Plant-based meat producer Impossible Foods is teaming up with a number of celebrity chefs and their restaurants to kick off its expansion into Canada.
The company is already established in some Asian regions, but the latest foray closer to home will make Canada the company's second-largest market outside of the U.S.
"There's been a cry for us to eventually serve this market," David Lee, CFO of Impossible Foods, told Cheddar on Wednesday.
Impossible Foods claims the vast majority of its customers are meat-eaters, and it works hard to make its products accessible to them.
"Nine out of 10 of our customers are self-avowed carnivores, and that means where they go is where we need to be," Lee said. "You've seen us increase our retail grocery business from 150 locations at the start of the year to over 10,000 today, and launch our own direct-to-consumer business because that's what the meat-eater demands."
So far this year, Impossible Foods has secured deals with major grocery store chains like Walmart, Trader Joe's, and Publix.
While plant-based competitor Beyond Meat plans to open a production facility in Shanghai, Lee says he doesn't consider the company to be its main rival.
"We believe our competition is actually meat made from an animal," Lee said. "The market opportunity for this trillion-plus dollar meat industry is one where there are plenty of room for a rising tide of great brands."
While Impossible Foods doesn't currently have its own presence on mainland China, the company has entered Asian markets like Hong Kong, Singapore, and Macau.
"We wanted to start in the places that are known for being gateways to the rest of Asia," Lee said.
"It's an important market and we will be there eventually."
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
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Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
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Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
Cracker Barrel is sticking with its new logo. For now. But the chain is also apologizing to fans who were angered when the change was announced last week.
Elon Musk on Monday targeted Apple and OpenAI in an antitrust lawsuit alleging that the iPhone maker and the ChatGPT maker are teaming up to thwart competition in artificial intelligence.
