Not only the foods we eat during the pandemic have changed how consumers, marketers, social media, and the food manufacturing industry think about our food. The closures of businesses during the pandemic have most business owners thinking of better methods and ways to keep consumers happy about receiving their products and services. People are most familiar with meat products derived from animals—cows, pigs, chickens, deer, turkey, buffalo, etc. Plant-based products have been coming into production, causing people to think more about the healthier types of food we eat.
However, the foods we eat make the Impossible Burger, one of the original plant-based burgers that bleed. Impossible Foods is a company developing plant-based substitutes for meat, dairy, and fish products. It selects specific proteins and nutrients from greens, seeds, and grains to recreate the experience of meats and dairy products.
If you ask anyone what it was like going vegan “back in the day,” they may respond by recalling the horrors of frozen veggie patties that bore an eerie resemblance to cardboard and vegan cheese that was like Silly Putty rather than a topping for pizza. Restaurants laughed when you asked if they had options without any meat, and at barbecues, you would be cast out to a distant, dark corner, left to joylessly gnaw at a stalk of raw broccoli while your friends merrily feasted before you.
Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration. But my point is that the vegan food game has exploded in recent years, introducing a new era of vegan meats, cheeses, milk, and other products that vegans of yesteryear could only fantasize about. As of 2021, the Good Food Institute estimated the plant-based food sector to be worth $7 billion, and some researchers predict the sector will be worth $95 billion by 2029.
When fast-food companies like Burger King and Carl’s Jr. make plant-based meats a permanent fixture on their menus, and more and more meat-dominated establishments like KFC are rolling out plant-based options, you know the times they are a-changin’.
