News

Impossible Burger hits 'big time' with restaurant opening and mega-production facility

March 23, 2017

Impossible Burger — the company behind a soy-based burger claiming to taste like beef —has opened a huge California production facility to produce 4 million of its plant-based burgers per month. The company is likely to soon need that level of production, considering it has added three more restaurant brands to the product's list of growing devotees, according to a company press release. 

The new East Oakland, California, production site is expected to reach its full output potential in about one year to support the burgers' growing popularity, most of it coming from restaurants, including Bareburger, which already features Impossible Burgers on its menu at its New York University campus location. The chain said it has plans to add more units to its 43-unit brand as the facility ramps up. 

Impossible Burger also announced that its debuting on three San Francisco restaurant menus, including KronnerBurger in Oakland, Public House at AT&T Park and Vina Enoteca in Palo Alto. These restaurants are in addition to a handful of previously announced foodservice brands that have been offering the Impossible Burger since its New York City debut last summer at Momofuku Nishi. Other restaurants include Jardinière and Cockscomb in San Francisco, Crossroads Kitchen in Los Angeles and New York, Public, Daily and Saxon + Parole in New York. 

The plant-based burger replicates the look, texture, smell, cooking qualities and taste of animal-based ground beef but is far less taxing on the environment than what is required to produce cow-based burgers, according to the release. For instance, the Impossible Burger uses 75 percent less water and 95 percent less land than conventional beef, while it produces 87 percent fewer environmentally damaging greenhouse gases during its production.

Likewise, because it's based on a beef flavor component in plants, called heme, its production requires no hormones, antibiotics, cholesterol or artificial flavors, said parent company, Impossible Foods CEO and Founder Dr. Patrick O. Brown.

"Our mission to transform the global food system is urgent, and the opportunity is huge, so we are embarking on one of the most ambitious scale-ups of any startup in the food industry," he said at a plant-opening presentation this week. "Our goal is to make delicious, sustainable, nutritious and affordable meat for everyone, as soon as possible."

Investors in the company include Khosla Ventures, Bill Gates, Google Ventures, Horizons Ventures, UBS and Viking Global Investors.