Beyond Meat vs Impossible Burger | Break from the Herd | 4 AI transcript and summary - episode of podcast Business Wars

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

Author: Wondery
Duration: 00:35:14

Episode Shownotes

It’s 2022 and Kim Kardashian is chowing down on a Beyond Burger. But the Internet buzzes over whether she actually ate it. Meanwhile, after a boom in business during the pandemic, Americans are now cutting back on plant-based meats. And concerns are growing over their nutritional value. That creates a

financial pinch for both Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat, and both companies will have to consider cutting the fat in their operations. Just as the industry looks like it's overcooked, one company revamps its recipe with health in mind. And the other adopts bolder, beefier, and bloodier brand. Listen to Business Wars on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App or on Apple Podcasts. Start your free trial today by visiting wondery.com/links/business-wars/ now.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Summary

In this episode of Business Wars, we explore the competitive landscape of Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods as they navigate declining consumer interest in plant-based meats. Amidst financial struggles, Beyond Meat's CEO Ethan Brown responds to controversy surrounding a Kim Kardashian ad and pivots towards health-focused branding with the launch of Beyond Burger 4. As both companies face challenges, Impossible Foods adopts a bolder marketing approach, signaling a shift in strategies to regain market relevance. The episode examines the evolving narratives and operational adjustments driving these business wars.

Go to PodExtra AI's episode page (Beyond Meat vs Impossible Burger | Break from the Herd | 4) to play and view complete AI-processed content: summary, mindmap, topics, takeaways, transcript, keywords and highlights.

Full Transcript

00:00:00 Speaker_11
Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of Business Wars Chuck E. Cheese vs. Showbiz Pizza early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. It's May 2022, El Segundo, California.

00:00:22 Speaker_11
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.

00:00:33 Speaker_11
The ad features an endorsement from a big celebrity who once broke the internet, Kim Kardashian.

00:00:40 Speaker_01
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.

00:00:55 Speaker_01
It's a simple change that makes a really big difference. So good. And now that I'm Beyond Meat's chief taste consultant, there's never been a better time to go beyond.

00:01:09 Speaker_11
Ethan and his team exchange high fives.

00:01:12 Speaker_10
This is phenomenal, guys. Great work.

00:01:16 Speaker_11
When the ad debuts in late May, Beyond Meat is racking up debt and bleeding cash. It hopes Kardashian can stem the bleeding.

00:01:25 Speaker_11
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 at Entertainment Tonight.

00:01:36 Speaker_05
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.

00:01:51 Speaker_11
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.

00:02:02 Speaker_11
As the controversy heats up, he meets again with his marketing team. He's tired of bad news surrounding Beyond Meat.

00:02:10 Speaker_11
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.

00:02:22 Speaker_11
Guys, don't we have any film of Kim eating our products? Yeah, Ethan, we've got a bunch of outtakes from the ad shoot, and we're already putting those together. But Kim also made a suggestion.

00:02:32 Speaker_11
She says we shouldn't post the behind-the-scenes footage of her eating for a couple more days. Why would we do that? We need to prove that she ate this stuff, and prove it now. Well, Kim says we ought to let the bad press on this bill for a while.

00:02:45 Speaker_11
Then we'll get another wave of attention when we post a follow-up video. Ethan scratches his bearded chin and ponders Kardashian's strategy. He decides to trust her instincts for publicity.

00:02:58 Speaker_11
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.

00:03:07 Speaker_04
All right next up Kim Kardashian the reality star is clapping back after receiving criticism online for her recent campaign with beyond me so here we go 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.

00:03:30 Speaker_04
So there you go Internet you don't have to believe everything you see in those comments there you go she ate it.

00:03:34 Speaker_11
Ethan finally has a morsel of good news to chew on. But in the coming weeks, he'll have more distasteful news to digest.

00:03:42 Speaker_11
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.

00:03:59 Speaker_09
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00:04:54 Speaker_11
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00:05:37 Speaker_11
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.

00:05:53 Speaker_11
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.

00:06:07 Speaker_11
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 4, Break from the Herd. It's June 2022.

00:06:28 Speaker_11
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.

00:06:41 Speaker_11
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?

00:06:47 Speaker_10
Yes, I'll have two McPlants, please.

00:06:50 Speaker_11
Okay, two McPlants. Would you like fries with that? No, thank you. Just the burgers. A minute later, the cashier turns to pick up two McPlants that have just been placed on a warming tray behind him.

00:07:01 Speaker_11
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. Hey, just curious.

00:07:16 Speaker_11
Are you selling a lot of these McPlants? 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.

00:07:32 Speaker_11
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.

00:07:45 Speaker_11
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.

00:07:57 Speaker_10
Really? But I was just in a Chicago location, and the cashier there said sales had been strong.

00:08:03 Speaker_11
Well, maybe that was an outlier, Ethan, because overall sales weren't what we were hoping for. I just don't think the U.S. consumers coming to McDonald's looking for a McPlant or other plant-based proteins. They're looking for great french fries.

00:08:16 Speaker_11
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.

00:08:30 Speaker_11
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.

00:08:40 Speaker_11
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.

00:08:56 Speaker_11
Losing U.S. McDonald's locations is a big blow at 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.

00:09:13 Speaker_11
And as if that wasn't enough, one of the executives who Ethan has hired to boost his burger's fortunes is about to commit a serious personal foul. It's a Saturday night, September 2022, Fayetteville, Arkansas.

00:09:33 Speaker_11
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.

00:09:45 Speaker_02
Here's Bryce Stevens trying to find a hole. Makes a few-man miss, turns the corner, and he's gone! Bryce Stevens, 80-yard touchdown, fires Arkansas in front!

00:10:01 Speaker_11
20 minutes later, the game is over and Arkansas has won. Beyond Meat's Doug Ramsey heads for the parking garage of the jam-packed stadium.

00:10:10 Speaker_11
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 rearview mirror to check out his crew cut.

00:10:27 Speaker_11
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. Ramsey thinks the wheel of his Bronco has been clipped by the Subaru. What the hell? You son of a...

00:10:42 Speaker_11
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.

00:10:56 Speaker_11
He's a twenty-something pharmacy school student at the University of Arkansas, and he can't believe what he's just watched Ramsey do. What's the matter with you? You broke our damn windshield! Ramsey charges the Subaru's passenger.

00:11:09 Speaker_11
The two exchange blows. Then, Ramsey grabs the passenger and pulls him close. 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.

00:11:25 Speaker_02
Hey! Break it up!

00:11:28 Speaker_11
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.

00:11:42 Speaker_10
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.

00:11:53 Speaker_10
With inflation out of control, the cost of our product is giving consumers a reason to choose the animal.

00:11:59 Speaker_11
So, uh, you wanna let Dave stay in his job? Ethan stares down at his black sneakers. No. We'll suspend him. Ethan slumps down dejectedly into his office chair. Ramsey's employment status isn't the only one up for grabs at Beyond Meat today.

00:12:17 Speaker_11
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.

00:12:30 Speaker_11
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.

00:12:45 Speaker_11
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.

00:12:59 Speaker_11
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.

00:13:20 Speaker_11
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.

00:13:37 Speaker_11
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.

00:13:51 Speaker_11
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.

00:14:03 Speaker_11
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 the word impossible written on it in red block letters.

00:14:16 Speaker_11
Wisps of brown hair peek out from underneath the hat. Hat takes a seat on the other side of McGinnis' desk. Sorry to bother you, Peter, but... I want to make a change to my position here. McGinnis is surprised.

00:14:30 Speaker_11
He takes off his hat and runs his hand through his messy hair. Uh, 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.

00:14:44 Speaker_11
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, uh, what do you want to do?

00:14:57 Speaker_11
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 a very low dollar yield per acre and all?

00:15:09 Speaker_11
My belief is that ranchers could make more money selling carbon offsets to companies who were trying to go carbon neutral.

00:15:15 Speaker_11
You mean some big industrial company might pay these ranchers to plant a bunch of trees to offset the CO2 the company's kicking out of its smokestacks? Yeah, yeah, exactly.

00:15:26 Speaker_11
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.

00:15:40 Speaker_11
McGinnis taps his finger on top of financial statements. Well, Impossible Foods is in a tricky financial position now, Pat. We're planning another big round of layoffs. You aren't proposing creating a new division here to research ranches, huh?

00:15:55 Speaker_11
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 gonna take a leave of absence.

00:16:08 Speaker_11
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.

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00:17:27 Speaker_11
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00:18:47 Speaker_11
Inside a high-tech test kitchen at Beyond Meat, Ethan Brown leads Joy Bauer, a nutritionist familiar to millions from her appearances on the Today Show, toward a stainless steel top dining table.

00:18:59 Speaker_11
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 6'5 Ethan dwarfs the 5'1 Bauer. You ready for this taste test, Joy? You bet.

00:19:15 Speaker_11
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.

00:19:26 Speaker_11
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.

00:19:41 Speaker_11
The two carve forkfuls of burger off each patty and take a bite. Both make awkward faces.

00:19:48 Speaker_03
Well, Ethan, this is not perfect.

00:19:52 Speaker_10
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 U.S. is because of health questions.

00:20:04 Speaker_10
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.

00:20:16 Speaker_11
Ethan lifts a fava bean off the tray and casually flips it in the air. Can I get a preview of what you'll say when we perfect this? Bauer smiles and goes into TV presentation mode.

00:20:28 Speaker_03
The BEYOND4 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.

00:20:42 Speaker_03
But none of them have high levels of saturated fat, sodium, or added sugar, and neither does BEYOND4. When you see what goes into it, you can't help but smile.

00:20:52 Speaker_10
Perfect. 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.

00:21:05 Speaker_11
When Bauer departs, Ethan and his scientist get back to work on trying to get the Beyond 4 to earn her seal of approval.

00:21:13 Speaker_11
But even before they get the recipe right, Ethan will launch a counterattack on Big Beef, not with a brand new product, but with a brand new message. It's summer 2023 at the headquarters of Beyond Meat.

00:21:32 Speaker_11
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.

00:21:45 Speaker_11
His red hair is parted on the right and swooped high over his forehead on the left.

00:21:50 Speaker_11
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.

00:22:00 Speaker_10
Everyone, 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.

00:22:14 Speaker_10
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.

00:22:30 Speaker_11
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.

00:22:46 Speaker_12
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.

00:23:03 Speaker_11
The ad moves along to show the farmer inspecting a bucket full of pristine-looking legumes.

00:23:09 Speaker_12
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.

00:23:28 Speaker_11
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.

00:23:40 Speaker_11
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.

00:23:49 Speaker_02
You heart-healthy Beyond Steak. Now steak is good for you. Wait, now steak tacos are good for me? Well, the plant-based Beyond Steak is, yes. Even nachos are good for me? They're better with Beyond Steak, but... Now cheese steaks are good for me?

00:24:04 Speaker_02
Listen, just Beyond... Everything bad is good for me! Oh boy. Sorry, no. Just the Beyond Steak. This changes everything about steak.

00:24:15 Speaker_11
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.

00:24:29 Speaker_11
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.

00:24:47 Speaker_11
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.

00:25:00 Speaker_11
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.

00:25:13 Speaker_11
McGinnis turns to the whiteboard and writes down one word which he spells out for the group. W-O-K-E. Woke. That's what plant-based meat has been. And that's not what we're going to be anymore.

00:25:28 Speaker_11
Stunned expressions come across the faces of several executives. One sheepishly raises his hand and interjects, Uh, I thought we were here today to talk about next year's rebranding campaign.

00:25:40 Speaker_11
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.

00:25:56 Speaker_11
And I'll tell you that the way plant-based meats first approached 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.

00:26:11 Speaker_11
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.

00:26:26 Speaker_11
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.

00:26:40 Speaker_11
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.

00:26:55 Speaker_11
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

00:27:07 Speaker_11
taste great and that can overcome a lot of preconceptions. Lots of those are fed by the extremely powerful, well-funded, and coordinated animal industry.

00:27:16 Speaker_11
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.

00:27:31 Speaker_11
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 begin.

00:27:55 Speaker_11
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00:29:44 Speaker_11
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.

00:29:57 Speaker_11
Beyond Meat's revenues have sunk for two years running, but the company has just released its Beyond 4 burger in stores.

00:30:05 Speaker_11
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 dietician and Today Show star Joy Bauer, as well as the American Diabetes Association, the American Heart Association, and Good Housekeeping.

00:30:23 Speaker_11
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.

00:30:37 Speaker_11
The red light flashes, and he begins speaking.

00:30:40 Speaker_10
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?

00:30:52 Speaker_11
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.

00:30:59 Speaker_10
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.

00:31:15 Speaker_11
Ethan stands up straight as he finishes reading his voiceover copy into the mic.

00:31:19 Speaker_10
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.

00:31:35 Speaker_11
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.

00:31:44 Speaker_11
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.

00:31:54 Speaker_11
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.

00:32:13 Speaker_11
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.

00:32:27 Speaker_11
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.

00:32:40 Speaker_11
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.

00:32:51 Speaker_11
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.

00:33:01 Speaker_11
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.

00:33:09 Speaker_11
In 2022, when the non-profit 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.

00:33:25 Speaker_11
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.

00:33:38 Speaker_11
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.

00:33:48 Speaker_11
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.

00:34:04 Speaker_11
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.

00:34:16 Speaker_11
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.

00:34:29 Speaker_11
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.

00:34:51 Speaker_11
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.

00:35:06 Speaker_11
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 takes snapshots of a plate of chicken nuggets.

00:35:21 Speaker_11
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.

00:35:33 Speaker_11
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!

00:35:46 Speaker_11
television network begins broadcasting the red carpet pre-show for the gala. A few minutes in, Impossible Foods gets a shout out.

00:35:54 Speaker_08
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, ASAP. And it's an impossible slider, even better.

00:36:10 Speaker_11
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.

00:36:25 Speaker_11
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.

00:36:37 Speaker_11
It's all part of Impossible Foods' brand-new, meat-loving branding.

00:36:41 Speaker_11
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.

00:36:55 Speaker_11
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.

00:37:08 Speaker_11
When E throws to commercial, that ad begins with a mustachioed man barreling through a backyard barbecue, knocking beef burgers out of guests' hands.

00:37:17 Speaker_13
Listen up, America. Meat has problems. And it's going to take us, meat eaters, to solve them. So when the world says too much meat is bad and we should eat less of it, we say, no, world, we should eat more.

00:37:28 Speaker_13
Because now we can turn plants into burgers and hot dogs.

00:37:31 Speaker_11
The mustachioed man smashes a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs onto the ground.

00:37:35 Speaker_13
Plants can be meat. Come on, people. Let's punch cholesterol in the face.

00:37:40 Speaker_11
The ad star runs into a barn and hops on a motorcycle, revs it, and drives it through a wall.

00:37:45 Speaker_02
Meat from plants.

00:37:47 Speaker_11
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 and Impossible Foods.

00:38:03 Speaker_11
And soon after, Impossible Foods' Peter McGinnis says the competition between plant-based meat companies should come to an end.

00:38:11 Speaker_11
Even though Impossible Foods' rebranding campaign has helped drive sales up while Beyond Meat's sales are down, McGuinness says the rivals would be better off working together than they are working apart, especially in defending against attacks from the meat industry.

00:38:29 Speaker_11
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.

00:38:41 Speaker_11
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.

00:38:50 Speaker_11
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.

00:39:10 Speaker_11
If you like Business Wars, you can binge all episodes early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music.

00:39:22 Speaker_11
Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey. From Wondery, this is episode four of Beyond Meat versus Impossible Burger for Business Wars. A quick note about recreations you've been hearing.

00:39:40 Speaker_11
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.

00:39:51 Speaker_11
Can a burger help solve climate change? As well as reporting by Alex Bitter for Business Insider. I'm your host, David Brown. Joseph Guinto wrote this story. Our producers are Emily Frost and Grant Rudder. Sound design by Josh Morales.

00:40:03 Speaker_11
Voice acting by Kieran Regan and Kerry Cavanaugh. Fact-checking by Gabrielle Drolet. Our senior producers are Karen Lowe and Dave Schilling. Our managing producer is Desi Blaylock. Our senior managing producer is Ryan Lohr.

00:40:16 Speaker_11
Our executive producers are Jenny Lauer-Beckman and Marshall Louis. Four wondering.

00:40:31 Speaker_07
In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru and New Zealand, lies a tiny volcanic island. It's a little-known British territory. called Pitcairn, and it harboured a deep, dark scandal.

00:40:46 Speaker_06
There wouldn't be a girl on Pitcairn once they reached the age of 10 that was still a virgin. It just happens to all of us.

00:40:54 Speaker_07
I'm journalist Luke Jones, and for almost two years I've been investigating a shocking story that has left deep scars on generations of women and girls from Pitcairn.

00:41:03 Speaker_00
When there's nobody watching, nobody going to report it. People will get away with what they can get away with.

00:41:09 Speaker_07
In the Pitcairn Trials, I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely, Pacific island to the brink of extinction. Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery Plus.

00:41:24 Speaker_07
Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify.