US plant-based leader Impossible Foods has unveiled its first new product of 2025, Steak Bites, which it describes as its “meatiest” innovation.
Joining the ranks of its fellow meat-free innovators, Impossible Foods has introduced its first steak product, a pre-cooked offering with 80% less saturated fat than beef flank.
The new Steak Bites SKU was unveiled at the ongoing Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California (March 5-7), and is rolling out at grocery stores across the US for $8.99 per 10oz pack. It will also be made available to restaurants in the months ahead.
Impossible Foods is positioning its steak as a marker of the “unparalleled acceleration” of its R&D capabilities, leveraging its flavour and ingredient science and innovative methods to create what the company says is its “meatiest” product ever released.
Aside from taste and texture, it’s going big on nutrition, reflecting two of its biggest marketing priorities in recent months. The Steak Bites contain 21g of protein per serving (from soybeans), 3g of fibre, and just 0.5g of saturated fat, and are rich in iron, B vitamins, and calcium. This will appeal to the 65% of Americans who eat plant-based foods because they’re healthy.
Can Impossible steak beat its rivals?
Impossible Foods is far from the first company to offer a meat-free steak analogue to Americans. Companies like Chunk Foods, Juicy Marbles, Tender Food, Meati, The Better Meat Co, and Beyond Meat are some of the leading innovators in this space.
The latter would likely be its closest competitor, which offers similar pre-cooked steak chunks. While Beyond Meat’s steak uses a base of faba bean protein and wheat protein, Impossible Foods’s version centred around its trademark soy protein isolate. But both companies are likely to raise questions from those looking for shorter ingredient lists, since the products contain over 20 ingredients (though many of those are nutrients to fortify the meat alternatives).
That said, Impossible Foods promises to be the best of the lot, suggesting that its steak bites “significantly outperform the competition” when it comes to flavour and texture. It offers consumers a “juicy, savoury” experience, including a “tender, fine-grained texture” akin to the muscle structures found in animal-derived meat.
“Our steak bites are first and foremost delicious,” says CEO Peter McGuinness. “They’re also packed with protein, no cholesterol, and less saturated fat versus the animal. You’re not going to find a better plant-based steak option than that.”
He adds: “It’s a real testament to our advancements in R&D. Achieving the right balance of amazing taste and great nutritional value is what people want and need, whether you’re a meat-eater or not.”
The Impossible steak comes pre-seasoned, and can be prepared on the stovetop or – meeting today’s at-home cooking trends – in the air fryer. The brand is hoping that this will widen appeal to consumers with busy weeknight schedules, as well as the steak-and-eggs-for-breakfast crowd.
In addition to the taste and nutrition virtues, the Steak Bites come with environmental benefits – they use 94% less land and water, and generate 93% fewer emissions than a conventional sirloin steak.
‘Animal-free’ label in spotlight amid FDA guidance
The product launch comes amid a heightened backlash against ultra-processed foods (UPFs) – and by extension, plant-based meat – in the US. With Robert F Kennedy Jr now part of the Trump administration, these foods are set to face even more scrutiny, given the new health secretary had promised to ban UPFs in schools.
Amid the fallout, some of the country’s biggest UPF producers are facing a false marketing lawsuit, and California is figuring out the best way to crack down on these products. At the same time, annual sales of meat analogues continued to fall in 2024, with the decline remaining around 9% throughout the year. And now, there’s a new Non-UPF Verified certification for companies looking to capitalise on this shift.
Speaking of which, labelling is in focus for plant-based producers. The FDA’s latest guidance suggests companies can use terms like ‘burgers’ and ‘steak’, with ingredient-focused qualifiers like ‘soy-based nuggets’ preferred over descriptors such as ‘meat-free’.
The FDA’s proposed guidance is in the public consultation stage, but the recommendation that ‘meat-free’ should be used in conjunction with the source ingredient is noteworthy – Impossible Foods’s Steak Bites feature an ‘animal-free’ label next to its ‘Meat from Plants’ phrase on the front of the pack, a first for the company.
With consumers increasingly averse to terms like ‘vegan’ and ‘plant-based’, it could prove to be an interesting move for a product charting new territory for what is a well-established brand. According to Impossible Foods, it is the US’s leading plant-based company in the foodservice channel, and ranks second in terms of retail share.
To accelerate this growth, it recently hired Meredith Madden as its new chief demand officer. A former Chobani exec and most recently CEO of The Kraft Heinz Not Company, she is overseeing Impossible Foods’s sales, product and marketing operations, and has been given a mandate to “galvanise and simplify the company’s commercial operations”.
“It’s no secret this category has its share of challenges, but we’re building a team that is truly up for fighting the good fight. I’m really excited and proud Meredith is on our team,” McGuinness said.
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