ENCORE: Beyond Meat vs Impossible Burger | Break from the Herd | 4

Summary

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Business Wars – ENCORE: Beyond Meat vs Impossible Burger | Break from the Herd | Episode 4

Host: David Brown (Wondery)
Date: January 7, 2026
Theme:
This episode chronicles the embattled state of the plant-based meat industry in the 2020s, focusing on Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods. The companies wrestle with plummeting sales, bruising PR crises, changing leadership, and the struggle to rebrand their products—and the entire sector—as healthy, mainstream alternatives rather than niche, “woke” options. The narrative reveals the high-stakes pivots and personal dramas behind the scenes as both brands try to survive the fight against Big Beef—and each other.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Celebrity Campaigns & PR Setbacks

Timestamp: 00:00–03:25

• Kim Kardashian’s Endorsement: Beyond Meat launches a major ad campaign with Kim Kardashian as “Chief Taste Consultant.”
  • The campaign backfires when social media users accuse Kardashian, in her Instagram video, of fake-eating the product:

    “Fans quickly pointed out she never takes an actual bite of the food” (01:26, Entertainment Tonight recap).

  • Kardashian’s PR response is to let the controversy simmer before releasing behind-the-scenes footage showing her genuinely eating, generating a second wave of attention (02:28).
  • Notable quote from Kardashian’s posted video:

    “Guys, come on.” (03:17)

Key Takeaway:

Celebrity endorsements require careful handling; mishaps can go viral but can also be spun for renewed publicity.

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2. Retail Relationships and Setbacks

Timestamp: 03:25–08:22

• Beyond Meat’s McDonald’s Dream: CEO Ethan Brown visits a McDonald’s location testing the “McPlant.” Staff report strong sales (about 70-80 per day), fueling Brown’s optimism (06:00).
• Reality Check: McDonald’s USA President Joe Erlinger calls to discontinue the McPlant in U.S. stores—national sales were disappointing (06:43).

  • “I just don’t think the US consumer… is coming to McDonald’s looking for a McPlant or other plant-based proteins.” – Joe Erlinger (06:49)

• McPlant remains on menus in Europe, providing some consolation.

Key Takeaway:

Promising anecdotes from the field don’t always match aggregate national data; major partnerships can evaporate quickly, threatening strategic visions.

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3. Scandal and Turmoil in Leadership

Timestamp: 08:22–11:00

• Beyond Meat Executive Meltdown: Doug Ramsey, a top exec, is arrested after biting another man’s nose in a parking garage dispute post-football game.
  • Dramatic description of Ramsey’s loss of control and subsequent battery charge.
• Layoffs and Restructuring: Beyond Meat, in the wake of a $100 million failed jerky venture with PepsiCo, prepares to lay off 19% of staff to save $39 million/year (10:45).
  • Ramsey is ultimately fired.

Key Takeaway:

Leadership instability—especially involving public scandal—can accelerate company turmoil in times of financial stress.

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4. Impossible Foods’ Internal Transitions

Timestamp: 11:00–15:45

• Pat Brown Steps Down: Founder Pat Brown passes the CEO role to Peter McGinnis (formerly Chobani). Pat shifts focus and ultimately takes a leave to pursue environmental research (13:40).

  • New Vision: Pat Brown launches the Impossible Foundation to study converting cattle ranches to carbon-capturing forests and offset credits.

  • “My belief is that ranchers could make more money selling carbon offsets…than by raising cattle.” – Pat Brown (14:34)

• Layoffs at Impossible: Two rounds of layoffs and exec churn shake the company.

Key Takeaway:

As the plant-based sector matures and faces setbacks, its founders shift from visionary leadership to experimental activism, while new leadership tries to steady the brand.

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5. Beyond Burger 4 Launch & Nutritional Rebrand

Timestamp: 15:45–19:12

• Development Hurdles: Ethan Brown and nutritionist Joy Bauer taste-test the in-development Beyond Burger 4 (“the healthiest ever”). Initial feedback is lukewarm, with a 7.5/10 score.

  • “Well Ethan, this is not perfect.” – Joy Bauer (16:31)

  • “The biggest reason more people aren’t eating plant based meat…is because of health questions.” – Ethan Brown (16:31)

  • Aim: Simpler ingredients, reduced saturated fat (using avocado oil), better health messaging.

• Ad Campaign: Beyond Meat pivots its narrative to stress health and environmental benefits, showing scenes of agriculture and highlighting ingredient transparency.

Key Takeaway:

Consumers’ concerns about processing and healthiness are at the core of plant-based meat’s image dilemma. The solution is transparent messaging and product reformulation.

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6. Impossible’s “Anti-Woke” Rebrand

Timestamp: 19:12–25:47

• CEO Peter McGinnis’ Critical Meeting: Declares an end to the “woke,” elitist, climate-warrior positioning of plant-based meat, which he believes alienated mainstream America:

  • “There was a wokeness, there was a coastalness, there was an elitism to it…That pissed off most Americans.” – McGinnis (21:01)

  • Focus pivots to “flexitarians” (those who occasionally eat plant-based).

• New Messaging:

  • “We need to go from insulting to inviting.” – McGinnis (22:24)
  • Rebrands Impossible with bold, "muscular" packaging and mainstream messaging.

Key Takeaway:

Plant-based brands are moving away from activist, climate-forward branding to more inclusive, direct appeals to general consumers, especially meat eaters.

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7. Beyond Meat Doubles Down on Health and Environment

Timestamp: 25:47–27:30

• Ethan Brown’s Voiceover for New Campaign:

  • “By increasing plant-based food consumption, you are focused on the single most powerful tool our global society has to preserve our planet, take control over our health, and support the welfare of the rest of life on this beautiful earth.” – Ethan Brown (26:07)

  • Beyond Burger 4 launches, endorsed by health associations.

Key Takeaway:

Clear, values-driven messaging—re-envisioned for a mainstream health lens—becomes the core differentiator for Beyond Meat.

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8. Pat Brown’s “Ranch Redemption” Project

Timestamp: 27:30–30:31

• On their Arkansas ranch, Pat Brown and students plant trees where cattle once roamed, aiming to prove the financial and ecological value of converting ranches to carbon sinks.

  • “This ranch is a demonstration project. We’re using it to show environmental and economic good can come when you stop cattle ranching and restore the native ecosystem.” – Pat Brown (28:03)

• Pat fully transitions to research, hoping to create a new, more climate-positive model for land use.

Key Takeaway:

Plant-based pioneers begin to shift from market-based activism to scientific demonstration projects, attempting to prove new economic and environmental models.

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9. Impossible’s Meat-Lover Rebrand Goes Public

Timestamp: 30:31–33:00

• Met Gala Product Placement: Impossible Foods leverages celebrity cachet with product sampling at a high-profile Pre-Met Gala event.
• Launch of New Ad Campaign: TV spots feature a burly, mustachioed man declaring, “Meat has problems and it’s going to take us meat eaters to solve them” (32:25), literally punching through traditional beef products.

  • “World, we should eat more [meat], because now we can turn plants into burgers and hot dogs.” (32:33)

  • Tagline: “Meat from plants.”
• Labels change to ‘blood red’ with grill marks, minimizing the ‘save the climate’ messaging.

Key Takeaway:

Both Impossible and Beyond aggressively court mainstream meat consumers, even as Impossible discards eco-friendly messaging for macho, indulgent branding.

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10. Calls for Unity & The Struggle Ahead

Timestamp: 33:00–End

• Industry Real Talk:

  • Impossible CEO McGinnis and Ethan Brown call for less inter-brand rivalry and unified resistance to Big Beef (33:20).
  • Both companies continue to burn cash and struggle for profitability; Impossible hints at openness to acquisition.
  • Critics question if the plant-based “craze” is over, while both brands argue their strongest days are ahead.

• Final Reflection:

  • Will plant-based meat fade as a fad, or “die on the vine,” or will it be future food’s foundation?

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On viral missteps:

  “Kim Kardashian starts some Internet beef. It’s so crazy over how she eats fake meat.” – Entertainment Tonight (01:26)

• On leaving the old vision behind:

  “That’s what plant Based Meat has been and that’s not what we’re going to be anymore.” – Peter McGinnis (21:01)

• On the ‘fight back’ spirit:

  “It’s time that we fight back against Big Beef’s propaganda campaign.” – Ethan Brown (18:44)

• On inviting meat eaters:

  “We need to go from insulting to inviting.” – Peter McGinnis (22:24)

• On the state of the industry:

  “Both companies are burning cash and losing money, and some think their industry is just a fading fad.” – David Brown (33:23)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:00–03:25 – Kim Kardashian campaign mishap and response
• 05:33–06:49 – Ethan learns McPlant will be discontinued stateside
• 08:22–11:00 – Doug Ramsey nose-biting incident and Beyond’s layoffs
• 13:40–15:20 – Pat Brown’s environmental carbon project begins
• 15:55–17:07 – Beyond Burger 4 taste test with Joy Bauer
• 19:12–22:24 – Impossible Foods’ “anti-woke” internal pivot meeting
• 25:47–26:42 – Ethan Brown’s new campaign voiceover
• 27:30–30:31 – Pat Brown’s ranch carbon capture demonstration
• 31:01–33:00 – Impossible’s new “meat from plants” ad at Met Gala
• 33:00–End – Ongoing financial struggles, calls for unity, open questions about plant-based meat’s future

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Summary

This episode offers a vivid, sometimes wryly humorous look at the inside fractures, reinventions, and existential struggles of two companies—and a whole industry—once hailed as the future of food. As glossy celebrity endorsements fall flat, executive scandals press headlines, and plant-based messaging pivots dramatically from eco-activism to mainstream muscle, Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods chart uncertain paths for survival, racing to see if they can convince America’s flexitarians—and its meat lovers—to put something new at the center of their plate. Whether these brands will remain rivals, merge forces, or wither altogether is left an open question, but not without a fighting spirit.

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Transcript

[A]

This series Originally aired in 2024. It's May 2022. El Segundo, California. In his office meeting with Beyond Meat's marketing team, 51 year old Ethan Brown hovers his finger over the play button on a video. The clip is the final cut of a new Beyond Meat online ad. The ad features an endorsement from a big celebrity who once broke the Internet, Kim Kardashian.

[B]

I believe so much in the mission of Beyond Meat that I've stepped in to help with my greatest asset, my taste. This plant based meat is not only amazingly delicious, but it's also better for you and better for the planet. It's a simple change that makes a really big difference. And now that I'm Beyond Meat's chief taste consultant, there's never been a better time to go beyond.

[A]

Ethan and his team. Team exchange high fives.

[C]

This is phenomenal, guys. Great work.

[A]

When the ad debuts in late May, Beyond Meat is racking up debt and bleeding cash. It hopes Kardashian can stem the bleeding. But when the ad debuts on Kardashian's Instagram, some of her hundreds of millions of followers think they've caught her fake chewing the faux meat. And that makes news.

[B]

At Entertainment Tonight, Kim Kardashian starts some Internet beef. It's so crazy over how she eats fake meat. And while Kim is chewing and holding that burger in the ad, fans quickly pointed out she never takes an actual bite of the food.

[A]

While most people would bask in the free publicity with arguably one of the biggest celebrities on the planet, Ethan is less than impressed with the negative conversation around the beyond brand. As the controversy heats up, he meets again with his marketing team. He's tired of bad news surrounding Beyond Meat. Its stock has cratered in the past year and its sales have suffered as inflation has risen and consumers have shunned pricey plant based meats. Ethan wants his team to squash the Kardashian story.

[C]

Guys, don't we have any film of Kim eating our products?

[A]

Yeah, Ethan, we got a bunch of outtakes from the ad shoot and we're already putting those together. But Kim also made a suggestion. She says we shouldn't post the behind the scenes footage of her eating for a couple more days.

[C]

Why would we do that? We need to prove that she ate this stuff and prove it now.

[A]

Now Kim says we ought to let the bad press on this bill for a while. Then we'll get another wave of attention when we post a follow up video. Ethan scratches his bearded chin and ponders Kardashian strategy. He decides to trust her instincts for publicity. Days later, when the outtakes go online, the Today show is among the media outlets who cover the story, just as Kardashian expected they might.

[B]

All right, next up, Kim Kardashian. The reality star is clapping back after receiving criticism online for her recent campaign with Beyond Meat.

[A]

So here we go.

[B]

Roll the tape. Here it is. She says to prove the haters wrong, she shared behind the scenes footage from shooting that commercial. You can see her happily chowing down on their burgers, vegetarian meatballs, and so much more. Kim simply captioning the video. Guys, come on. So there you go, Internet. You don't have to believe everything you see in those comments. There you go.

[A]

She ate it. Ethan finally has a morsel of good news to chew on. But in the coming weeks, he'll have more distasteful news to digest. First from his partners at McDonald's, and then from his own Beyond Meat team, one of whom is about to take a bite out of someone's face. From wondery, I'm david brown, and this is business wars. In our last episode, Big Beef blitzed plant based meats with an attack ad during the Super Bowl. And as the industry scrambled to respond, consumer concerns over the healthiness of fake meat slammed both Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods to the turf. Now, as debts mount and sales slump, both companies will have to come up with a game plan for layoffs and leadership changes. At Pat Brown's Impossible Foods, a new CEO will rewrite the branding playbook. And at Beyond Meat, Ethan Brown will launch a brand new burger recipe that he hopes will score by making a promise. Big Beef can't. It's good for you. This is episode four, break from the Herd. It's June, 2022. At lunchtime, inside a bustling McDonald's in Chicago, Ethan Brown waits in line. The location is one of 600 McDonald's stores that's test marketing the McPlant made with a Beyond Meat burger. When Ethan reaches the counter, a young worker in a blue and yellow apron greets him. Hey, welcome to McDonald's. Can I take your order?

[C]

Yes, I'll have two McPlants, please.

[A]

Okay, two McPlants. Would you like fries with that?

[C]

No, thank you. Just the burgers.

[A]

A minute later, the cashier turns to pick up two McPlants that have just been placed on a warming tray behind him. Ethan decides not to identify himself as the CEO of Beyond Meat, the company that supplies the patties that are in the McPlant. The cashier puts the McPlants into a bag and hands them to Ethan who swipes his card to pay.

[C]

Hey, just curious, are you selling a lot of these McPlants?

[A]

Yeah, I heard the manager say we're moving like 70 to 80 a day. Ethan thanks the cashier and walks over to an empty booth. As he digs into lunch, he makes a mental note of the sales number. It's a big one and Ethan hopes other stores where the McPlant is being test marketed are having the same success. But a few weeks later, back in his office in Southern California, Ethan gets a call from McDonald's USA President Joe Erlinger. The 40 something year old executive who has been with McDonald's for two decades doesn't have good news. Ethan, we've been testing the McPlant for a while now and unfortunately customers haven't responded.

[C]

Really? But I was just in a Chicago location and the cashier there said sales had been strong.

[A]

Now maybe that was an outlier Ethan, because overall sales weren't what we were hoping for. I just don't think the US consumers coming to McDonald's looking for a McPlant or other plant based proteins. They're looking for great french fries, they're looking for a meal deal, they're looking for a hot fresh burger. So I'm afraid to tell you we're going to discontinue the test marketing and pull the McPlant. Ethan disappointedly sets the receiver down on his desk for a moment. Working with McDonald's was his dream from the beginning of Beyond Meat. He assured some of his earliest investors that his plant based meats would someday be sold under the golden arches. Suddenly Ethan realizes Erlinger is still talking and lifts the receiver up again. Anyway, it's not all bad. The McPlant is selling well in Europe and we're going to keep it on menus there. When Ethan hangs up, he rubs his eyebrows in disappointment. Losing us McDonald's locations is a big blow and a bad time. The overall plant based meat market has started to contract. Even so, sales are up at rival Impossible Foods whose Impossible Whoppers are still sold at Burger King franchises. And as if that wasn't enough, one of the executives who Ethan has hired to boost his burgers fortunes is about to commit a serious personal foul. It's a Saturday night, September 2022, Fayetteville, Arkansas. 53 year old beyond Meat executive Doug Ramsey watches on as the Arkansas Razorbacks football team enters the fourth quarter losing to underdog Missouri State. But a punt return is about to change all that. Here's Bryce Stevens Trying to find a hole.

[B]

Makes a few men miss.

[A]

Turns the corner and he's gone. Bryce Stevens 80 yard touchdown fires Arkansas in front. 20 minutes later, the game is over and Arkansas has won. Beyond Meats Doug Ramsey heads for the parking garage of the jam packed stadium. Ramsey worked for Arkansas based chicken giant Tyson Foods for three decades before being lured away to plant based Beyond Meat. He hoists himself into his Ford Bronco. He uses the rear view mirror to check out his crew cut. Then he backs out and tries to join a slow snaking line of cars that are heading for the exit. But a Subaru outmaneuvers him. Ramsay thinks the wheel of his Bronco has been clipped by the Subaru. What the hell? You son of a. Without shutting off his Bronco, Ramsey hops out. He pounds on the back of the Subaru. You hit my car. Ramsey punches the back windshield. His fist goes through the glass. A passenger in the Subaru gets out. He's a 20 something pharmacy school student at the University of Arkansas and he can't believe what he's just watched Ramsay do. What's the matter with you? You broke our damn windshield. Ramsey charges the Subaru's passenger. The two exchange blows. Then Ramsey grabs the passenger and pulls him closer. With their faces just inches apart, Ramsey bites the Subaru passenger's nose, ripping the flesh from the skin. Police arrive to find both men covered in blood. Hey. Break it up. Ramsey is arrested and charged with battery. Three days later, back at Beyond Meat's headquarters, Ethan Brown paces in his brick walled office as he meets with his top human resources official.

[C]

Look, if we let Dave go, we're going to have a problem. He was an outstanding professional when we hired him. And Dave came here to help us quicken the pace of getting to price parity with animal protein. With inflation out of control, the cost of our product is giving consumers a reason to choose the animal.

[A]

So you want to let Dave stay in his job? Ethan stares down at his black sneakers.

[C]

No. We'll suspend him.

[A]

Ethan slumps down dejectedly into his office chair. Ramsey's employment status isn't the only one up for grabs at Beyond Meat today. The troubled company, which recently absorbed a $100 million loss from making plant based beef jerky for PepsiCo, is also planning a major layoff for next month. It's letting go of 19% of its workers. The HR executive flips through some papers looking for the latest projected cost savings from the upcoming layoffs. So Ethan, it looks like these layoffs will save us 39 million bucks over the next year, Ethan begrudgingly approves the cuts he needs to trim all the fat he can find if Beyond Meat is going to survive. And in October, Beyond Meat announces those layoffs. They also decide to permanently fire Dave Ramsey. It's a rough moment, but Beyond Meat won't be alone in watching workers walk out the door. It's November 2022 inside Impossible Foods Lab. Pat Brown takes off his white lab coat and drapes it over a rolling stool. Pat is usually happiest here in the Lab, but the 68 year old founder of Impossible Foods isn't feeling it today. Pat picks up a nearby phone and dials an executive named Peter McGinnis. Hey Pat, what's up? Yeah, have you got a minute? I need to talk. Pat heads through the corridors at Impossible Foods on his way to McGinnis office. Months earlier it was Pat's office, but in March, Pat decided to step down as CEO and hand that job to McGinnis, the former head of yogurt maker Chobani. Pat's been working in the lab ever since McGinnis came on board, but now he's rethinking his role. Pat arrives as McGinnis is reviewing a stack of financial statements. The 52 year old suburban Chicago native, whose family later moved to the Jersey Shore, is a branding savant with a scruffy brown beard. He's wearing a gray trucker's hat with a word Impossible written on it in red block letters. Wisps of brown hair peek out from underneath the hat. Pat takes a seat on the other side of McGinnis's desk. Sorry to bother you, Peter, but I want to make a change to my position here. McGinnis is surprised. He takes off his hat and runs his hand through his messy hair. Look, Pat, I know we've had a lot of change around here. We had two rounds of layoffs in 2022 and a bunch of executives have left on their own. I know that's been hard. Yeah, really hard. But it's also hard knowing that our investors ought to be backing trucks up to our headquarters loaded with billion dollar bills so we can achieve our mission to save the planet. But they aren't. So what do you want to do? Pat leans forward and puts his arms on his knees. Well, you know how I authored a study earlier this year about how raising cattle is a crappy business to be in? With the very low dollar yield per acre and all my belief is that ranchers could make more money selling carbon offsets to companies who were trying to go carbon neutral. You mean some big industrial company might pay these ranchers to plant a bunch of trees to offset the CO2 the the company's kicking out of its smokestacks. Yeah, yeah, exactly. But the thing is that the market for selling carbon offsets as commodities is mostly hypothetical. I want to find a way to make it a reality. I want to prove that ranchers really can make more money by giving up their cows. McGinnis taps his finger on top of financial statements. Well, Impossible Foods is in a tricky financial position now. Patience. We're planning another big round of layoffs. You aren't proposing creating a new division here to research ranches, huh? No, no, no, no. I've started a non profit that can fund my research. It's called the Impossible foundation. And we've already bought a ranch in Arkansas. But I need time to think about this issue, so I'm going to take a leave of absence. McGinnis and Pat discuss timing and the two men agree that Pat will return in March 2023. And while Impossible Foods founder is out on the ranch, rivals at Beyond Meat are about to bet their future on a farm. It's early 2024 in El Segundo, California. Inside a high tech test kitchen at Beyond Me, Ethan Brown leads Joy Bauer, a nutritionist familiar to millions from her appearances on the Today show, toward a stainless steel top dining table. They pass by a green apron chef who's cooking up burger patties on a large griddle. Bauer pulls up a chair and Ethan sits next to her. Even seated, the 6 foot 5 Ethan dwarfs the 5 foot 1 Bauer.

[C]

You ready for this taste test? Joy?

[A]

You bet. Bauer has made the cross country trip from her home base in New Jersey to taste test the newest burger recipe from Beyond Meat, one that the company intends to be its healthiest ever offering. Bauer, along with other nutritionists, has played a lead role in its development. They call it the Beyond Burger 4. The chef pulls two patties off the griddle, places them on a plate and sets the plate down in front of Ethan and Bauer. The two carve forkfuls of burger off each patty and take a bite. Both make awkward faces.

[B]

Well Ethan, this is not perfect.

[C]

No. I'll give it a 7.5 out of 10. We've still got a long way to go, but we've got to get this right. The biggest reason more people aren't eating plant based meat in the US is because of health questions. Big Beef and their lobbyists have succeeded in creating a climate of misinformation that has poisoned the plant based meat well, but we can change that with beyond four and with your help getting the word out.

[A]

Ethan lifts a fava bean off the tray and casually flips it in the air.

[C]

Can I get a preview of what she'll say when we perfect this?

[A]

Bower smiles and goes into TV presentation mode.

[B]

The Beyond 4 has a simple list of ingredients. It's 21 grams of protein and it is processed foods. That's okay because Greek yogurt is processed. So is oatmeal, nut butter and high fiber cereal. But none of them have high levels of saturated fat, sodium or added sugar. And neither does beyond four. When you see what goes into it, you can't help but smile.

[A]

Perfect.

[C]

Combine that with the fact that we've always been cholesterol free and that we reduced saturated fat in this recipe by using avocado oil and we've got a winner. That is, once we get the flavor kinks worked out.

[A]

When Bauer departs, Ethan and his scientists get back to work on trying to get the Beyond 4 to earn her seal of approval. But even before they get the recipe right, Ethan will launch a counterattack on Big Beef. And not with a brand new product, but with a brand new message. It's summer 2023 at the headquarters of Beyond Meat. In a darkened conference room, Ethan Brown stands at the head of a table with a remote control in his hand. This is a big occasion and he's dressed a little more formally than normal. He's wearing a blue button down shirt and blue chinos. His red hair is parted on the right and swooped high over his forehead on the left. Ethan points the remote at a TV screen behind him and begins a pep talk to his marketing team and creatives from an ad agency that also works for the burger chain. Five guys, everyone.

[C]

It's time that we fight back against Big Beef's propaganda campaign. For years they've used op eds, attack ads and even a Super bowl commercial to claim that plant based meats are over processed and unhealthy. And I'll be honest, we didn't respond in the right way to those attacks. Now we will. It's time to show America that plant based meat is not only amazingly delicious, but compared to animal protein, it's also better for you and better for the planet.

[A]

Ethan hits play and the TV turns on, casting a white glow across the room. The screen shows a farm in North Dakota. A John Deere tractor pulls out of a barn. A pickup drives down a road between two fields. A farmer's boots tread through the dirt at Beyond Meat. Our story begins with sun, soil, water and a seed. It begins in fields where farmers plant our peas, fava beans and other legumes, crops that naturally enrich the soil by returning nutrients to the ground. The ad moves along to show the farmer inspecting a bucket full of pristine looking legumes. From these crops we get protein and run it through a simple and clean process of heating, cooling and pressure to form plant based meats that are better for you. Beyond Meat. There's goodness here. Come join us. Ethan walks to the other end of the table and hands the remote to one of the ad executives. The executive walks toward the TV and points the remote at it again. Ladies and gentlemen, here's our proposal for Beyond Steak. He hits play and an ad comes up with comedian Rizwan Manji having a conversation with an off screen narrator, Saturday Night Live's Chris Parnell, you, heart Healthy Beyond Steak. Now steak is good for you.

[B]

Wait, now steak tacos are good for me?

[A]

Well, the plant based Beyond Steak is.

[B]

Yes, even nachos are good for me.

[A]

They're better with Beyond Steak. But now Ch cheese steaks are good for me. Listen just beyond everything bad is good for me. Sorry, no. Just to be on steak. This changes everything about Steak. Ethan Brown shakes hands with his ad makers. They're ready to launch the new campaign. Ethan finally has new messaging in his battle with Big Beef and a new, healthier burger is just months away. But Impossible Foods is about to come up with a new message of its own. One that changes everything about the company and its mission. It's early December 2023. Redwood City, California. Top executives are gathering inside a conference room at Impossible Foods headquarters for a meeting with CEO Peter McGinnis. McGinnis stands in front of a whiteboard, tapping a dry erase marker against his palm as he waits for everyone to be seated. He's wearing his usual outfit jeans, a button down shirt and an Impossible Foods branded trucker hat. But despite his informal appearance, he has an important message to convey today. McGinnis turns to the whiteboard and writes down one word, which he spells out for the group woke. That's what plant Based Meat has been and that's not what we're going to be anymore. Stunned expressions come across the faces of several executives. One sheepishly raises his hand and interjects, I thought we were here today to talk about next year's rebranding campaign. McGinnis calmly sets the marker down on a conference table and pulls up a chair. We're months away from having the new packaging and advertising ready to go. But we can do one thing right now. We can start changing the way we approach our customers. And I'll tell you that the way plant based meats first approach customers was all wrong. This industry was founded by climate warriors and there was a wokeness to it. There was a coastalness to it, there was an elitism to it. This idea of saving the world by destroying the beef industry came at them from academia and you know that pissed off most Americans. McGinnis hasn't said the name of former CEO and academic Pat Brown, but he's come awfully close. And at least one longtime executive is confused. I'm sorry Peter, but I don't understand. I mean some people love our products. Early on we were flying off store shelves and even now we're the only brand growing in dollar and market share. McGinnis stands back up and returns to the whiteboard. He carefully writes out the word flexitarian. We've been growing, but mostly with vegans and vegetarians. They aren't enough. We need more flexitarians. McGinnis pulls off his trucker hat and tosses it on the table. Listen everyone, if you're going to ask people to give up one of the five or six burgers they have in a month, you better have an alternative for them that tastes great and that can overcome a lot of preconceptions. Lots of those are fed by the extremely powerful, well funded and coordinated animal industry. And I'm telling you, we can't overcome them by vilifying the meat eaters who we want as customers. We need to go from insulting to inviting. Well, that's a hell of a journey, Peter. I know. But we're about to take the first steps. Days later, McGinnis makes headlines when he repeats his anti woke message to a conference for advertisers and marketers. Impossible foods do good, Save the Planet Messaging is out. A muscular message quite literally is about to be in. It's February 2024 in California. Beyond Meat's 53 year old founder, Ethan Brown, puts on a pair of headphones inside a small recording studio. His red hair is slicked back and as flat as his company's stock price. Beyond Meat's revenues have sunk for two years running, but the company has just released its beyond four burger in stores. It's positioning the new burger as a much healthier but still tasty alternative to beef burgers, and it's proudly trumpeting product endorsements from dietitian and Today show star Joy Bauer as well as the American Diabetes association, the American Heart association and Good Housekeeping. Now Ethan wants to dramatically promote what he sees as a burger that not only benefits health, but also the entire planet. He stands in a voiceover booth with headphones on, waiting for the thumbs up from the engineer that they're rolling. The red light flashes and he begins speaking.

[C]

Several times a day we have a choice of what to put at the center of our plate. But what if something came along that gave you the chance to go beyond the status quo and truly choose for the future?

[A]

Ethan stopped speaking to make space for a clip of a speech he gave recently talking about what plant based foods can do for the world.

[C]

By increasing plant based food consumption, you are focused on the single most powerful tool our global society has to preserve our planet, take control over our health, and support the welfare of the rest of life on this beautiful earth.

[A]

Ethan stands up straight as he finishes reading his voiceover copy into the mic.

[C]

The Beyond Burger emits a fraction of the greenhouse gas emissions and requires dramatically less land than its animal based equivalent, providing an unprecedented opportunity to rewild these lands, bringing carbon out of the atmosphere and cooling our planet.

[A]

That's a wrap. Ethan takes off his headphones. He gives a thumbs up and flashes a smile to a Beyond Meat marketing executive who's been listening along. Their company remains in financial distress, but both believe that Beyond Meat's rebranding around health is now complete and that brighter days may lie ahead. What they don't know is that Impossible Foods founder Pat Brown has just embarked on a mission that has a very similar message. It's February 2024 in the small town of Emmett, Arkansas on the northern edge of a thousand acre ranch. Pat Brown uses a small shovel to stab into grass covered soil. The shovel barely penetrates the ground, so Pat stabs again and again until he finally opens a small hole. The 70 year old founder of Impossible Foods, who now has a wild mop of silver hair, uses the sleeve of his hoodie to wipe the sweat that's dripping from his forehead. He hands the shovel to a professional tree planter standing next to him. I don't know how you guys do this so fast. It's taking me forever to just dig one hole. The planter smiles at Pat and drops a pine tree seedling into the hole Pat just dug. Pat, a longtime Stanford researcher, turns to a group of students who've accompanied him here today and lectures them about what's going on. This ranch is a demonstration project. We're using it to show environmental and economic good can come when you stop cattle ranching and restore the native ecosystem on a piece of land. In 2022, when the nonprofit Impossible foundation, along with funding from Impossible Foods, bought this ranch, it had 550 heads of cattle and very few trees. Step one was to remove all the cows. Now we're planting trees. Pat picks up one of the seedlings that's laying on the ground and continues the lecture. We'll use these trees to capture carbon, and ideally we'll sell the carbon offset credits to businesses. One of the students raises his hand. Excuse me, Pat, but will you use this ranch to plant something that Impossible Foods can use in its products? Well, I'm no longer part of Impossible Foods other than serving on the board. I'm an academic again, so we're not growing anything for Impossible Foods. This ranch is just for research. Another student raises his hand. Pat, what do your fellow academics think of the hands on work you're doing here? Pat grins. They think I'm nuts. But that's okay. We're not going to begin to have meaningful results from this work of carbon capture for at least five years. At which point I'll be pushing 75 years old. I'll be a real geezer. But the fact that I'm not going to get answers right away just gives me a reason to get my ass in gear out here. Honestly, I can't think of anything more important to do with my time than this. I just hope I'm right about that. Pat picks up another shovel and struggles again to plant a seedling. And with their founder gone for good, Impossible Foods tries to grow bigger by getting beefier. And it will debut its new image at one of the most stylish events of the year. It's May 2024 in New York City. Celebrities abound inside the swanky Mark Hotel. It's the night of the annual Met Gala and the famous and fabulously dressed have gathered here for a pre event garden themed party. This year it's all about feeling one with the earth and Impossible Foods products are on the party menu. While photographers click pics of the celebrities, one of Impossible Foods marketing executives take snapshots of a plate of chicken nuggets. He's approached by a less famous party guest. Hey, are those chicken nuggets? It's plant based chicken actually, from Impossible Foods. The executive sticks a tiny party fork into one of the nuggets and offers it to the guest. They're delicious and today they're being served with a passion fruit barbecue sauce. Try one and don't miss the Impossible Sliders with brie and truffle aioli. The guest chomps happily away while just in the distance, an anchor for the E Television network begins broadcasting the red carpet pre show for the gala. A few minutes in, Impossible Foods gets a shout out.

[B]

The energy here, it's incredible. You never know when a celeb is gonna walk past. Wait, is that a slider? Okay, I'm gonna need one of those asap.

[A]

Asap.

[B]

And it's an Impossible slider. Even better.

[A]

As the anchor tries to take a bite of the slider, the Impossible Foods executive takes her picture. But as far as Impossible is concerned, the real star of the night isn't anyone from E. Or attendees like Zendaya Kim Kardashian and Bad Bunny. Instead, it's a barrel chested mustachioed man in a mid century style polo shirt. He's the centerpiece of a new ad that will air for the first time tonight during the pre show broadcast. It's all part of Impossible Foods brand new meat loving branding. Just weeks earlier, the company ditched its earth friendly green packaging and wrapped its burgers and chicken tenders and spicy sausages in blood red wrappers that feature pictures of plant based meats seared with grill marks. The idea was to downplay the company's save the climate past and send a message to meat lovers that plants are delicious too. And now Impossible has TV ads to match its beefier labels. When E throws to commercial, that ad begins with a mustachioed man barreling through a backyard barbecue knocking beef burgers out of guests hands. Listen up America.

[C]

Meat has problems and it's going to.

[A]

Take us meat eaters to solve them. So when the world says to too.

[C]

Much meat is bad and we should.

[B]

Eat less of it, we say no.

[A]

World, we should eat more because now we can turn plants into burgers and hot dogs. The mustachioed man smashes a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs onto the ground. Plants can be meat.

[B]

Come on people, let's punch cholesterol in the face.

[A]

The ad star runs into a barn and hops on a motorcycle, revs it and drives it through a wall. Meat from plants Just a couple days after Impossible Foods busts out with its less politically correct rebranding, Ethan Brown at Beyond Meat attends a summit of vegans. There he pleads for peace between the meatless crowd and brands like his in Impossible Foods. And soon after impossible foods, Peter McGinnis says the competition between plant based meat companies should come to an end. Even though Impossible Foods rebranding campaign has helped drive sales up while Beyond Meat sales sales are down. McGinnis says the rivals would be better off working together than they are working apart, especially in defending against attacks from the meat industry. For now, Impossible Foods is no better than Beyond Meat at making a profit. Both companies are burning cash and losing money, and some think their industry is just a fading fad. Beyond Meat hopes to restructure more than a billion dollars in debt to stay alive, and Impossible Foods has floated that it is open to being acquired. Even so, both companies say plant based meats have strong, healthy roots and are poised for growth. Time will tell if they're right or if in fact the plant based meat business will die on the vine. From Wondery this is episode four of Beyond Meat versus Impossible Burger for Business Wars. A quick note about recreations you've been hearing in most cases, we can't know exactly what was said. Those scenes are dramatizations, but they're based on historical research. For additional information, check out a story on these companies by Tad Friend in the New Yorker. Can a burger help solve climate Change? As well as reporting by Alex Bitter for Business Insider, I'm your host, David Brown. Joseph Guento wrote this story. Sound design by Josh Morales. Kyle Randall is our lead sound designer. Fact checking by Gabrielle Drollet. Voice acting by Kieran Regan and Carrie Cavanagh. Our managing editor is Desi Blaylock. Our senior producers are Jenny Bloom and Emily Frost. Karen Lowe is our producer emeritus. Our executive producers are Jenny Lauer, Beckman and Marshall Louie. 4:1 laundering.