I was following the company for over a year when I first read about what they were doing.
They very selectively picked a handful of restaurants to introduce the product. I first tried it at the one restaurant in LA that was chosen to unveil it. They received a lot of press for it and sold out every day. After some enitial buzz, the rush to try one died out a bit.
Trying it, I thought the hype out did the actual product. It wasn’t bloody like meat, it’s consistency was closer, but still you would know it wasn’t meat. The taste wasn’t meaty enough to replace meat, but it is a better mouse trap. It was enjoyable, but for anyone that loves a great burger, someone that’s not looking to replace real meat, it’s a one time try. It’s really for vegans, vegetarians. Don’t forget that the Paleo diet is booming and I find that more people are asking for grass fed beef then a meat alternative.
We use the Gardein meatless burgers at two of our restaurants as an alternative to meat for customers.
They sell very well. We will look at Beyond Meat and compare taste, price, now that they are becoming more readily available.
So any idea when Beyond Meat is going public?
Chris