Impossible Foods launches direct-to-consumer site and rolls out to hundreds more retail stores this month

05-Jun-2020 - Last updated on 05-Jun-2020 at 15:40 GMT

Impossible Foods has launched an e-commerce site to make its plant-based burgers available to all US consumers in the lower 48 states, offering free, two-day shipping of larger, family-sized quantities of the Impossible Burger.

Also starting this week, Impossible Burger is rolling out to over 600 Albertsons-owned stores throughout the state of Colorado, the Pacific Northwest and the Southwest, with an additional 274 Acme and Safeway stores along the East coast adding the product to shelves later in June.

Consumers can purchase Impossible Burger in larger quantities on the company’s website:

“Impossible Convenience Pack” includes four 12-oz packages for $49.99
“Impossible Combo Pack” includes two 12-oz. packages and ten quarter-pound patties for $59.99
“Impossible Family Pack” includes a single, 5-lb bulk package for $64.99
“Impossible Grilling Pack” includes twenty quarter-pound patties for $69.99

“Shelter-in-place and social distancing restrictions due to COVID-19 altered our buying and eating habits -- and many of these changes are permanent. Our intention is to make Impossible Burger available everywhere people shop and eat, including directly from our online store,” said Impossible Foods president Dennis Woodside.

According to consumer e-commerce grocery data from Brick Meets Click, household penetration of online grocery grew to 31% in April 2020 for US households (that had used either home delivery or store pickup within the last 30 days), compared with just 12.5% in August 2019.

A 4-ounce serving of Impossible Burger contains 0 mg cholesterol, 14 grams of total fat, 8g of saturated fat, and 240 calories, according to the company, which says its burger contains as much protein and bioavailable iron as a comparable serving of ground beef from cows.

50-fold retail expansion expected in 2020

Since its grocery store debut in September 2019, Impossible Foods has increased its retail footprint to more than 3,000 grocery stores across the US including Albertsons, Fred Meyer, Gelson’s, H-E-B, Kroger, Ralphs, Safeway, Smith’s, Wegmans, and others.

In some cases, Impossible Burger outsold ground beef products from cows at some grocery stores, according to the company. During its first full weekend on store shelves at one Southern California retailer, for instance, Impossible Burger outsold by more than six times the No. 2 most popular standalone SKU. At the time, the Southern California retailer imposed a 10-pack purchase limit.

“We want to make it as easy as possible to get Impossible Burger -- whether you shop in person at your local supermarket, with Instacart or other delivery services, or direct online,” said Woodside.