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Impossible Foods eyes UK as its next market

Plant-based meat company Impossible Foods is continuing to expand its empire, and its next target is the U.K. The California company submitted an application for approval with the U.K. Food Standards Agency in early 2021, and Food Navigator reported that the company is currently working through the process in the post-Brexit market.

Europe’s director of government relations Aneke Schwager told the publication that the company is confident in its application for approval of commercial sale. “We’ve never been rejected,” she said.

In addition to Impossible Food’s efforts to gain a foothold in Britain, the company filed paperwork with the European Food Safety Authority in 2019 to solicit approval for its key soy leghemoglobin ingredient that allows its burgers to “bleed.” Earlier this year, Politico EU reported that the regulatory body is still waiting on follow-up information from the company before it can begin the review process.

While the European market has not been conquered by this plant-based protein titan, Impossible Foods is continuing to expand in other regions. Following its submission of regulatory review applications to reviewers in Australia and New Zealand, both countries issued approval for Impossible’s genetically engineered soy leghemoglobin, indicating the possibility of an upcoming commercial launch in these countries. In the Middle East, the company debuted its flagship burger product at the Dubai World Expo as well as menus of select restaurants. Impossible also sells its products in the U.S, Hong Kong, Singapore and Canada.

While burgers may be a mainstay for this plant-based company, Impossible Foods is no stranger to branching out. In the U.S., its product portfolio includes sausage as well as recently-launched chicken nuggets, which appeared on U.S. shelves in September. Although chicken has become the latest battleground for plant-based meat with SPINS data showing that chicken nuggets have seen the most growth within that category, the overall plant-based market continues to grow rapidly.

Over half (57%) of U.S. households now purchase plant-based meat and the market has grown 45% compared to 2019. Plant-based protein products now represent 2.7% of all U.S. retail packaged meat sales at a value of $1.4 billion, according to SPINS data. Worldwide, growth is just as impressive. Bloomberg Intelligence reported that the global plant protein market, which sat at $29.4 billion in 2020, could surpass $162 billion by 2030, a figure that would represent 7.7% of the global protein market.

Impossible Foods is clearly tapping into this enormous global market, but in addition to regulatory hurdles, the company will face stiff competition from a variety of competitors, some of which are more established and have cultivated the brand recognition that Impossible Foods benefits from in its home territory.