Tesco will this month become the first UK supermarket to sell the Beyond Burger, a vegan meat-free patty that bleeds beetroot juice when you bite into it, as the rise of meat alternatives continues.
The vegan patty is made of pea protein, coconut oil and potato starch – and a similar ingredient list underlies a British-made vegan burger which went on sale in restaurants in Oxford and London last month, the B12 burger from Moving Mountains.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Both are highly processed, technically difficult products to make – and both come with a sense of mission, their manufacturers believing that meat alternatives are more ethical and more environmentally friendly than traditional hamburgers.
The next generation of beef replacements may be even more convincing. Earlier this year, Wired reported on the progress of “lab-grown meat”, in which cells taken originally from an animal can be cultured in a lab.
One US firm, Just, has already created a foie gras substitute using these techniques – although Wired says its reporter was not allowed to sample the product as it “wasn’t ready for public consumption”.
Take our survey for your chance to win £100 John Lewis vouchers
-
Israel Defense Forces' manpower problemThe Explainer Israeli military's shortage of up to 12,000 troops results in call-up for tens of thousands of reservists
-
Quiz of The Week: 16 – 22 AugustQuiz Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
-
Can Soho House get its edge back?Talking Point The private members' club has lost its exclusive appeal – but a £2 billion buy-out could offer a fresh start
-
Labour shortages: the ‘most urgent problem’ facing the UK economy right nowSpeed Read Britain is currently in the grip of an ‘employment crisis’
-
Will the energy war hurt Europe more than Russia?Speed Read European Commission proposes a total ban on Russian oil
-
Will Elon Musk manage to take over Twitter?Speed Read The world’s richest man has launched a hostile takeover bid worth $43bn
-
Shoppers urged not to buy into dodgy Black Friday dealsSpeed Read Consumer watchdog says better prices can be had on most of the so-called bargain offers
-
Ryanair: readying for departure from LondonSpeed Read Plans to delist Ryanair from the London Stock Exchange could spell ‘another blow’ to the ‘dwindling’ London market
-
Out of fashion: Asos ‘curse’ has struck againSpeed Read Share price tumbles following the departure of CEO Nick Beighton
-
Universal Music’s blockbuster listing: don’t stop me now…Speed Read Investors are betting heavily that the ‘boom in music streaming’, which has transformed Universal’s fortunes, ‘still has a long way to go’
-
EasyJet/Wizz: battle for air supremacySpeed Read ‘Wizz’s cheeky takeover bid will have come as a blow to the corporate ego’
