Impossible Funding
BYND is the Best Idea SHORT
In a press release yesterday Impossible Foods said it is now the fastest-growing plant-based meat company in retail, outpacing the next 10 leading plant-based meat companies combined, according to custom IRI research analyzing U.S. dollar sales for the most recent 13-week period compared to one year ago. I'm guessing that the company is taking a shot at BYND here!! The company said, "this funding round will enable its continued growth in retail and across its supply chain, product portfolio, technology platforms, and international expansion plans — all of which are critical to its mission of addressing the urgent threat of climate change caused by animal agriculture."
Impossible has now raised close to $2 billion since its founding in 2011, driving "stealth R&D" to pioneers of a new food category meat made from plants that compete head-to-head with meat made from animals, with a dramatic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Not sure this story is going to work if they try to go public in 2022. Impossible Foods’ previous investment rounds included a $500 million round in March 2020 which was also led by Mirae Asset Global Investments, followed by an additional $200 million round in August of 2020 led by Coatue.
“Mirae Asset is excited to double down on the team at Impossible Foods as they continue transforming the global food system,” says Thomas Park, president of Mirae Asset Global Investments (US). “It is important to us to partner with true innovators like Impossible Foods’ CEO Pat Brown and supports the entire Impossible Foods team as they work to solve one of the most critical challenges facing our planet — climate change.”
The new funding round comes amid a record burst of new product launches from Impossible Foods over a four-month period — including Impossible™ Sausage Made From Plants, Impossible™ Chicken Nuggets Made From Plants, and Impossible™ Pork Made From Plants — all of which were found by the majority of consumers to be as good as or decidedly better than the respective animal-based products in recent taste tests. Earlier this week, the company added Impossible™ Meatballs Made From Plants to store shelves in an expansion of its offering at Walmart, with more retailers set to debut the product this year. Impossible Foods has also added four new international markets over the past 14 months, including Canada, the United Arab Emirates, and, most recently, Australia and New Zealand.
Impossible products can now be found in about 22,000 grocery stores, up from only 150 stores in March of 2020 (BYND 66,000 globally), as well as in close to 40,000 restaurants globally (BYND also 66,000 globally.) In addition, Impossible Foods recently launched a number of new collaborations with notable food brands and foodservice providers, including a trial with one of the nation's leading quick-service chains, Jack in the Box, a new branded product line by a leader in refrigerated pasta, Buitoni, and the launch of two branded marketplaces at Climate Pledge Arena, where Impossible™ Burger was named the “official burger” of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken.
Commodity prices
U.S. wheat futures jumped to their highest in nearly nine years, with CBOT wheat for March delivery closing +2.8% to $8.57 1/2 per bushel, on rising concerns about tightening supplies among the world's top exporters. The wheat market was "hit with weather that is too wet in Australia and a little too dry in the U.S. Plains, shipping issues in southwest Canada and issues around export taxes in Russia," Don Roose of U.S. Commodities tells Reuters. "Rains coming for the east coast of Australia over the weekend and more forecast for later this week [increase] the threat of damage and quality problems," according to Richard Buttenshaw of Marex Spectron, adding that quality concerns in other countries such as the U.S., Canada and Russia are adding to the view of tightness in the global market.
Revenue and Earnings Revisions By Subsector
Are you buying casual dining names like BJRI and RRGB? We are short both those names!
