A hybrid hamburger composed in the same proportions by animals and vegetable meat. That is one of the product innovations contemplated by the company of products of plant origin Impossible Foods to appeal to new audiences and boost their growth. The idea is part of the Repositioning and reorientation strategy in which the company has mired for more than a year.

The concept of hybrid hamburger has been exposed by Peter McGuiness, president and CEO of Impossible Foods, in an interview with Wall Street Journalin which the manager has shared the strategy and vision of the company to adapt to a market That, at least in the United States, is experiencing a contraction. Ta and as WARC collects, attending to Good Food Institute data, vegetable meat sales decreased by 28% in 2024 compared to 2022.

The search for healthier alternatives to meat during pandemic, as well as the marketing efforts of the category brands, promoted the interest and consumption of Plant-base products. However, in recent months the increase in food prices, as well as concern for processed products, have caused a drop in sales. The impossible Foods carried out layoffs in 2022 and 2023 to reduce expenses.

Therefore, the company now seeks to open up to new consumer bases, and focuses on the Flexitarianos, That is, those who mainly follow a vegetarian diet, but who occasionally consume meat and fish. “Flexitarians are our greatest opportunity for growth. A type of flexitarian has a more moderate vegetarian diet and consumes meat. Another type consumes almost 50% of vegetable and animal meat. It is a huge market”; McGuiness said.”Capture a considerable portion of flexitarians could quote the income of impossible foods in a short time”

To achieve this, the manager assures that he plans a Marketing and Sales Strategy. Among other things, it contemplates the creation of an advertising campaign focused on flexitarians, as well as a distribution approach focused on segment and the presence in local stores and channels.

This proposal is born, in part, as a consequence of a national scope promoted last year and that, as McGuiness points out, has not given the expected results. “Our broad national campaign reached many people who only consume meat and who would not consider buying our products”; He commented.”Our expense was not efficient”

The search for a new consumer segment, added to the possible innovations derived from it, could help the company differentiate in a Complex category. As expresses the CEO of Impossible Foods, “There are too many companies in the vegetable meat industry for such a small market”

The main barrier of impossible Foods, and the category of products of plant origin in general, is so much The taste and texture of the products as The perception that the public has of it. McGuiness himself ensures that the biggest problem is that people think that vegetable meat does not know well, especially in the options similar to beef.

That is why Impossible Foods is turning its Innovation efforts in aspects such as size, thickness, or taste. In this regard, one of its most recent innovations are the so -called “steak bites”, precooked veal snacks of those who ensure that it has the taste and juiciness of animal meat that thousands of consumers like so much.

Over the last years the company has expanded and diversified its portfolioand now it has whole families of products dedicated to beef alternatives, chicken and sausages. Among their products, the hamburgers, hot dogs, albondigas, nuggets or even pasta and rice dishes are stand out.

Looking for the growth and association of its products to the taste of traditional meat, impossible foods also carried out a redesign of your visual identity Inspired, he said at the time, at the craving for the flesh. To do this, he opted for a striking aesthetic based on the red color. The tone, as the company explained, better reflected the founding mission of the company to produce vegetable meat with such a good or better taste than that of animal origin.

“We want to be inclusive with all those who enjoy good food. It doesn’t matter if you are a vegan, vegetarian, lover of animal meat or something intermediate”; McGuiness said at the time.”What we want is to educate consumers so that they can also enjoy meat by incorporating a version made with plants instead of animals into their diet“

As WARC collects, the different efforts launched would be giving the business of impossible Foods, which is the fastest growing brand of the category of alternative meats in the United States. However, appealing to the general public, and not only vegetarians or flexitarians, continues to be the great challenge of the brand.