Over the past few years, Impossible Foods has even made meat-eaters believe in the power of plant-based foods. Now with a burger so popular it’s taken over the country—drive-throughs included!—it’s onto the next big mission: creating a realistic fishless fish.
According to the New York Times, Impossible Foods is using heme—the same protein that’s made the Impossible Burger so realistic—to recreate fish from plants. Considering the 124-person team already created an anchovy-flavored broth last month, it’s safe to say the company is well on its way to joining the ranks of other companies in the vegan fish space, like Good Catch with its pea protein-based tuna.
“It was being used to make paella,” said Pat Brown, chief executive of Impossible Foods. “But you could use it to make Caesar dressing or something like that.”
There’s no set date on when Impossible Foods will have a fishless fish available to purchase. But with the ocean already in crisis-mode due to the commercial fishing industry, the hope is to create products that have an impressive enough taste and texture that consumers will make the switch. “The only way we can succeed is to make fish from plants that is more delicious than the fish that’s strip mined from the ocean,” Brown said.
The best part is this is just the beginning. By 2035, the company hopes to have a plant-based version of every animal product.