source- Impossible Foods Press Release May 22, 2018)

Who thought of all these great ideas?

All this would not be possible without brilliant leadership.  CEO Pat Brown, founder of Impossible Foods Inc. and professor emeritus in the department of biochemistry at Stanford University. He knew that delicious was the way to reach people’s hearts and minds. In 2011 Pat Brown decided to devote himself full time to Impossible Foods. (source Pat Brown Bio, Impossible Foods, Inc.)

http://time.com/5247858/impossible-foods-meat-plant-based-agriculture/

FOUNDING STORY

During an 18-month sabbatical in 2009, Dr. Patrick O. Brown decided to switch the course of his career to address the urgent problem of climate change. In particular, he wanted to make the global food system sustainable by producing meat and dairy products from plants, which have a much lower environmental footprint than meat from animals. Pat tried to raise awareness in Washington and in academia, but realized that he needed to create a consumer movement based on delicious and sustainable foods. He brought together a team of top scientists, chefs, farmers, and flavor experts to analyze meat at the molecular level. They determined precisely why meat smells, handles, cooks and tastes the way it does. The team focused first on beef, particularly ground beef in the form of a hamburger, due to beef’s large environmental footprint and the burger’s iconic status in global food culture. The company developed a world-class archive of proprietary research and technology. The first product, the Impossible Burger, debuted in restaurants in 2016. The company plans to expand globally and commercialize additional meat, fish and dairy products. (Source-Company Overview Impossible Foods, Inc.)

 Don’t miss this.  I love this movie Pat Brown narrates, For the Love of Meat:

The idea of offering people all the meat they want is so simple, yet it intelligently creates abundance and will help more folks transition to plant based lifestyles, for all the good reasons.

CEO/FOUNDER of Impossible Foods, Inc. Pat Brown

Dr. Patrick (“Pat”) O. Brown, M.D. Ph.D – Professor Emeritus in Stanford University’s Biochemistry

Department; co-founder of the Public Library of Science (PLOS); inventor of the DNA microarray; member of

the United States National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine; fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science; former investigator at Howard Hughes Medical

Institute; holds BS, MD, and PhD degrees of University of Chicago. (Source-Company Overview Impossible Foods, Inc.)

You can easily see why Impossible is so much more than just a burger,and making so much POSSIBLE. There are growing so rapidly into many more restaurants and countries, looking to grow into retail, they are creating good karma jobs and more. They are getting the world excited about plant-based food.  Impossible Foods is a game changer.

Follow them and their social media from their website at https://www.impossiblefoods.com/

All photos, quotes, facts and sustainability report PDF credited to Impossible Foods Inc.  Thank you to Impossible Foods Incorporated!

Update November 2018 https://vegnews.com/2018/11/plant-based-impossible-burgers-to-launch-in-stores-in-2019