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Impossible Foods has announced that it is launching its plant-based Impossible Pork product globally. After its initial debut in New York at famed Chef David Chang’s Momofuku bar in New York, Impossible Pork is set to roll out across restaurants in Hong Kong and in the city’s largest supermarket chain ParknShop in October, before landing in Singapore in the coming weeks.
Impossible Foods is bringing its newest product, Impossible Pork Made From Plants, to Hong Kong and Singapore this Autumn. Debuting in New York on Thursday (September 23), the Silicon Valley food tech’s plant-based pork will first be showcased at Chef David Chang’s Momofuku Ssäm Bar in New York in an Impossible Pork Ragu with Spicy Rice Cakes dish, before making its way to over 100 Hong Kong restaurants and in retail chain ParknShop from October 4.
Impossible Pork
Impossible Pork Made From Plants is the startup’s newest vegan meat alternative, following the recent launch of Impossible Chicken Nuggets, adding to its range including the flagship heme-filled Impossible Beef patties and Impossible Sausage. Impossible Pork is certified gluten-free, hormone-free and contains no antibiotics, with the main ingredients being soy protein, sunflower oil and coconut oil.
According to the food tech, the decision to launch Impossible Pork was aimed squarely at tackling the impact of the livestock industry, with pork from conventional pigs being one of the world’s most consumed proteins—particularly in Asia, with China accounting for nearly 50% of global pork consumption.
Impossible says that its pork analogue is “vastly more sustainable”, with a recent ISO life cycle assessment showing that compared to ground conventional pork, it uses 85% less water, 82% less land and emits 73% fewer GHG emissions.
Nutritionally, Impossible Pork contains 37% fewer calories, 59% less fat, 36% less saturated fat and nearly 3-fold the iron in a side-by-side comparison with a 113-gram serving of 70/30 ground pork, using USDA statistics. Impossible’s version also contains no cholesterol.
Launching Impossible Pork in Hong Kong and Singapore
The launch of Impossible Pork in Hong Kong and Singapore is aligned with the food tech’s gastronomy-first approach to market, rolling out its products with foodservice players before entering the retail market. Hong Kong and Singapore have traditionally been the startup’s go-to international launchpads, with the company making its first global debut of its Impossible Sausage in both cities last year.
The product has been long-awaited, with the analogue first introduced to the world at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in 2020, and has since been recognised as one of Time Magazine’s top 100 inventions for the year.
From October 4, more than 100 restaurants in Hong Kong will begin serving Impossible Pork, including Chef May Chow’s Little Bao, which will dish up a Taiwanese Lu Rou Scotch Egg and Impossible Dan Dan Noodles at her other establishment, Happy Paradise.
“Minced pork is central to so many classic Chinese recipes from dumplings to spring rolls to dan dan noodles,” said Chow. “I’m thrilled we now have a more sustainable alternative that does not compromise on the original diversity, deliciousness, and depth of everyone’s favourite recipes.”
Other restaurants include Michelin-recommended dim sum chain Tim Ho Wan, northern Chinese dumpling joint Dumpling Yuan, Bloom by Wong Jia Sha and Japanese katsu restaurant Kyoto Katsugyu. Even MX, the fast food arm of Hong Kong’s F&B giant Maxim’s, will be launching an Impossible Pork Eggplant Casserole dish across its 45 outlets in the city.
Ready-to-eat dishes will be available for retail in Hong Kong’s largest supermarket chain ParknShop, made by local company Fresh To Go, including items such as plant-based pork dumplings, bean curd rolls and pork patties. No details were provided as to when Impossible plans to roll out retail packages for consumers to cook their own Impossible Pork dishes at home.
Singapore restaurants such as Prive, PS Cafe, Da Paolo and Moonbow Dempsey are slated to begin serving up dishes with Impossible’s plant-based pork from November.
Vegan pork tastes better
Impossible says it’s confident that its new plant-based pork analogue will be a hit with consumers. According to their survey, more than half of Hong Kong consumers who tried Impossible Pork in a blind taste test said they preferred the analogue over traditional pork.
The poll, involving around 200 consumers in the city, indicated that Impossible’s version won out 54% to 46% over ground pork from pigs, and also scored higher on other attributes, such as appearance, flavour, texture and purchase intent.
Commenting on the results, Impossible president Dennis Woodside said the food tech was “beating the animal again” and by launching a tasty and sustainable alternative to Asia’s most-consumed protein, it was “satisfying even more types of cuisine”.
“[It’s] another important step towards making the global food system much more sustainable,” Woodside added.
All images courtesy of Impossible Foods.
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