Beyond Meat Already Has Bacon in the Works
Burgers may be the beginning of the plant-based revolution, but they certainly aren’t the end. If you look at the mission statements on the websites of Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, the goals are loftier. Impossible writes about creating a world where “we never have to use animals again.” Beyond talks about “shifting from animal, to plant-based meat.” Impossible had already said they’re looking to make fish, dairy products, and even steaks. And Beyond’s latest launch — a plant-based breakfast sandwich with Dunkin’ — was a sausage patty, not a hamburger. So what else does Beyond Meat have up its sleeve? Bacon, of course.
Beyond Meat Founder and CEO Ethan Brown said that his company already has a plant-based bacon in development, according to an interview with CNN Business. Though he told CNN it would require a “surprise breakthrough” for the product to hit the market anytime soon, Bloomberg reports that they spoke to at least one distributor who said they’ve already heard about a Beyond bacon through the grapevine. “We’re looking forward to trying their bacon whenever we can,” Emily Murphy of Baldor Foods was quoted as saying. “We understand from Beyond that it’s in the works.” Meanwhile, when CNBC reached out for additional info, Beyond Meat spokeswoman Allison Aronoff simply added, “We say that we’re going to innovate any product in the meat case,” explaining that there are no specific plans to announce at this time.
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Regardless, with new plant-based partnerships emerging weekly, if not daily, everyone is likely feeling the pressure of getting on top of this meatless madness. And though seemingly less complex than steak — which Brown also revealed that Beyond is working on — bacon tends to elicit more inherent excitement than most other foods out there. Faux-bacon already exists, but nothing has come close to perfectly mimicking that fatty, crispy crunch quite yet. So needless to say, whoever gets there first — or gets there at all — will definitely generate tons of interest. Heck, the fact that a company is even trying to make a better fake bacon is newsworthy: Imagine the fervor when something is actually released.
