Chipotle Says No To Fake Meat Because It’s Too Processed

While restaurants are lining up to add Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods‘ products to their menus Chipotle Mexican Grill doesn’t want them.

Chipotle provides a menu that contains only 51 ingredients, less than every other major restaurant chain. Chipotle offers “Plant-powered Lifestyle Bowls” and they use sofritas as their meat substitute for their vegetarian customers, which is made from tofu. Chief Executive Officer Brian Niccol says that the fake meat products are too processed for their restaurant.

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We have spoken to those folks and unfortunately it wouldn’t fit in our ‘food with integrity’ principles because of the processing, as I understand it, that it takes to make a plant taste like a burger,” Niccol said in an interview. “If there’s a way for them to do this that would match our ‘food with integrity’ principles, I’m sure we would continue talking with them.”

Chief Executive Officer Brian Niccol

Beyond Meat’s CEO responded with an invitation, suggesting that Beyond Meat’s factory is much better than what they’d find visiting a factory-farm.

You can come to our facility anytime. Don’t call me, just knock on the door. I invite you to do the same with all of Chipotle’s meat-processing facilities. They won’t let you, and if they did, you wouldn’t want to see it.”

CEO Ethan Brown

Many consumers are looking towards more sustainable foods and becoming more aware of the environmental costs and animal cruelty involved with factory farming. But consumers are also becoming more concerned with health problems with processed foods and GMOs.

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Both Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods develop their faux meat with highly processed plant-based ingredients. Beyond Meat’s uses pea protein as their main ingredient. Impossible Foods GMO soy and heme which is made from genetically modified yeast.