This actually did not come from a chicken. (Photo courtesy of Beyond Meat.)
Twitter cofounders Evan Williams and Biz Stone have some proven expertise in determining the next big thing. So it’s notable that they’re investing in a vegan meat company called Beyond Meat, whose products are said to be the most freakily convincing fake meat yet. Sure, maybe you think you don’t WANT a better fake meat, but you probably thought you didn’t want a social network that let you transmit 140-character bon mots, either.
A lot of vegetarians aren’t really in the market for a realistic meat substitute. Either they gave up meat because they didn’t really care for it in the first place, or they’ve gotten unaccustomed enough to the taste and texture that they think it would be weird. But others miss meat desperately — and then there are all the meat-eaters who might be moved to make more sustainable choices if they knew it didn’t mean giving up their burgers. A really good meat analogue, which Beyond Meat apparently is (“It feels fatty and muscly and like it’s not good for you when you’re chewing it,” says Stone — yum!), could wean carnivores off inhumane, environment-destroying factory-farm meat, even if it didn’t convince them to go veggie entirely.
Another Beyond Meat bonus that might have caught Stone’s and Williams’ eye: It’s not just made out of soy, which some people avoid as studiously as meat. The chicken strips have soy in them, but the beef is made of peas, and the company’s founder is talking about using mustard seed, barley, and lupin for future products. I don’t know what Shakespearean fairies and Hogwarts professors have to do with it, but I assume he knows what he’s talking about.
Anyway, I’m not saying vegan meat is the new Twitter, but GUYS MAYBE VEGAN MEAT IS THE NEW TWITTER. Or maybe vegan meat is just the new meat, which might be even better.
