Impossible Foods accelerates retail expansion with Kroger

Impossible Foods is accelerating its retail expansion this week with the rollout of its flagship product—the Impossible Burger—at more than 1,700 grocery stores throughout the United States owned by The Kroger Co. In addition to grocery shelves at Kroger-affiliated brick-and-mortar stores, Impossible Burger is also available for online ordering through Kroger.com for Kroger Curbside Pickup and Delivery.

The rollout of Impossible Burger at Kroger represents an 18-fold increase in Impossible Foods’ retail footprint so far in 2020. The company’s plant-based meat is now on shelves in about 2,700 U.S. grocery stores and through select online ordering systems.

“The launch of Impossible Burger at Kroger grocery stores nationwide signals our intention to make Impossible Burger available everywhere America shops—at brick-and-mortar retailers and their increasingly popular online ordering and delivery services,” said Dennis Woodside, president of Impossible Foods, in a press release. “Our existing retail partners have achieved record sales of Impossible Burger in recent weeks. We expect our retail footprint to expand more than 50-fold in 2020, and we are moving as quickly as possible to expand with additional outlets and in more retail channels.”

In addition, Impossible Foods continues to supply restaurants, including Burger King, Qdoba, White Castle, Red Robin, Cheesecake Factory, Hard Rock Café, and thousands of other restaurants. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Impossible Foods has launched collaborations with restaurants nationwide to sell Impossible Burger inventory directly to consumers. In April, the e-commerce grocery startup Cheetah began selling Impossible Burgers with “contactless” pickups throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.