Stealthily Penetrating 'Daechegyuk'... Impossible Foods Hits 50% Growth 'Jackpot' in One Year

Mirae Asset's Investment 'Impossible Food'... 50% Growth in One Year

The plant-based hamburger developed by Impossible Foods, the 'Impossible Burger'

[Asia Economy Reporter Junho Hwang] The value of the U.S. startup 'Impossible Foods,' invested in by Mirae Asset, has surged by 50% in just one year.

Impossible Foods is a company that developed plant-based hamburger patties by extracting the heme component in hemoglobin, which gives meat its flavor, from plant roots.

Mirae Asset Financial Group, led by the PEF division of Mirae Asset Global Investments, invested 150 billion KRW in March last year and made an additional investment of 30 billion KRW in August last year. As of the end of last year, the company's stock price exceeded $23 per share, yielding a return of over 50%.

The hamburger patties made by Impossible Foods taste similar to real meat and do not contain animal hormones or gluten, gaining favor among health-conscious consumers. Excessive meat consumption increases the risk of adult diseases. The total pollutants generated during meat production are known to be comparable to CO2 emissions from automobiles. According to global IB UBS, the plant-based meat market is expected to grow from 5 trillion KRW in 2018 to 93 trillion KRW by 2030.

Impossible Foods forms one of the two major pillars of the alternative meat market along with the Nasdaq-listed company Beyond Meat.

In particular, the 'Impossible Burger' produced with Impossible Foods' patties is supplied to over 7,000 locations worldwide, including the restaurant franchises White Castle, Red Robin, Qdoba, and Disney theme parks. Recently, due to increased demand in retail channels, major large-scale distribution channels such as Walmart, Costco, Target, Trader Joe's, and Kroger are also expanding their offerings.