Beyond Meat goes beyond burgers with scientifically engineering plant-based sausage product

David Pan USA TODAY

Published 1:15 p.m. UTC Jul 20, 2018

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — The bratwurst sizzles, oozes juice and has the right touch of saltiness and chewiness — but isn't made out of meat.

Sausage has joined hamburgers as products being made by Beyond Meat, one of the companies at the forefront of scientifically engineering plant-based foods to bring them closer to the taste, aroma and texture of real meat than was possible before.

Reporters got a chance to sample the products Thursday as Beyond Meat opened a new research and development center here on the outskirts of Los Angeles. The goal, executives said, was to even further improve the taste of its products.

"What we're doing here is bringing together the great scientists in the world, best engineers in the world, the best managers in the world and giving them a single task: Understanding meat better than anybody else and building that meat directly from plants," said CEO Ethan Ryan. "We will reset human history where we no longer need to use the animal to grow a piece of meat."

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Beyond Meat isn't alone. A rival, Impossible Foods, is among those also in the same race. It announced earlier this year that its patties would be available in 140 White Castle eateries.

But Beyond Meat, which has its fake hamburger in select supermarkets across the country, has some impressive backing. It boasts of investors include Leonardo DiCaprio and business tech legends like Bill Gates; Twitter co-founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams and venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins.

While veggie patties have been around for years, the scientifically engineered meat business aims to go far deeper into trying to recreate the juiciness and taste of real beef.

To do it, scientists collect the aroma of steaks and analyze the molecules that generate the scent. Then they come up with substitutes. One surprising source as a substitute for that sizzling fat: parsley, said Daniel Ryan, the company's director of chemistry.

For color, the lab uses deep red powder extracted from beets to give the product a more natural appearance. Yet through lab work, the beet flavor isn't passed through.

Ingredients like coconut oil and potato starch make the burgers juicy.

The firm said its products do not contain soy, gluten or genetically modified organisms. Besides beef-like burgers, Beyond Meat's is displaying sausages, frozen chicken strips and beef crumbles on its website. The big seller remains burgers, which it said are in more than 10,000 grocery stores, from Whole Foods Market to Kroger.

“It is really around taste. We have to make these products taste great and give amazing experience, so people are drawn to it,” Brown said. “They choose it as a new form of meat rather than feeling obligated to have it.”

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