Impossible Foods Is Taking Over The City of Detroit

Impossible Foods’ bleeding vegan burgers and meat alternative products have been taking the food industry by storm and their recent partnership with Detroit-based restaurant, Central Kitchen + Bar, is one of many in the thriving city, which is one of the top locations for Impossible food product sales.

On Wednesday, the well-known Detroit restaurant located near Campus Martius and across from Cadillac Square, launched a new menu item that is sure to attract the vegan and vegetarian demographic in the city. The restaurant’s lunch menu featured Impossible lettuce wraps with ground Impossible meat, toppings, lettuce cups and a Thai peanut dip. The restaurant’s Executive Chef Christina Stanco created this unique take on Impossible Foods’ popular burger meat.

“As we celebrate our 3-year anniversary, we continue to evolve with the palates and demands of our discerning guests, and accommodate the national trend towards healthy meal options that don’t compromise on taste, and our partnership with Impossible Foods couldn’t be more timely,” said Central Kitchen + Bar owner and serial entrepreneur Dennis Archer, Jr. “Executive Chef Christina Stanco and her culinary team were blown away by the Impossible Burger, and they took it a step further by creating innovative recipes that you will not find anywhere else in America.”

Central Kitchen + Bar now joins over 100 restaurants in the Michigan area that serve the Impossible Burger. Other popular Michigan restaurants that have the menu item include Bar Louie, Houlihan’s, Wahlburgers, Punchbowl Social, Tom’s Oyster Bar, Ford’s Garage, Greektown Casino and Alley Taco.

“The Impossible Burger started in 2016 on the East and West coasts, but today we are seeing tremendous growth in the Midwest – and Detroit is a real standout,” said Stephanie Lind, Impossible Foods’ head of global sales. “More and more restaurants serve the Impossible Burger, so more and more customers ask for it. Michigan is now home to Impossible Burgers, tacos, sliders and now lettuce wraps. It’s a virtuous sales circle — for us, for restaurants and ultimately for consumers and the planet.”

The meatless burger, which went viral as the “bleeding” vegan burger, has come a long way since its original launch in 2016 at Chef David Chang’s well-known restaurant Momofuku Nishi in Manhattan. The product is now available in over 3,000 locations around the world which include restaurants, corporate dining halls, universities and other foodservice locations in the US, Canada, Hong Kong and Macau.

However, consumers do not have to go to a high-class restaurant to try the popular burger. In April, the product was introduced in fast-food chain White Castle as the Impossible Slider in 140 locations in New York, New Jersey and Chicago. Due to the slider’s overwhelming amount of success, the Impossible Slider is now available in all White Castle locations across the country.

According to Impossible Foods, the demand for their burger “meat” is so high that they had to add a second shift at their large-scale manufacturing plant in Oakland, California in order to double their production.

This demand is not a surprise considering the fact that the company’s product incorporates many qualities that the current consumer demographic appreciates. In addition to the burger’s “bleeding” and meaty texture, it contains no added hormones, antibiotics, cholesterol or artificial flavors. It’s production requires a quarter of the water that traditional meat production needs and less than five percent of the land. The production process also produces an eighth of the gas emissions that conventional beef production produces.

With more consumers identifying themselves as vegan, vegetarian or flexitarian, there is now a higher demand for plant-based protein. Animal welfare is also a top concern for consumers as 70 percent of products with animal welfare claims have seen an increase of sales. So it seems that Impossible Foods is doing everything right when it comes to producing a unique and healthy food product.

According to a company release, Impossible Foods is looking to continue to expand to other restaurants and will be looking into entering the retail space in the near future.