Pandemic sows seeds of direct-to-consumer models for plant-based food
Originally published on June 18th, 2020 for GreenBiz.
After years of cultivating a restaurant-first strategy, Impossible Foods has leapt from its first national retail launch in Kroger into a direct-to-consumer channel in the course of just a few weeks. Impossible announced last week that consumers can buy its plant-based ground protein directly from the company website.
“It was one of the things on the list,” said Jessica Appelgren, vice president of communications at Impossible Foods. “But COVID made it go to the top of the list.”
Impossible joins a handful of other plant-based food companies that drastically have shifted their business strategies due to the pandemic. Exponential Foods, a plant-based meat company focusing on Mexican-style meats, was set to launch in U.S. grocery stores when the pandemic hit. Suddenly its retail partners were more focused on staying afloat and adjusting to new social distancing regulations than launching a new product.
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