In early March, Impossible Foods debuted its flagship plant-based beef product in Singapore. It is the third international market for the company after Hong Kong and Macau.
SG launch event was held at
Lau Pa Sat, a well-known hawker centre in the city’s CBD. For one night pop-up selected chefs and hawkers used Impossible’s ground beef in several dishes ranging from burgers to local specialities like
char kway teow.
Organisers prepared food for 500 people, but the event has proven to be very popular and some walked away empty-handed. Social media comments suggest a
miscommunication when it comes to animal-based ingredients in some of the dishes. While Impossible Foods’ products are 100% plant-based, chefs often match them with dairy and other animal ingredients as the target audience is primarily omnivore/flexitarian.
Following the launch event Impossible dishes debuted at
8 selected partner restaurants across Singapore, including some with Michelin stars. I reached out to some of them and asked about how customers are reacting to Impossible’s product so far. Here is what they said:
Yuan Oeij, chairman of
The Privé Group:
We were sold out for most of the items at both venues on [days following the launch]. There is still continued interest going forward. Customer feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. […] In fact, we’ve managed to persuade some customers who were initially thinking of ordering meat dishes to try the Impossible specials and they were thrilled!
Adam Penney, executive chef at
Three Buns by Potato Head:
I first contacted Impossible back in 2014 and have been in touch since. I am extremely proud they have us as one of their launch partners. […] The Impossible burgers outsold burger to burger the rest of our menu items during opening weekend. We had a lot of regular meat eaters [coming to try it] and a lot more vegetarians than we would normally have at the Three Buns.
Sabrina Stillhart, executive chef at
Bread Street Kitchen by Gordon Ramsay:
[Diners] were impressed by how the plant-based meat resembles beef in terms of taste and texture. One of the most popular dishes is The Impossible Wellington, which is a remake of Gordon Ramsay’s signature Beef Wellington. […] Based on the positive responses so far, we have plans to offer more Impossible dishes, including in our breakfast and brunch menus.
According to Nick Halla, SVP International of Impossible Foods, partnerships with “influential” hotels
will come next as well as “dozens” new eateries in SG every month.
Impossible’s retail pack is launching in the US stores later this year - and “soon after” in Asia,
according to Jordan Sadowsky, Director of International Expansion.
During the media event, CEO Pat Brown has been asked about further expansion and
mentioned Australia & New Zealand among upcoming markets. He also
said they are looking at China, but assume that the regulatory approval process may take much longer there.
Singapore’s government investment fund Temasek has been part of nearly US$400m funding that Impossible has raised so far.