Plant-based Beyond Burger launches in South Africa

A Beyond Burger patty uses 99% less water than a traditional 113-gram beef burger, 93% less land, produces 90% fewer greenhouse gases and uses 46% less energy, according to a joint study by Beyond Meat and a major US university. Since its debut in 2016, more than 25 million of these burgers have been sold worldwide.

According to Infinite Foods, the aim of the company and its founder Michelle Adelman is to influence global food security and climate impact by introducing great tasting alternatives to environmentally taxing sources of protein, like meat, eggs, milk and fish.

“While everyone is coming to recognise that climate change is a major concern, few people realise how much today’s agricultural practices are contributing to the problem,” says Adelman, a strategist and entrepreneur who has developed successful businesses focused on fostering agricultural transformation and food security in Africa.

“When people become aware how much good they can do by introducing more plant-based proteins to their diet, we expect this market to grow very quickly. It helps a lot that the products being introduced now by Beyond Meat and others taste great.”

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The company says its objective is to "improve quality-of-health by delivering best-in-class, authentic tasting and affordable plant-based protein food products to sub-Saharan Africa and emerging markets’ consumers and tourism/hospitality industry through import distribution of best-in-class brands, licensed manufacturing and the transformation of plant-based protein agricultural commodity inputs."

According to Infinite Foods, the Beyond Burger is so authentic tasting it is positioned in the meat section of grocery stores in the United States. The company will be initially launching the Beyond Burger in restaurants and foodservice outlets, adding to the more than 11,000 restaurants abroad including TGI Fridays, BurgersFi, Bareburger, Epic Burger and A&W Canada.