Impossible Foods

Question 1

Technological segment of external environment

Answer 1

● Born from significant efforts in R&D
● Create a plant-based product that tastes exactly like real meat
● Tech is an integral part of business
● Use of technologically advanced mechanisms used to elaborate products

Question 2

social/sociocultural segment of external environment

Answer 2

● Impossible Foods burgers are more expensive than meat burgers
● Difficult to target consumers who purchase burgers for their cheap prices
● Issue in the long run if they want to replace meat
● Work to attract lower income consumers
● meat can be specific to certain cultural practices
● general views on vegetarianism and veganism may impact Impossible Foods

Question 3

environmental segment of external environment

Answer 3

● Focus on replacing meat stems from its negative environmental impact
● Animal agriculture one of the top contributors climate change

Question 4

political segment of external environment

Answer 4

● Many political debates touch on environmental issues
● Many consider the rise of plant-based food as an “elitist” trend
● Higher prices of Impossible Foods criticized
● Must take this into
consideration to avoid political backlash

Question 5

plant-based substitutes industry

Answer 5

• 2019 :U.S. retail market for plant-based substitutes valued at $4.5 billion
• Plant-based milk growing in market size, while cow’s milk decreases

Trend:
- Other plant-based categories follow plant-based milk trends

Question 6

Five forces: competition/rivalry

Answer 6

High
● Main competitor: Beyond Meat (2009)
● First plant-based burger in the meat case at Whole Foods
● First-mover advantage: 22,000
stores and paid celebrity ambassadors
● More diversified products

Question 7

5 forces: new entrants

Answer 7

medium
● Meat-alternative industry still growing, not saturated
● Room for innovation
● Low switching costs
● Advantage with distribution channels and years of R&D
● but since meat-substitutes are becoming popular, it’s quite possible that those with lots of resources will begin to enter, will already have brand recognition

Question 8

5 forces: substitutes

Answer 8

pretty high
● Main item is meat
● Plant-based products came after meat
● Increasing vegetarians and concern over climate change
● Lab-grown meat
● the main thing Impossible is trying to do is convert those who like meat
–> there are cultural, economic, reasons as well
–> many consumers are price sensitive
● also for vegetarians/vegans, there’s a lot of other plant-based products they can have that aren’t meat substitutes

Question 9

5 forces: suppliers

Answer 9

low
● Suppliers are farms
● Inputs (wheat, potato, coconut oil, etc.) are readily available

Question 10

5 forces: buyers

Answer 10

high
● Meat-eaters, flexitarians, vegetarians and vegans
● Can choose meat or vegetarian protein instead
● Switching costs are low

Question 11

Opportunities

Answer 11

● Funding and support
● Become consumer favorites
● Increase in population and income growth
● Increase in popularity

• expanding into Asia and Europe
• expanding into other meat substitutes (diversify product line)
• sell more retail

Question 12

threats

Answer 12

● Strong Rival beyond meat
● Issue with loss of jobs and farmland prices
● Another shortage which could hinder relationships

Question 13

Key success factors

Answer 13

➢ Differentiation
- competitive advantage
- fight off competition
➢Investments in R&D to increase barriers of entry ➢Ability to scale up and expand

Question 14

resource based view

Answer 14

Financial Resources
● Funding
● $80 million in R&D
● Raised more than
$750M

Human Resources
● Recruit top talent in tech with food industry
background 
● Team of 100 researchers 
● Brown passionate

Physical Resources
●All production is made at their plant in Oakland
●Invested in the expansion of the Oakland plant

Technological resources
● Lab and technology
●Producing heme protein at scale

Reputation resources
● powerful brand
● interest in the brand
● won CES's "best of the best" award
● “Hottest startup in Silicon Valley”
- Konrad
● Consumer movement”: marketing  strategy: word of mouth

organizational resources
●Brown’s unconventional approach impact on culture

Question 15

strengths

Answer 15

➢“Pile of money available to the company: Plenty of financial resources.
➢ Product: Most important aspects of meat.
➢ Brand Reputation
➢ Brown’s unconventional approach and passion.

Question 16

weaknesses

Answer 16

• Brown’s less commercial background.
• Conservative business culture.
• Limited physical resources.
• Hiring and undersized teams.

Question 17

competitive advantage

Answer 17

➢ Ability to produce heme protein at scale.
➢ Patents on heme strain and know-how.
➢ Product attributes.

Question 18

business level strategy

Answer 18

“There’s never been anything like this- a product that is truly emulating the most important attributes of the animal-based version” - Thakkar, Project Management

Differentiation Strategy
1. Replicate the cooking and eating experience of beef
● Recipe
● Heme- patents, trade secrets 
2. Target segment: meat eaters
● Placements on menu, supermarkets 
3. Marketing Strategy
● Word-of-mouth & social media
● Foodservice 
4. Product Launch
● International Consumer Electronics Show

Cost Leadership
● trying to achieve

Question 19

Corporate level strategy: strategic alliances

Answer 19

Burger King
“Impossible Whopper”
● 50-50 Challenge
● Mutually beneficial

OSI
Production agreement with food co-manufacturer
● Able to quadruple production

Question 20

corporate level strategy: value-creating diversification

Answer 20

Product Diversification
- R & D team working on plant-based alternatives for pork, steak, fish, and dairy

Geographic Diversification
- Developing multiple Asian markets in the near term

Critique Limitations:
● Extensive due diligence
● Regulatory Approval
Overall, necessary to grow and compete