Impossible Foods cuts grocery prices 20% as part of “displacing animal-derived foods” strategy

03 Feb 2021 --- Impossible Foods is cutting prices 20 percent for 17,000 US grocery at a time when its sales are at an all-time high.

Impossible Foods plans to keep lowering prices as it achieves new production records and economies of scale; the plant-based pioneer says it will ultimately undercut the price of ground beef from cows. 

Following what Impossible describes as “tremendous growth and economies of scale over the past year,” the company is cutting suggested retail prices for Impossible Burger to US$5.49 for patties and US$6.99 for a 12-oz. package. (On-shelf prices may vary depending on location and retailer.) 

Impossible Foods is strongly encouraging grocery stores, supermarkets and retailers that sell Impossible Burger to pass the savings to consumers, as soon as possible. 

Impossible Burger is available at Albertsons, Kroger, Publix, Safeway, Sprouts, Target, Trader Joe’s, Walmart, Wegmans and many others. It is also offered  online via platforms including Amazon Fresh, Walmart.com, Kroger.com, Farmstead and Imperfect Foods. 

Significant and rapid growth
Impossible Foods’ broader strategy is to reverse global warming and restore biodiversity by creating a mainstream, mass-market, consumer movement to eliminate animal agriculture. 

Impossible Foods’ strategy is to reverse global warming and restore biodiversity by eliminating animal agriculture. Impossible Burger was sold in about 150 grocery stores one year ago; it’s now available in approximately 17,000 grocery stores nationwide, a massive expansion in Impossible Foods’ retail footprint. 

Production has increased sixfold since 2019, both in Oakland and at multiple plants owned by co-manufacturing partners.

“Our plan is to reverse global warming and halt our planet’s extinction crisis by making the food system sustainable. To do that, we need to make meat better in every way that matters to consumers, taste, nutrition, convenience and affordability,” says Impossible CEO and founder Dr. Patrick O. Brown. 

“With economies of scale, we intend to keep lowering prices until we undercut those of ground beef from cows. Today’s price cut is merely our latest, not our last.”

Impossible Foods is introducing similar price cuts internationally at retail stores in Canada, Singapore and Hong Kong. 

The double-digit international price cuts vary by location and apply to all Impossible retail products sold overseas, exceeding 20 percent in some regions.

Environmental benefits translate into economic efficiencies
The latest price cut is the third double-digit reduction from Impossible Foods in less than a year. Last month, the company cut prices on average about 15 percent for foodservice distributors that sell to restaurants. 

Impossible Burger sales are increasingly displacing animal-derived foods, whose production is one of the biggest generators of greenhouse gas emissions and a significant contributor to the rapid onset of climate change. 

According to Chicago-based analytics company Numerator, the vast majority of Impossible Foods’ sales come at the expense of animal-derived meat: For every US$1 spent on Impossible Burger at US grocery stores, 82 cents comes at the direct expense of animal-derived foods. This is up from 72 cents per US$1 from last September. 

Final point of sale determines the price
The Impossible Burger – which contains no animal ingredients, animal hormones or antibiotics – includes higher levels of many micro-nutrients than ground beef. 

It is gluten-free certified, uses 96 percent less land, 87 percent less water and generates 89 percent less greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional beef from cows. 

“By contrast, raising animals for meat introduces hormones and antibiotics into the food chain, collapses biodiversity, accelerates climate change and provokes public health crises,” says the company. 

Like many food companies, Impossible Foods does not typically own or operate the final point of sale for its product.

Impossible Foods sells directly to food distributors and retailers, which in turn determine the final sale price for consumers.

“While we would not and could not require grocery stores to cut prices, grocery store customers and distributors are in fact consistently passing along our economies of scale to their own customers,” adds Impossible Foods’ president Dennis Woodside. 

“Impossible products are becoming increasingly affordable, and this in turn is accelerating our rapid retail growth.”

Edited by Gaynor Selby