It turns out people didn’t want to spend twice as much on fake meat to fix the weather
Beyond Meat Burger.
By Jo Nova
Beyond Meat may be beyond saving — it turned $4b into “a dumpster fire”
Like a microcosm of the climate change debate, a group of investors thought they could make a profit while also saving animals, making people healthier, and changing the global climate all at the same time in a nifty 4 for 1. The UN recognised it as a Champion of the Earth for “science and innovation”. Bill Gates tossed money at it.
But it turns out it was hard to recreate a steak without having a cow or 100 million years to evolve something competitive, economical and tasty. Cows are very efficient factories, in that they come with their own chemical plants, filters, thermostats, and barriers to stop infection, they can transport themselves and they make more cows too. So the factory imitation was never going to be cheaper, at least not for years.
Like everything in the climate debate — everyone says they believe, but no one believes enough to spend $19.95 on fake burger meat. So it was a wildly ambitious product, not-yet-invented, not-safety-tested, and without much appeal to 99% of the population.
https://joannenova.com.au/2025/08/it-turns-out-people-didnt-want-to-spend-twice-as-much-on-fake-meat-to-fix-the-weather/
