Impossible Foods reduces prices of plant-based meat products by 20% at US grocery stores

Impossible Foods has announced its plan to cut down prices of its plant-based meat offerings by 20% at grocery stores across the US.

In the upcoming weeks, the suggested retail prices for Impossible’s meat-free patties would drop to $5.49 from $6.99, and 12-ounce package to $6.99 from $8.99 in 17,000 stores.

Besides the domestic market, the plant-based meat maker intends to implement similar price cuts in overseas markets, such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Canada.

Impossible Foods plans to increase the production of its plant-based meat patties to meet the growing demand of consumers, who are increasingly concerned about health, animal slaughter and the environmental impact due to consumption of meat-based diets.

The announcement by the company on 2 February comes following a similar price cut it made for restaurant distributors in 2020 and again in January.

This move is the firm’s latest effort to achieve price parity with meat products.

In the last one year, the count of retail outlets selling Impossible Foods’ products grew by 113 times.

Covid-19 outbreaks led to the temporary closure of meatpacking facilities, which increased consumer demand for plant-based products.

Meanwhile, a US congressional panel is probing into three meatpackers –  JBS USA, Tyson Foods Inc and Smithfield Foods for any possible worker violations after reports emerged that several industry workers died due to Covid-19.

The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis of the House of Representatives asked these firms to submit records of inspections, complaints and internal documents.

The committee also urged the workplace safety watchdog, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to submit records of its efforts to implement stringent safety rules for industry workers.

About 54,000 workers from 569 meatpacking plants tested Covid-19 positive and around 270 died due to the infection, according to a letter by James Clyburn, who chairs this panel.