From a behavioural science perspective, much of Impossible Foods’ success can be attributed to their deep understanding of consumers’ behavioural drivers. Studying their case, we have identified four main learnings that could inspire brands willing to explore plant-based opportunities: a bold behavioural mission, a decoding of consumer trade-offs, a development strategy focused on the number one choice driver: taste and finally, a behaviourally informed marketing strategy.

1. A bold behavioural mission that defines the target in behavioural terms:

CEO Patrick Brown chose an incredibly difficult yet promising mission: changing the behaviour of eating meat by having meat-eaters switch to a plant-based alternative that delivers a like-for-like meat experience, without compromise. To achieve this, he defined the target market in behavioural terms (what people do), not attitudinal (what people say), knowing that there were a broad range of behaviours related to meat reduction.

He did not design “just another veggie burger” selling products for vegetarians/vegans, who are already happy with their current protein substitutes. They do not really seek a product mimicking meat, as they do not eat meat at all. Besides, vegans/vegetarians account for only 6% of the American market – far too niche.[2]

Nor did he simply target the “flexitarian” consumers, who choose to reduce the frequency of meat consumption. Flexitarians occasionally replace meat with plant-based substitutes, but often prefer adding sophisticated veggie recipes in their diet, including some with animal proteins (cheese, eggs). In this way, they compensate for the loss of meat in their diets by some kind of pleasurable, yet different, alternatives.

Instead, Patrick Brown has chosen to crack the biggest challenge: have the 94% of Americans that eat meat switch their meat consumption to a new generation of plant-based substitutes. By seeking an alternative that meat lovers would consider as good as the best meats, he addressed the biggest market—both in terms of penetration and repeat purchase. By making it fruitless for flexitarians to deprive themselves, he captured most of the existing meat-eating moments before they are reduced or removed from practice.

And so far, Impossible Foods’ mission of changing eating behaviour has been successful: 72% of their sales replace would-be meat purchases. This means that when people buy Impossible products, they don’t buy it in addition to buying meat—they buy it instead of meat, thus reducing meat consumption.

2. Understanding consumer trade-offs to guide switch strategy:

Barriers towards veggie substitutes, as well as craving factors for meat

Before Impossible Foods’ launch, research suggested that there were several barriers that prevented meat-eaters from consuming existing plant-based products. Explicit barriers were predominantly: a fear of a tasteless or bland product, a premium price compared to meat, some inconvenience of preparing the food, doubts about unknown ingredients, and believing there was not enough protein in the veggie substitute.

Observation reveals other barriers, such as the fear of social judgement when asking for a “veggie” version (and being assimilated into a marginal group disrupting social conventions ^[3]). Or simply the lack of visual and sensorial appeal of the food-form in store, or when cooking it, compared to animal meat.

However, in order to create a competitive alternative that would delight meat users, you also need to understand the deep motivators that make meat lovers crave their “meat moments”. What are the intrinsic cues of the product (aspect, smell, preparation etc.) that help judge or anticipate the quality of the product? What are the occasions, the contextual cues sublimating the tasting experience (recipes, places, names)? Because if you want to compete with meat, you need to understand what drives its appeal in the various contexts, from the store to the plate.

Acknowledging that taste is both the primary barrier to eating existing meat substitutes and the primary reason why people crave meat was pivotal beyond what people claim about their interest in sustainability or more balanced diets. Starting with a minced beef patty was also a way to attack the mainstream market in the US, with an iconic tasty recipe: the burger is a staple of American cuisine.

3. A product development strategy focused on cracking the primary choice driver:

A product that tastes like meat

Once Impossible Foods chose taste as its core mission, they dedicated all their product development towards this goal. Not an easy choice, as we have seen various plant-based players following different paths in alternative categories, making choices such as developing more nutritionally balanced products or valorising some healthy or protein-rich ingredients.

Improving veggie-burgers is not a difficult task, but by concentrating on improving an already undesired category by meat eaters would have been to choose the wrong benchmark. Impossible Foods chose to beat meat. They did not try to develop a nutritionally advanced product at the same time, as these two objectives would have clashed.

Impossible Foods’ teams are at ease with having a long ingredient list, simply because that is what it takes to make plant-based ingredients taste as good as meat. The nutritional elements do however meet the minimum standards that consumers expect from a meat substitute: the same amount of protein, but no cholesterol and fewer calories.

To recreate the taste of meat, Impossible’s teams spent their research and development time on perfecting heme, an ingredient from plants that mimics the savoury nature of animal blood. They added natural ingredients to give a bright red colour that resembles raw meat and which turns naturally brown when cooked.

They packaged their product in transparent wrapping, exactly like meat and designed the product to look, bleed, smell, and cook like meat. All aspects of the product delivered on the promise of taste at first sight: the packaging, the product and the name itself—“Impossible”—dramatizing the promise of an incredible taste experience.