The market for plant-based meat was thriving before the coronavirus pandemic hit, but now its sales are reaching unprecedented levels. The reason behind the surging sales of meatless meat is twofold.
On the one hand, there are spot shortages of animal products in stores, pushing customers to sample new plant-based meat products. On the other hand, people are simply becoming more aware of the problems with our animal agriculture system.
According to a recent Nielsen report, demand for plant-based meat products has increased 278 percent since this time last year. Impossible Foods announced Tuesday that because the demand for the Impossible Burger has “skyrocketed among home chefs,” the company is accelerating its retail expansion this week, rolling out the burgers at 1,700 Kroger-owned grocery stores nationwide. That’s a huge jump from the 150 grocery stores selling its flagship burger at the start of the year.
The expansion is being carried out with an eye to the pandemic, which has many of us shopping from behind a computer rather than a shopping cart. Starting today, you can order Impossible Burgers online through Kroger.com, which will sync up with an Instacart delivery slot to get the products to your home. If you prefer not to use Instacart, there’s also a contactless curbside pickup option: You can place your order online, drive to a brick-and-mortar store, pop the trunk of your car, and a store clerk will place the products in there for you.
