In the last few years, the plant-based burger has been completely revolutionized from chunky veggies and other ingredients put together that satisfy vegetarians to a more meat lookalike patty that lures meat-lovers, too. In the thick of this innovation are two California-based startups, namely, Beyond Meat® and Impossible Foods®.
Headquartered in El Segundo,California, Beyond Meat® was founded by Ethan Brown in 2009, closely followed by Patrick O. Brown, who started Impossible Foods in 2011 at Redwood City. The two Mr. Browns not only have similar names but also similar visions, which is, to market plant-based burgers that appeal to a flexitarian consumer. But how alike and how different are these two burgers in taste and other characteristics? Let’s find out.
All About The Taste
Even though they are rivals, the two brands have maintained their individuality through the core ingredient in their faux meat products. While the Impossible Burger is built around soy protein concentrate, the Beyond Burger® deals with pea protein isolate. Consequently, the final tastes of the two burgers differ from each other to a large extent.
Key differences between the two plant-based giants
Additionally, they also differ in texture. Impossible Foods uses soy leghemoglobin, or “heme”, which gives the burger a meat-like “bleeding” appearance. Beyond Meat®, on the other hand, goes for beet juice extract to achieve the reddish hue. Despite the differences, both burgers taste “beefier” than the older, traditional burgers, such as Gardenburger® or Boca Burger®. Let’s take a look at the nutritional values of the two brands.
Beyond Burger ®
4 oz (113g)
250 Calories
18g fat (6g Saturated Fat)
390 Mg Sodium
3g Carbs (2g Fiber, 0g Sugar, No added sugars)
20g of Protein
Impossible Burger®
4 oz (113 g)
240 Calories
14 g of Fat (8g Saturated Fat)
370 mg Sodium
9g Carbs (13g fiber, < 1g sugar, <1g added sugar
19g of Protein
Diverse consumers
The reason that both these plant-based burgers have been a huge success is that people have diverse taste buds. They also have different viewpoints on the health and nutrition aspects of the two burgers. While the meatier texture of the Impossible Burger attracts beef lovers better, vegetarians and vegans prefer the Beyond Burger®.
Moreover, the non-GMO burger from Beyond Meat® lures consumers who are into non soy, non gluten and non heme enhanced patties like those of Impossible Burgers®. And then, there is a section of meat-eaters who swear by any plant-based burger solely because there are no residual bone fragments in them which at times can make even the biggest carnivores a bit repulsive towards a meat patty, as my beef patty fan friend said last week.
Due to the different tastes, textures, and nutrition levels, the two brands have gathered their very own set of customers and both have got a cult following that preferably would never switch sides. As my colleague said last week, “This is almost like Chevy vs Ford rivalry.” And he is quite right. In an environment that is invention-driven, we will always have passionate groups of followers for virtually any product. Personally, I gravitate towards the Impossible patty but I do buy Beyond patties too.
Who is better?
So, is one brand better than the other? The jury is still out on this and as of now, it is impossible to point to the better burger, with each of them sporting their best and unique characteristics. However, one thing is for certain. Both brands are constantly trying to win over the loyal followers of the rival brand by consistently researching on how to improve the taste of their products.
This healthy rivalry can only mean that we will see more revolutions in plant-based burgers in the years to come. With more research and trials, the taste of these burgers can only be expected to get better from here.
Future Rewards
As consumers continue to rally behind their favorite Impossible or Beyond Burger®, one thing that remains unchanged is that both these burgers have the potential to help the environment from going into further ruins.
Production of vegan burgers has been known to consume fewer natural resources compared to meat-based burgers and that is where both of these brands are likely to be rewarded in the future. Even if the world does not turn vegan in an instant through these plant-based burgers, we might see an occasional switch to faux meat among meat eaters just for a change of taste.
As the rivalry continues to grow, we should also see other competitors making their mark in the market. In a few years, the popularity of these products is likely to spread outside of the US, when global competitors should also start rising.
Remember the decades-old rivalry of Pepsi and Coke and how the war between them gave rise to a revolutionized soft drink market? Well, if the popularity of plant-based burgers continues to grow at this rate, we might see the same happening with faux meat brands, and then, Impossible Foods and Beyond Burger® will be remembered as the “Pepsi® and Coke®” of the meatless industry.