Plant-based proteins show no sign of slowing down with regards to mainstream awareness and media attention.
This week alone Beyond Meat has successfully launched its IPO and Impossible Foods expands to Burger King locations across the United States.
Beyond (BYND) had a wildly successful first day of trading on Thursday, surging 163% above its IPO price of $25. The stock closed at nearly $67 a share on Friday.Meanwhile Impossible Foods, Beyond’s main competitor, is seeing so much interest that it’s running out of product. Impossible CFO David Lee told CNN Business that this year, demand for Impossible’s meatless protein has more than doubled at the roughly 7,000 restaurants it serves. On top of that, Impossible is about to more than double the amount of restaurants it serves: This week, Burger King announced that it’s going to roll out a version of its Whopper featuring an Impossible patty at its roughly 7,300 stores nationwide.Other chains, like White Castle, Carl’s Jr., Bareburger, Qdoba and others also feature Beyond Meat or Impossible Foods items on their menus. People can buy Beyond Meat at supermarkets like Safeway or Kroger, and Impossible plans to start selling in retail locations this year.