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☆ Impossible Foods CEO discusses the company's 'meatier' makeover and plant-based future
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailImpossible Foods CEO discusses the company's 'meatier' makeover and plant-based futureImpossible Foods CEO Peter McGuinness joins 'The Exchange' with CNBC's Kate Rogers to discuss Impossible Foods' branding aimed at attracting meat eaters, obstacles facing the plant-based meat industry, and more.

Persons: Peter McGuinness, CNBC's Kate Rogers Organizations: Impossible, Foods

☆ OpenAI investor Vinod Khosla, who's 68, says he still works 80 hours a week and plans to keep investing for the next 25 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

OpenAI investor Vinod Khosla said he still works 80 hours a week during an episode of "The Cerebral Valley Podcast." AdvertisementVinod Khosla, a Silicon Valley investor for almost 40 years, said in the past that he works 80-hour weeks. In 2004, he started his own VC firm he called Khosla Ventures, which backed companies like Instacart, Impossible Foods, and DoorDash. Over the last three months, Khosla Ventures has made multi-million dollar bets on startups in the beverage, insurance, and climate tech space, according to Pitchbook. AdvertisementKhosla didn't immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment made through Khosla Ventures.

Persons: Vinod Khosla, —, Eric Newcomer, Khosla, Peter Thiel, I've, Warren, he's, Kleiner Perkins Caufield, Byers, toils, Elon Musk, Steve Squeri Organizations: Service, Khosla Ventures, Foods, Tesla, American Express, Financial Times Locations: Silicon, OpenAI

☆ Beyond Meat's newest ad targets meat industry attacks about plant-based food being ultra-processed and unhealthy
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Groups connected to the meat industry have said for years that plant-based meats aren't healthy. But it also counters one of the most common criticisms of plant-based meats from the animal meat industry – that these products are highly processed and unhealthy to eat. The Center has ties to the meat industry, according to Fast Company. In its own ads and messaging, the Center said that plant-based meat was "ultra-processed" and that the products posed health risks. The ad comes as Beyond Meat, Impossible, and other plant-based meat makers deal with a slump in sales.

Persons: Steven, Rick Berman, John Mackey Organizations: Service, Fast Company, Center for Consumer, Center, Foods, American Heart Association Locations: North Dakota, Wall, Silicon

☆ A Florida steakhouse is selling a plant-based steak for a whopping $69
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A Florida steakhouse chain is joining the fray by selling a $69 plant-based steak by Chunk Foods. Charley's Steak House is billing itself as the first steakhouse chain in the US to add a plant-based steak to its menu. The plant-based steak is so good that some staffers were fooled during blind taste tests, company Executive Vice President Clark Woodsby told Insider. Last year, Beyond Meat's sales slumped as consumers turned away from plant-based meat substitutes. To date, restaurant diners have experienced plant-based foods at fast-food chains like KFC, Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and Chipotle.

Persons: mignon, Charley's, Clark Woodsby, Mignon, Woodsby, Seth Miller, Miller, Amos Golan, Golan Organizations: Chunk Foods, Service, Chunk, Town, Texas Cattle Company, Foods, Steak, Foods Chunk Locations: Florida, Wall, Silicon, Central Florida, FishBones, Texas, Charley's

☆ Mixed results in the latest batch of IPOs, but the market is opening up
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Bob Pisani | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Kodiak Gas Services (KGS) , a natural gas compression company, priced 16 million shares at $16, below the price talk of $19-$22. That was not only below the price talk of $16-$19, but the 15 million shares offered were below the projections of 17 million shares. The IPO market is reopening, but cautiously All three serve different investor bases, each with its own outlook, Santosh Rao at Manhattan Venture Partners told me. The simple fact that all three deals got done is a sign the IPO market is reopening after being largely closed for 18 months. The IPO market is reopening, but with a strong reality check from the customers.

Persons: It's, Santosh Rao, Fidelis, Sellers, IPOs What's Organizations: NYSE, Kodiak Gas Services, Fidelis Insurance, Manhattan Venture Partners, Labor, Foods, ARM Locations: U.S

☆ Lab-grown meat is coming. Here’s everything you need to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

New York CNN —Soon, Americans are going to able to try chicken that comes directly from chicken cells rather than, well, a chicken. On Wednesday, the USDA gave Upside Foods and Good Meat the green light to start producing and selling their lab-grown, or cultivated, chicken products in the United States. In a nutshell, lab-grown meat — or cultivated or cell-based meat — is meat that is developed from animal cells and grown, with the help of nutrients like amino acids, in massive bioreactors. Meat eaters who are concerned about those types of risks might prefer cultivated meat. Eat Just Inc's Good Meat cultivated chicken.

Persons: New York CNN —, It’s, don’t, Andrew Noyes, Noyes, ”, Bruce Friedrich, Friedrich, Julia Horowitz, ” Noyes, José Andrés, Ivy Farm, That’s, Noyes didn’t, Matthew Walker, Walker, won’t, “, — CNN’s Kristen Rogers Organizations: New, New York CNN, USDA, Inc, Good Food Institute, Impossible Foods, CNN, Ivy Farm Technologies, Service, FDA, British, Ivy, Companies, Foods Locations: New York, United States, Agriculture, British, Italian, Singapore, Washington, San Francisco

☆ Green shoots for the IPO market, but investors ask where are unicorns like Instacart, Klarna
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Bob Pisani | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

At the midpoint this would raise $298 million, with a fully diluted market value of $2.1 billion, according to Renaissance Capital. At the midpoint of the proposed range, that would raise $328 million with a market value of $1.5 billion. "The IPO market is definitely opening up," he said. Goldman Sachs' David Kostin has also noted an improved IPO market. The bad news: the stock dropped the day after the IPO to roughly $38 and has remained in that range.

Persons: IPOs, Matt Kennedy, Goldman Sachs, David Kostin, Kostin, Lynn Martin, That's, Santosh Rao, Rao Organizations: NYSE, Insurance, Renaissance, Kodiak Gas Services, Renaissance Capital, Goldman, Foods, CNBC, Manhattan Venture Partners Locations: Renaissance Capital, U.S, Canada, Cava, Fogo, Chao

☆ The $170 million startup behind Better Bagel says it's on a mission to be the 'Beyond Meat of carbs'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

BetterBrand, which makes low-carbohydrate, high-protein Better Bagels, closed a $6 million Series A funding round, it said on Wednesday. The Better Bagel contains 90% fewer carbs than a traditional bagel, BetterBrand's website says. BetterBrand founder and CEO Aimee Yang BetterBrandBetterBrand's goal is to become the "Beyond Meat of carbs," Yang said. "You've heard how much funding has gone into plant-based and just how saturated that market has gotten," Yang told Insider. BetterBrand also plans to grow sales to between $30 million and $40 million over the next 12 months, Yang said.

Persons: BetterBrand, —, Tesla, Reddit, Alexis Ohanian's, Aimee Yang, Aimee Yang BetterBrand, Yang, You've Organizations: Service, Facebook, Verso, Gaingels, Based Foods Association, Foods

☆ 'Real' meat maker Cargill may emerge big winner in plant-based food as buzzy startup boom fades
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Bob Woods | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Additionally, Cargill began marketing several plant-based protein ingredients, made from soy, pea and wheat, to food and beverage manufacturers worldwide. What to expect for plant-based meat in next decade Cargill's calculated approach to plant-based meats coincides with the nascent industry's trajectory. And then there's the consumer's appetite to pay a premium price for plant-based meat. So Cargill's biggest competition will be the established plant-based meat companies, like Beyond and Impossible, he said. The future of plant-based meat might be analogous to the ongoing transition to electric vehicles.

Persons: Florian Schattenmann, Cargill Cargill, Cargill, Schattenmann, it's, John Baumgartner, Baumgartner, Caroline Bushnell, Bushnell, that's, Seth Goldstein, Goldstein, Tyson's Organizations: Cargill, Foods, Tyson Foods, Hormel Foods, Smithfield Foods, Cargill Inc, The, Bloomberg, Getty, Foods Cargill, Mizuho Securities USA, Good Food Institute, Cubiq Foods, FDA, North, Food and Drug Administration, Morningstar Research Services, Nielsen, annualized Nielsen, Nestle, Tesla, tiptoed, Ford, GM, Hyundai, Volkswagen Locations: U.S, Minneapolis, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Spanish, Berkeley , California, Puris, North American, Netherlands, Bflike, Belgian, North America

☆ A 'string of successes' fueling the IPO market, and the ETF that tracks it
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Kevin Schmidt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

"We do see a light at the end of the tunnel," Matt Kennedy, Senior IPO Market Strategist for Renaissance Capital, told CNBC's Bob Pisani on "ETF Edge" on Monday. Kennedy's firm runs the Renaissance Capital IPO ETF (IPO), which tracks the performance of newly public company stocks. According to Renaissance Capital, holdings in the IPO ETF cycle out three years after being listed on the market. The 10-year average of capital raised for new initial public offerings is $55 billion, but only $7.7 billion was raised last year, according to Renaissance Capital. Nearly the same amount has already been raised so far this year ($7.3 billion), fueling anticipation that the market is finally getting back on track.

Persons: Matt Kennedy, CNBC's Bob Pisani, Kennedy, They're Organizations: Renaissance Capital, Capital, Renaissance, ARM, Foods Locations: Snowflake, Airbnb, Cava, U.S, Fogo de Chao, Klarna

☆ Green shoots for the IPO market? More companies are looking at going public
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Bob Pisani | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The Great IPO Drought has gone on for 18 months, but some are hopeful that may be ending. It still is a mid-sized deal, but it's getting more attention than usual because there is some hopes the Great IPO Drought may have a shot at ending. "A market rise is a necessary precursor for a rebound in IPOs," Matt Kennedy, senior IPO market strategist for Renaissance Capital, told me. Kennedy would know: Renaissance Capital runs the Renaissance Capital IPO ETF, a basket of recent IPOs. It's a long slog back to a 'normal' IPO market As bad as it has been in 2023, it's better than it was in 2022.

Persons: Matt Kennedy, Santosh Rao, Kennedy, DoorDash, Kenvue, Johnson, It's, it's, Cava, Rao Organizations: NYSE, Renaissance Capital, Manhattan Venture Partners, Capital, ARM, Foods, Saks Locations: Cava, IPOs, Snowflake, Palantir, Chao

☆ Taco Bell to test Vegan Crunchwrap with plant-based beef and cheese in 3 cities
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Taco Bell will sell a vegan version of its popular Crunchwrap, made with plant-based beef and cheese, in three U.S. cities for a limited time, it said Wednesday. Starting Thursday, customers in Los Angeles, New York and Orlando will be able to order the Vegan Crunchwrap. Vegetarians were also among the fans who successfully pushed Taco Bell to bring back its cult-favorite Mexican Pizza. Taco Bell used pea protein and soy to make the vegan beef in the new Crunchwrap. For the vegan blanco sauce and vegan nacho sauce, Taco Bell used soy as the main base.

Persons: Taco Bell, Carne, Liz Matthews, blanco, Taco Organizations: Bell, Yum Brands, Taco Bell, CNBC, Foods Locations: U.S, Los Angeles , New York, Orlando, Ohio, Birmingham , Alabama

☆ Steakholder Foods and Umami Meats have teamed up to create the world's first 3D-printed cultivated fish fillet
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Michelle Cohan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

A “Star Trek“-like, food-on-demand 3D printer has just served up a real, cultivated fish fillet for the first time. Steakholder Foods, a startup based in Israel, produced the 3D-printed cut of grouper – “a significant milestone in the food industry,” says Arik Kaufman, CEO of Steakholder Foods. Chicken nuggets from Steakholder Foods, pictured, are considered a hybrid product, containing both plant-based and cultured ingredients. At the time of writing, Singapore is the only country in the world where cultivated meat products are commercially available. “One way is to create hybrid products, so something that (combines) cultivated meat with plant-based meat or conventional meat,” Block tells CNN.

Persons: ”, Arik Kaufman, Mihir Pershad, ” Kaufman, we’ve, Orit Goldman, Liz Specht, Davis, Ronen Mangan, David Block, GFI’s Specht Organizations: CNN, Steakholder Foods, Good Food Institute, UN, of California, NASA, Foods, Food and Drug Administration, FDA, UC Davis, Consortium Locations: Israel, Singapore, bioreactors, California

☆ Mediterranean restaurant chain Cava files for IPO as revenue climbs
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Mediterranean restaurant chain Cava saw its revenue rise 12.8% in 2022, according to regulatory filings released Friday as it filed to go public through an initial public offering. Over the last five years, it's converted Zoes' footprint into new Cava locations. Last year, the company's net sales climbed to $564.1 million, 12.8% higher than the year earlier. The company has 263 locations open as of April 16 and plans to open 34 to 44 new units by the end of the year. But investors might have an appetite for Cava stock despite concerns about a potential recession this year hitting restaurant demand.

☆ This company could take lab-grown meat mainstream thanks to a green light from the FDA
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Natasha Piñon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +14 min

Upside Foods' pivotal moment also comes at a key moment in the alternative meat industry. The cultivated-meat industry could have a wider consumer base than previously introduced alternative meat products, because unlike plant-based meats, it's "real" meat — minus the slaughtered animals. And, accordingly, some traditional meat companies have expressed interest in the burgeoning cultivated-meat industry, which one day could become a competitor. The cultivated-meat industry will need a similar boost if it's ever going to become a grocery store staple, Swartz said. The FDA's clearance was a voluntary premarket consultation, which means the agency has no further questions about the safety of Upside's products.

☆ Don't expect an IPO market revival in these conditions even as J&J's Kenvue breaks drought
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Bob Pisani | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The health of the IPO market is dependent on many factors, but principally it boils down to: 1) the strength of the overall stock market (trending up is best), and 2) interest rates (lower is better). The IPO investor wish list: stable markets, Fed done hiking, and lower IPO prices "The most important factor for the IPO market is you need the market to hold up well," Santosh Rao, head of Research at Manhattan Venture Partners, told me. Another essential ingredient for a healthy IPO market: stable interest rates. But the IPO market hasn't seen a "normal" year in a while. High initial IPO prices have proven to be devastating to IPO investors.

☆ AI will eventually free people up to 'work when they want to,' ChatGPT investor predicts
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Grace Mayer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The future of AI could "free humanity" from work, according to OpenAI investor Vinod Khosla. "This large transformation is the opportunity to free humanity from the need to work. People will work when they want to work on what they want to work on," Khosla told Semafor. Back in 2014, Khosla told Semafor, he started thinking about a future with AI, even predicting that eventually most media would be created by AI in the future and that AI will disrupt teaching. AI jobs in tech, mathematics, accounting, and communication fields will be especially at risk, the researchers found.

☆ Reese's calling its new peanut butter cups 'plant-based' is the clearest sign the term has lost all meaning
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Hershey is debuting a chocolate bar and Reese's peanut butter cups that are plant-based. The candies use oat milk instead of dairy milk. It's the latest plant-based version of a packaged food as the term becomes over-used. The Hershey Co., which makes both of the candies, will start selling plant-based peanut butter cups this month, the company said Tuesday. The peanut butter cups will be the first vegan chocolates that the company has sold across the US, the company said.

☆ Beyond Meat reports narrow-than-expected quarterly loss despite sinking sales
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Beyond Meat on Thursday reported a narrower-than-expected loss for its fourth quarter, despite its sales sinking more than 20%. Net sales dropped 20.6% to $79.9 million. The company said demand for meat alternatives across "all channels" is still soft. Beyond's net revenue per pound fell 4.4% in the quarter. U.S. sales fell 20.9% as the company saw weaker demand in both its grocery and food service segments.

☆ Americans are quitting plant-based meat due to high prices, worse taste, and questionable health benefits
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In 2020, retail sales of plant-based meat grew 45%, surpassing the $1 billion mark for the first time. Questionable taste and health benefits are scaring off consumersFirst, it's unclear whether the plant-based meat industry has a growing customer base. On the all-important issue of taste, many Americans say plant-based meat disappoints, and some experts think the industry's efforts to compare plant-based meat to the real thing is a losing battle. Additionally, while plant-based meat has environmental benefits, growing research suggests it may not be much — if at all — healthier than traditional meat, something consumers are beginning to suspect. It's also possible that cultivated meat — meat grown from animal cells in a lab — will prove to be the answer, though this innovation could face some obstacles as well.

☆ Chick-fil-A just unveiled a fried cauliflower sandwich that took 4 years to develop — and it's nothing like the plant-based fast food at rivals like McDonald's
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Plant-based meat sales growth has flattened over the last several months. But, Chick-fil-A is debuting a cauliflower sandwich in three US markets next week. Next week, the Atlanta-based fried chicken chain plans to introduce its first plant-based meal, the Chick-fil-A Cauliflower Sandwich. Chick-fil-A's vegetable sandwich test also comes as demand for plant-based meats has slowed, prompting layoffs at Impossible Foods. "We explored every corner of the plant-based space in search of the perfect centerpiece for our plant-forward entrée," Stuart Tracy, culinary developer of the cauliflower sandwich, said in a statement.

☆ Chick-fil-A will test a cauliflower sandwich in its first plant-based pilot
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Chick-fil-A is making its cauliflower sandwich the same way as its original chicken sandwich. Chick-fil-A will test its first plant-based entree: a cauliflower sandwich. The new sandwich closely resembles its famous chicken sandwich, but uses breaded and pressure-cooked cauliflower in place of meat. Chick-fil-A said it's been working on a plant-based sandwich for nearly four years, right around when chains like Dunkin' and Restaurant Brands International's Burger King were putting Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods substitutes on their menus. Buffalo Wild Wings and countless bars serve fried cauliflower smothered in buffalo sauce as an alternative to chicken wings.

☆ Google is facing its first real competition in search
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

This is the first time search engines are in legitimate competition — with all thanks to ChatGPT for the plot twist. Now, the chatbot is integrated in Bing and gives the search engine its first fighting chance against Google. Microsoft for now has a "first-mover" advantage, meaning its first-ever AI search engine can attract a large share of users. More on the first-ever search engine race here. Tech workers with skills in Web3, AI, and cybersecurity remain in high demand.

☆ Headlines about layoffs don't mean you're going to lose your job
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The US labor market looks strong, and yet news about mass layoffs dominates the headlines. To be clear: Labor Department data shows that layoffs overall remain historically low and the latest jobs report shows growth is rock solid. But if the fear of losing your job hovers over you like a dark cloud, you're not alone. What people are doing is indicative of a strong economy. Are they operating in a way that's indicative of a strong economy?

☆ Impossible Foods is laying off 20% of its employees in the third round of cuts at the company in roughly a year
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Impossible Foods is laying off 20% of its workforce, Bloomberg reported Monday. It's the third time in a year that Impossible has made cuts as plant-based meat sales slow down. The plant-based meat brand plans to eliminate 20% of its employees, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing an unnamed source. A spokeswoman for Impossible Foods did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider. In January 2022, Impossible let go of a smaller group of "fewer than 15" employees, Bloomberg reported at the time.

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