Impossible Foods to sell plant-based patties through food wholesaler Cheetah
The Beyond Meat rival will also sell its Impossible Burger in 777 additional supermarkets nationwide
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Eaters will soon be able to bulk up on plant-based meat.
Impossible Foods, the maker of plant-based meat substitutes, announced Tuesday it's partnering with San Francisco-based food wholesaler Cheetah to sell its third-pound Impossible Burger patties in bulk.
Impossible Foods will sell packs of its plant-based patties through food whole sale company Cheetah.
The Redwood City, California-based company said it has more flexibility to sell its alternative meat in bulk after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration temporarily updated its food labeling guidelines to allow food makers to redistribute products originally intended for food service to be sold in retail establishments during the COVID-19 crisis.
The third-pound Impossible patties will be sold in a single pack of eight patties for $33.31 and in a case of four packs (32 patties) for $109.76.
“Consumers, independent restaurants and retailers can download the Cheetah app and order Impossible Burger directly for pickup at numerous Bay Area locations, which Cheetah has turned into mobile fulfillment centers,” Impossible Foods said in a statement.
Impossible Foods will also sell its meatless patty packs available for pick up or delivery at restaurants and is working on a faster roll out in supermarkets.
IMPOSSIBLE FOOD DEBUTS PLANT-BASED PORK
The company announced last week the Impossible Burger will become available in 777 additional supermarkets, including Fairway Markets, Wegmans, Albertsons, Safeway and Jewel-Osco stores in California, Nevada and parts of the Midwest.
Impossible Foods increasing its plant-based meat sales direct-to-consumers comes as some of the country's biggest meat producers shutter as some workers have contracted the novel coronavirus. Beef and pork producer JBS USA, the world's top meat producer, said Monday it would close its Minnesota-based pork plant following the outbreak, adding to potential meat shortages for consumers. JBS already closed its Greeley, Colorado, and Souderton, Pennsylvania, beef facilities because of COVID-19, although the Pennsylvania plant reopened Monday.
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Last week, Virginia-based meat processing company Smithfield Foods CEO Ken Sullivan warned of a pork shortage after government officials insisted the facility close down its operations. More than 600 employees at a Smithfield Foods plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, have tested positive for coronavirus, according to health officials. The plant closed in mid-April, but many other meat processing plants in different states remain open (although with fewer employee cases).
FOX Business' Evie Fordham and The Associated Press contributed to this report.