WHAT ’ S HOT F & B
WHAT ’ S HOT F & B
The plant-based Impossible
Burger offered at Umami Burger
The
ALT-MEAT BOOM
P lant-based “ meat ” companies like California-based Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat have been offering imitation meat products since 2011 and 2009 , respectively . But it was when the two companies turned to perfecting the alt-meat burger that consumer interest exploded . In 2017 , the market for the plant-based food sector topped US $ 3.1 billion in sales , according to Nielsen , The Good Food Institute and the Plant Based Foods Association . One-third of all Americans , and 37 % of
U . S . -based millennials , plan to buy more plant-based products over the next year , according to Mintel ’ s 2018 Summer Food & Drink Trends report .
With numbers like those , the hotel and restaurant industries are paying attention . In 2018 , burger chain White Castle added an Impossible Slider ; in April , Burger King said its Impossible Whopper would target nationwide distribution by year-end .
Hotels are right in line . Hong Kong ’ s Hotel Icon began selling the Impossible Burger last year , says General Manager
Richard Hatter . The burger is made of plant protein but structured to mimic a beef burger , including the sizzling , “ bleeding ” and plant-based heme , a hard-to-describe fermented yeast that mimics a meaty flavor .
Icon sells a premium beef burger for HK $ 198 ( US $ 25.24 ) and an Impossible Burger for HK $ 148 ( US $ 18.86 ). “ The price of the patty is comparable , at least to premium burger meat ,” Hatter says . “ However , to prompt trial , we have priced it cheaper .” The hotel sold nearly 200 in March .
Loews Minneapolis Hotel in 2017
32 hotelsmag . com June 2019