# Impossible meat



## Emojitsu (Jun 11, 2018)

TLDR: Have you had any luck putting heavily genetically modified products on your menu, or more specifically, "Impossible meat".

So I was looking up current food trends (for inspiration), and I come across this new(ish?) brand of meat called "Impossible meat". So I start looking into it as a vegetarian option for our menu.

It's 100% (GMO) plant product.
Looks, tastes, and feels like real beef.
Even "bleeds" when you cook it. (Due to the heme they somehow extract from plants)
See for yourself, I'll post the link at the end.

So I call my Sysco rep and ask if they distribute it. He tells me I already have a guy coming out to show me the product. I fed the sample to some of my employees, and they loved it. It's not terrible IMO either.

So I guess my question to the more veteran chefs is, have you had any success implementing anything like this into your menus, or better yet, this specific product? Or any Heavily Genetically Modified products, for that matter.

Bar Louie and White Castle have already incorporated this into their menus, so I really want this to work, but me being the skeptic that I am, I'm not sure how well this will be received by my customers.

https://impossiblefoods.com/

If you order through Sysco or other high profile food distributors, I would encourage you to ask your rep for a sample and let me know what you think.


----------



## Chef_Aaron_B (Jan 11, 2018)

Could be cool. At my old Job when a vegan came in, alot of times we would take a cookie cutter to a block of Tofu so it reassembled a Filet. Throw it in a balsamic marinade for a bit and grill it up and serve it over some asparagus. We were a steakhouse, so the Vegan felt like they fit in with everyone else at the table. This would of been a great option to have I think. 

If you do do it, I would have a print out of what exactly it was. In case someone was on the fence about if it was truly vegan or not. I'd give it a shot.


----------



## sgsvirgil (Mar 1, 2017)

The only way to find out is to find out. Put it on the menu, give it a clever name and see how your customers respond to it. Depending on where you are located, I bet the responses will be positive.


----------



## QuailMaster (Apr 20, 2018)

If they are vegans, why are they attracted to something designed to imitate it? Shouldn't the goal in presenting vegan offerings be to make such a dish appealing for its own merits rather than for its ability to mimic the very thing the eater supposedly has rejected from their diet?


----------



## pete (Oct 7, 2001)

QuailMaster said:


> If they are vegans, why are they attracted to something designed to imitate it? Shouldn't the goal in presenting vegan offerings be to make such a dish appealing for its own merits rather than for its ability to mimic the very thing the eater supposedly has rejected from their diet?


Many vegans don't eat meat because of the ethical reasons, but still enjoy the taste and texture of meat so if we, as chefs, are able to offer both options, stuff that imitates meat and stuff that doesn't, wouldn't it make business sense to be able to capture as much of the vegan population as possible, if you want to cater to their desires in the first place?


----------



## sgmchef (Sep 30, 2006)

According to an Esquire article Michael Symon put it on his menu.

How well would it fit into your current menu? Is it financially viable from a "Burger" price point? Do you offer anything Vegan already? If yes, this could be another option for diners. Try to think of it as a business decision first. Dress it with ingredients you already stock and there shouldn't be much, if any, waste. Run it as a special and have the wait staff ask the customer what they think.


----------



## Emojitsu (Jun 11, 2018)

Thanks for the responses and great ideas so far. I think I'm going to run it as a special for a month, and see how well it takes with my customer base. 
Fun fact: while my first thought was to market this specifically to vegans/ vegetarians, my sysco rep informed me they've also been marketing it towards people who have been told to lay off the red meat by their doctors. 
So I'll throw it up on my special board for a month or so, advertise the hell out of it, and let those of you still interested know how well it sells.


----------



## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

I cook for lots of vegetarians and vegans. They have nice deep pockets when you make them happy. This new meat-type product is so much better ... IMHO ... than the other choices. I love the stuff. I can't wait for the big companies with bigger R&D departments take off with this stuff. If diners are aware of what they are getting and it is properly described/labeled on the menu ... you'll have NO problemmos.

_"We work in kitchens ... It ain'te rocket surgery."._​


----------



## E. Dennis van Rumund (Dec 2, 2017)

Beyond Beef, Impossible's competitor, has a promotional program. I would see what Impossible has in support of your efforts.


----------



## Emojitsu (Jun 11, 2018)

E. Dennis van Rumund said:


> Beyond Beef, Impossible's competitor, has a promotional program. I would see what Impossible has in support of your efforts.


I didn't even know this existed, thank you!!!


----------



## E. Dennis van Rumund (Dec 2, 2017)

Emojitsu said:


> I didn't even know this existed, thank you!!!


The issue I faced was in the bread component for the burger. Regular bread is not vegan so I worked using fried plantains into buns. It allowed me to change up the flavor to be a Caribbean style, another Southeast Asian, and Mexican. Good luck with your endeavor


----------



## capecodchef (Jan 19, 2014)

We had a demo from the broker who sells PFG, one of my broadliners. It's an interesting product, but one that we ultimately rejected because of the price point (cost about $20 per pound) and the fact that it's a manufactured food created in a laboratory. Not the wholesome, locally sourced, non GMO, organic product we like to pride ourselves in providing. Plus, I just couldn't get "Soylent Green" out of my friggin' head!

Good luck. Love to hear what you do with it.
\

BTW....US Foods has a terrific gluten free, vegan full sized bread loaf available that they source from Canada that you might want to consider. Best GF loaf I've found to date....white or whole grain.


----------

