September/October 2019 - 9

PLANT-BASED MEATS
NEW PRODUCTS
By Kathy Gibbons
Contributing Writer
JONAH GOLDMAN WAS ABOUT
10 years old when he went full-out
vegetarian after learning - and
being horrified by - how animals
were conventionally mass raised and
slaughtered to provide consumers with
meat at the grocery store. He talked his
entire family into swearing off meat, too.
Goldman went on to study political
science in college, focusing on food
policy and security, and took an
internship at Beyond Meat in 2013.
At that time, the fledgling company had
launched soy-based chicken strips as it
focused on research and development
to expand its offerings, perfect quality
and build reach and production.
He got his family interested in
the startup and his father joined the
board of directors. Goldman himself
went on to spend four years in Israel
learning about sustainable agriculture
techniques, then returned to work
for a food rescue organization and
compostable packaging startup. And he
never lost his enthusiasm for Beyond
Meat founder Ethan Brown's vision
to offer consumers a replacement for
some of the meat in their diets without
sacrificing taste or quality.
Beyond Meat
As Brown said during a 2017 National
Public Radio podcast, he started out
with a strong belief that the things that
make up meat - amino acids, lipids, a
small amount of carbohydrates, trace
minerals and water - are not exclusive
to animals. " They're all present in the
plant kingdom, " he said. " Animals
are running it through their system,
creating muscle. "
His premise was: " Why can't we
take ... and reorganize it into the
structure of muscle? "
Beyond Meat rolled out its signature
Beyond Burger in 2016. A new
and improved Beyond Burger was
introduced earlier in 2019. It's made
from a blend of peas, mung bean
and rice proteins to add fiber and
texture. Beets provide the hue of meat.
Apple extract goes in to help plant
Pea protein, onion extract and beet powder for color are among the ingredients in Lightlife's plantbased
meats. The company also produces plant-based bacon, sausage and hot dogs. Photo: Lightlife
 Impossible Foods' products can be used to make tacos and on pizza, shown here. The company
made big news this summer with its Burger King partnership to create a plant-based Whopper.
Photos: Impossible Foods
based meats brown. The company also
added a marbling effect similar to the
real thing.
Beyond Meat says it's the first plantbased
burger that looks, cooks and
satisfies like beef without GMOs, soy
or gluten.
Reuters reports that Beyond Meat's
sales have increased fivefold since
Beyond Burger hit the marketplace
in 2016. The product is turning up
on menus of fast food chains and
restaurants across the country -
53,000 and counting, according to a
company spokeswoman who declined to
comment on sales figures. Besides early
supporter Whole Foods, it's in major
grocery store chains, often displayed
next to real chicken and steak.
Now Beyond Burger is one of the key
menu items at the new PLNT Burger
restaurant that " Top Chef " finalist Chef
Spike Mendelsohn just opened inside a
Silver Springs, Maryland Whole Foods
in September. Goldman, who is now
PLNT Burger's director of strategic
marketing, said people were lining up to
get in during its first weeks. The entire
PLNT Burger menu is plant-based.
" It has all of the pros of meat without
any of the cons, " Goldman said.
Where the action is
In July 2019, the Plant Based Food
Association and Good Food Institute
released data that showed U.S. retail
sales of plant-based foods had grown
11% over the previous year, bringing
the total U.S. plant-based market value
to $4.5 billion. Since April 2017, plantbased
food sales had climbed 31%, with
unit sales up 8.5%.
PRODUCE PROCESSING
7

September/October 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September/October 2019