Kroger, Impossible Foods team up to develop plant-based meat food alternatives

Kroger revealed late last week that it has teamed up with Impossible Foods, a leading meat alternative brand, to develop meat alternative products for its own label. The announcement was made during the investor event on Friday.

According to CNBC, Robert Moskow, an analyst at Credit Suisse, said in a note to its clients that the new partnership deal between Kroger and Impossible Foods is a big threat to Beyond Meat which is Impossible’s rival in the plant-based manufacturing business.

Moskow said that the tie-up would lead to the introduction of more meat substitutes to the consumers, and these may be a good choice, especially for the budget-conscious people as the new products may be priced lower than most vegan brands such as Beyond Meat and Tyson Foods.

It was mentioned that currently, both Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods are also trying to lower their prices to attract more customers. They have to come up with a strategy, especially now that the prices of meat are soaring. The rising costs of meat actually helped them boost their sales but they must maintain the price range despite the inflation.

“We view this test as a threat to Beyond Meat because it demonstrates the willingness of a big competitor to ‘margin down’ into co-branded private label products in order to maximize the reach of its products,” the Credit Suisse analyst stated in the note.

Kroger is not new in the plant-based market as it already has its private label for this and through its deal with Impossible Foods, this business may fly high soon as well. It is also selling other brands in its supermarket chain in the United States, but it is different if it has its own brand.

Then again, it was noted that the details for Kroger and Impossible Foods’ co-branding deal are still very limited. They have yet to officially issue statements with regards to their collaboration as well.

Meanwhile, the news of Kroger and Impossible Foods’ partnership was said to have an effect on Beyond Meat, Vegconomist reported that its shares fell more than seven percent in the afternoon trading after the report came out.