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Chain Testing Meat Substitute In Bentonville

3 min read

A restaurant named Beef ‘O’ Brady’s is probably not the first place that comes to mind for those seeking plant-based burgers, but the co-owner of the chain’s Bentonville location says his version of the “Impossible Burger” has been warmly received.

Matt Amato opened his Beef ‘O’ Brady’s at 2500 SW 14th St. in Bentonville with his sister, Teresa Pratt, 11 years ago. Now his restaurant is one of nine out of 172 Beef ‘O’ Brady’s locations nationally testing the Impossible Burger, a meat-free patty sold by Impossible Foods Inc. that’s supposed to mimic the taste of one of America’s favorite foods, the hamburger.

The reception to the meat substitute, which his restaurant began testing Aug. 12, has been great, Amato said. “The people that have tried it here, they’re going to order it again,” he said. “They’re happy to hear that we’re going to use it in different ways. We pound our own patties, so we have flexibility to do pretty much anything we want with it.” That includes using it in tacos, pizza or Beef ‘O’ Brady’s “Irish nachos.”

“I think it’s something that’s huge for this area,” Amato said.

Sales of meat substitutes to restaurants have soared 268% so far in 2019 compared with the same time last year, according to a June 10 report by the Dining Alliance, a group purchasing organization for restaurants. That follows a 21.7% increase from 2017 to 2018.

The jump in sales, the alliance said, is propelled by a jump in the number of restaurants serving some kind of meat alternative: 26.4% from 2017 to 2019. “The meat alternatives market is on fire,” Joanna Fantozzi wrote for the Nation’s Restaurant News on Jun 18.

That increased demand has led to shortages of the product — at least to shortages of the meat-free patties sold by Impossible Foods — and Amato said he waited to announce the addition to his menu until he was sure it would be available.

In addition to Impossible Foods, based in Redwood City, California, Beyond Meat Inc. of El Segundo, California, is another major producer of a meat alternative.

And Arkansas’ own Tyson Foods, which earlier this year sold its stake in Beyond Meat, is seeking a share of this rapidly growing market. In June, the Springdale company announced its first plant-based and blended products, which it’s selling under the Raised & Rooted brand. “The initiative makes Tyson Foods the largest U.S. meat producer to enter the growing alternative protein segment with its own products,” the company said.

Tyson said the first products, which will go on sale to major retail customers sometime this year, include “plant-based nuggets as well as blended burgers made with a combination of beef and plants.” The protein producer also has launched Aidells Whole Blends sausage and meatballs, which are made with chicken and plant-based ingredients.

Other restaurants in Arkansas are offering the plant-based burgers. Impossible Burgers are on the menu at Burger King and Bar Louie, and Little Rock’s independently owned Buffalo Grill has offered a popular vegetarian burger for years.

Asked whether he’d consider offering a meat substitute burger, Alan Bubbus, owner of the homegrown chain David’s Burgers, said, “There simply isn’t a substitute for beef — the flavor, the texture, the fact that we’re doing it right and in a first-class way, better than anyone else, where you can see the steaks when you come in the door. That type of quality is never going to be substituted.”

I might be inclined to agree, but the consumer makes the ultimate choice, and consumers — vegetarians, vegans and folks in the middle — are demanding meat substitutes, and some are willing to pay a premium for them. At Amato’s Beef ‘O’ Brady’s, Impossible Burgers cost $2 more than regular burgers.

Amato is enthusiastic about the product. “I like that it’s not just for vegans. I like that it’s for everybody,” he said. “It’s a plant-based meat that tastes unbelievably like beef.”

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