Why read this: This editorial offers a clean diagnostic of why a high-profile industry — plant-based meat — has stalled after a euphoric launch. For Chinese-L1 students in EMI schools, the piece is valuable on two fronts. It is a classic case study in how a market corrects (price, taste, regulation, consumer perception) and how incumbents pivot (nutrition marketing, hybrid products, adjacent technologies). And it is a sustained exercise in reading journalistic tone: the writer holds industry claims up to scrutiny without ever dismissing them, which is exactly the register students will need for argumentative writing at university.
What to notice: Three things reward close reading. First, the sustained food-metaphor conceit that runs from 'licking their lips' in paragraph 1 to 'end up in a stew' in paragraph 10 — the metaphor is the article's spine, not its ornament. Second, the calibration of hedging language around industry claims ('many in the industry argue', 'reckons that', 'may sidestep', 'could one day sit'): the writer is marking which claims are contested. Third, the structure itself — four diagnoses (price, taste, culture war, ultra-processed) followed by two pivots (protein marketing, cultivated meat) followed by a hedged outlook. Students should be able to map this skeleton on a single page.
Skills practised: Reading: tracking a sustained metaphor across a long article; separating industry claims from editorial commentary; extracting a comparative data table from mixed prose; following multi-strand argument structure. Writing: modelling The Economist's calibrated modality (deploying 'may', 'reckons that', 'could' deliberately rather than as filler); integrating numerical evidence into analytical paragraphs; framing a multi-cause diagnosis without reducing it to a single cause. Analysis: evaluating whether an industry-led framing ('correction, not collapse') is a neutral description or a strategic claim — and doing so using the article's own evidence.
The fake-meat industry is in trouble
Business is slowing down. Time to tempt new palates.
Tap any green word in the article to see its meaning.
Five years ago the plant-based burger was the sort of product that had investors licking their lips: looking forward to something eagerly, expecting profit or pleasure — 垂涎三尺. Beyond Meat, a Californian start-up making beef-free patties, went public: sold shares on the stock market for the first time (an IPO) — 上市 in 2019 at a market value: the total worth of a company's shares at a given moment — 市值 approaching $4bn. American sales of fake meat surgedsurge: to rise or move suddenly and powerfully; to increase sharply — 激增 by nearly half the following year, to $1.4bn, and a parade of start-ups joined the feast: entered the market during the boom — 入局分羹. Even conventional meat companies, wary of missing a trend, had a nibble: tried something cautiously on a small scale — 试水.
Today that optimismoptimism: hopefulness and confidence about the future or the success of something — 乐观；乐观主义 is gone. Sales of plant-based meat are falling. Beyond is worth less than $400m. Its revenue shrank year on year: compared with the same period in the previous year — 同比 in each of the first three quarters of 2025, and the final quarter appears to have been no kinder. Pollingpoll: a survey of public opinion, or the process of voting in an election — 民意调查；投票 by YouGov for The Economist suggests the share of American adults regularly eating the stuff has barely moved out of single digits. Conventional meat, meanwhile, is selling well. The industry insists it is undergoing a correction: experiencing a temporary, moderate decline in a market (not a crash) — 市场回调, not collapsing. The question is what has gone wrong.
The first problem is price. Even with shrinking herds: declining numbers of farmed cattle — 牛群减少 and dearer animal feed: food given to livestock, especially grain — 饲料 pushing beef up, real meat remains cheaper than its plant-based rival — thanks in part to generous farming subsidies: government money paid to farmers to support production — 农业补贴. A pound of beef mince: ground beef (British English term) — 牛肉末 at Walmart, America's biggest grocer, goes for $7.43; an equivalent pound from Impossible Foods, Beyond's main competitor, costs $9.04. Several dollars per meal, at a time when households are watching every receipt, is enough to tilttilt: to move or cause to move into a sloping position; to influence a decision one way or another — 倾斜 the basket.
The second is taste. Mark Cuddigan, who runs This, a British meat-free company, concedesconcede: To admit that something is true after first resisting; to surrender or yield a right or privilege. — 承认；让步；认输 that some plant-based imitations: products designed to mimic meat using plant ingredients — 植物仿肉 are still "awful". A single bad burger, he notes, can put off: permanently discourage (someone) from trying something again — 彻底打消兴趣 a curious customer for good.
Fake meat has also become embroiled in: caught up in (a conflict or controversy) — 卷入 America's culture war. Robert F. Kennedy junior, the health secretary, champions: publicly supports and promotes — 力推 slogans such as "Eat Real Steak"; whole-food advocatesadvocate: A person who publicly supports or recommends a particular cause, policy, or course of action — 倡导者；拥护者；辩护人 argue the fake stuff is a pile of fat, salt and ultra-processed: food industrially modified with many additives (a formal category) — 超加工 junk. Impossible concedes that some of its products contain more sodiumsodium: A soft, silvery-white chemical element whose compounds, especially salt, are essential to life — 钠 than raw, unseasoned meat — though it rightly points out that few people actually eat meat that way, which means the comparison is not set on a level playing field: a situation where everyone is judged by the same fair rules — 公平竞争环境.
The harder problem is that, on the strict technical definition, plant-based burgers are ultra-processed foods: long ingredient lists, industrial assemblyassembly: A group of people gathered together for a common purpose, or the process of putting parts together — 集会；议会；装配, a hinthint: A clue — 提示 of lab-coat branding. That classificationclassification: The action or process of classifying something according to shared qualities or characteristics. — 分类；归类；等级划分, argues David Welch of Synthesis Capital, an investor in food tech, has led many health-conscious consumers to mentally bracketbracket: to enclose text in brackets — 加括号 a veggie burger alongside potato crisps: thin fried potato slices sold as a snack (British; US: potato chips) — 薯片 and Oreos — a comparison he insists is misleading.
The industry hopes the fashion for high-protein: containing a large amount of protein (of diets) — 高蛋白 and high-fibre: containing a large amount of fibre (of diets) — 高纤维 eating will swing back in its favour. Peter McGuinness, Impossible's chief executive, notes that many of his company's products beat animal meat on both measures. Both Impossible and Beyond now plaster protein grams across their packaging. Impossible has partnered with a protein-dense: packed with a high amount of protein — 高蛋白密度 bread and pasta maker. Beyond — which dropped "Meat" from its corporate name last year — has pushed into beverages, launching a flavoured sparkling water: carbonated (fizzy) bottled water — 气泡水 boasting 20g of protein per can.
Others are trying a compromisecompromise: The settlement of differences by arbitration or by consent reached by mutual concessions — 妥协. Half-meat, half-plant burgers: burgers made by mixing real meat and plant-based ingredients — 肉菜混合汉堡 sound, at first hearing, like a product no one asked for. Tim Dale of Food System Innovations, a research group, disagrees: the natural customer, he points out, is the parent quietly trying to smugglesmuggle: to take something or someone secretly past officials or into a place where it is not allowed — 偷偷带入 a few vegetables onto a child's plate.
Investors growing wary of plant-based meat have begun to switch bets to cultivated meat: meat grown in a laboratory from animal cells (not from a slaughtered animal) — 培育肉 — real animal cells grown in a laboratory. Progress is uneven: several American states have banned or proposed banning its production and sale, though insidersinsider: a person within a group or organisation who has access to confidential information — 内部人士；知情者 report federal momentummomentum: the impetus gained by a moving body or a developing process; driving force — 势头；动力；动量. In Britain, cultivated chicken has received clearance: been officially approved (by regulators) — 获批准 as pet food. The familiar hurdle of cost remains.
Nick Cooney of Lever, a venture-capital firm, reckons that plant-based meat has been dogged by the perception: persistently troubled by a public view or belief — 被...看法困扰 "that it's a 'fake' thing" in a way cultivated meat — being, undeniablyundeniably: In a way that cannot be denied or argued against — 不可否认地, real animal tissue — may sidestepsidestep: to take a step to one side in order to avoid something — 侧身躲开; one day it could sit on supermarket meat aisles: the rows in a supermarket where meat is displayed — 超市肉类货架 without a separate label. Uma Valeti of Upside Foods, a cultivated-meat pioneerpioneer: a person who is among the first to explore or develop a new area of knowledge, technology, or activity — 先驱；开拓者, sees the next decade as the time to prove the industry can scale up: expand production to a much larger level — 扩大规模, rather than rushing to stock every shelf at once. Move too quickly, he warns, and the whole alternative-meat business may once again end up in a stew: be in serious trouble or confusion (wordplay: stew is also a meat dish) — 陷入困境（双关：炖菜）.
Five years ago the plant-based burger was the sort of product that had investors licking their lips: looking forward to something eagerly, expecting profit or pleasure — 垂涎三尺. Beyond Meat, a Californian start-up making beef-free patties, went public: sold shares on the stock market for the first time (an IPO) — 上市 in 2019 at a market value: the total worth of a company's shares at a given moment — 市值 approaching $4bn. American sales of fake meat surgedsurge: to rise or move suddenly and powerfully; to increase sharply — 激增 by nearly half the following year, to $1.4bn, and a parade of start-ups joined the feast: entered the market during the boom — 入局分羹. Even conventional meat companies, wary of missing a trend, had a nibble: tried something cautiously on a small scale — 试水.
Today that optimismoptimism: hopefulness and confidence about the future or the success of something — 乐观；乐观主义 is gone. Sales of plant-based meat are falling. Beyond is worth less than $400m. Its revenue shrank year on year: compared with the same period in the previous year — 同比 in each of the first three quarters of 2025, and the final quarter appears to have been no kinder. Pollingpoll: a survey of public opinion, or the process of voting in an election — 民意调查；投票 by YouGov for The Economist suggests the share of American adults regularly eating the stuff has barely moved out of single digits. Conventional meat, meanwhile, is selling well. The industry insists it is undergoing a correction: experiencing a temporary, moderate decline in a market (not a crash) — 市场回调, not collapsing. The question is what has gone wrong.
The first problem is price. Even with shrinking herds: declining numbers of farmed cattle — 牛群减少 and dearer animal feed: food given to livestock, especially grain — 饲料 pushing beef up, real meat remains cheaper than its plant-based rival — thanks in part to generous farming subsidies: government money paid to farmers to support production — 农业补贴. A pound of beef mince: ground beef (British English term) — 牛肉末 at Walmart, America's biggest grocer, goes for $7.43; an equivalent pound from Impossible Foods, Beyond's main competitor, costs $9.04. Several dollars per meal, at a time when households are watching every receipt, is enough to tilttilt: to move or cause to move into a sloping position; to influence a decision one way or another — 倾斜 the basket.
The second is taste. Mark Cuddigan, who runs This, a British meat-free company, concedesconcede: To admit that something is true after first resisting; to surrender or yield a right or privilege. — 承认；让步；认输 that some plant-based imitations: products designed to mimic meat using plant ingredients — 植物仿肉 are still "awful". A single bad burger, he notes, can put off: permanently discourage (someone) from trying something again — 彻底打消兴趣 a curious customer for good.
Fake meat has also become embroiled in: caught up in (a conflict or controversy) — 卷入 America's culture war. Robert F. Kennedy junior, the health secretary, champions: publicly supports and promotes — 力推 slogans such as "Eat Real Steak"; whole-food advocatesadvocate: A person who publicly supports or recommends a particular cause, policy, or course of action — 倡导者；拥护者；辩护人 argue the fake stuff is a pile of fat, salt and ultra-processed: food industrially modified with many additives (a formal category) — 超加工 junk. Impossible concedes that some of its products contain more sodiumsodium: A soft, silvery-white chemical element whose compounds, especially salt, are essential to life — 钠 than raw, unseasoned meat — though it rightly points out that few people actually eat meat that way, which means the comparison is not set on a level playing field: a situation where everyone is judged by the same fair rules — 公平竞争环境.
The harder problem is that, on the strict technical definition, plant-based burgers are ultra-processed foods: long ingredient lists, industrial assemblyassembly: A group of people gathered together for a common purpose, or the process of putting parts together — 集会；议会；装配, a hinthint: A clue — 提示 of lab-coat branding. That classificationclassification: The action or process of classifying something according to shared qualities or characteristics. — 分类；归类；等级划分, argues David Welch of Synthesis Capital, an investor in food tech, has led many health-conscious consumers to mentally bracketbracket: to enclose text in brackets — 加括号 a veggie burger alongside potato crisps: thin fried potato slices sold as a snack (British; US: potato chips) — 薯片 and Oreos — a comparison he insists is misleading.
The industry hopes the fashion for high-protein: containing a large amount of protein (of diets) — 高蛋白 and high-fibre: containing a large amount of fibre (of diets) — 高纤维 eating will swing back in its favour. Peter McGuinness, Impossible's chief executive, notes that many of his company's products beat animal meat on both measures. Both Impossible and Beyond now plaster protein grams across their packaging. Impossible has partnered with a protein-dense: packed with a high amount of protein — 高蛋白密度 bread and pasta maker. Beyond — which dropped "Meat" from its corporate name last year — has pushed into beverages, launching a flavoured sparkling water: carbonated (fizzy) bottled water — 气泡水 boasting 20g of protein per can.
Others are trying a compromisecompromise: The settlement of differences by arbitration or by consent reached by mutual concessions — 妥协. Half-meat, half-plant burgers: burgers made by mixing real meat and plant-based ingredients — 肉菜混合汉堡 sound, at first hearing, like a product no one asked for. Tim Dale of Food System Innovations, a research group, disagrees: the natural customer, he points out, is the parent quietly trying to smugglesmuggle: to take something or someone secretly past officials or into a place where it is not allowed — 偷偷带入 a few vegetables onto a child's plate.
Investors growing wary of plant-based meat have begun to switch bets to cultivated meat: meat grown in a laboratory from animal cells (not from a slaughtered animal) — 培育肉 — real animal cells grown in a laboratory. Progress is uneven: several American states have banned or proposed banning its production and sale, though insidersinsider: a person within a group or organisation who has access to confidential information — 内部人士；知情者 report federal momentummomentum: the impetus gained by a moving body or a developing process; driving force — 势头；动力；动量. In Britain, cultivated chicken has received clearance: been officially approved (by regulators) — 获批准 as pet food. The familiar hurdle of cost remains.
Nick Cooney of Lever, a venture-capital firm, reckons that plant-based meat has been dogged by the perception: persistently troubled by a public view or belief — 被...看法困扰 "that it's a 'fake' thing" in a way cultivated meat — being, undeniablyundeniably: In a way that cannot be denied or argued against — 不可否认地, real animal tissue — may sidestepsidestep: to take a step to one side in order to avoid something — 侧身躲开; one day it could sit on supermarket meat aisles: the rows in a supermarket where meat is displayed — 超市肉类货架 without a separate label. Uma Valeti of Upside Foods, a cultivated-meat pioneerpioneer: a person who is among the first to explore or develop a new area of knowledge, technology, or activity — 先驱；开拓者, sees the next decade as the time to prove the industry can scale up: expand production to a much larger level — 扩大规模, rather than rushing to stock every shelf at once. Move too quickly, he warns, and the whole alternative-meat business may once again end up in a stew: be in serious trouble or confusion (wordplay: stew is also a meat dish) — 陷入困境（双关：炖菜）.
Questions
Check your understanding
- 01
What best summarises the article's account of why plant-based meat sales are falling?
- 02
Why does the article describe the industry's situation as a 'correction, not a collapse'?
- 03
What strategic pivot does the article suggest cultivated-meat investors believe gives their product an advantage over plant-based meat?
- 04
The article presents four separate pressures on plant-based meat (price, taste, culture war, ultra-processed classification). Which of the four do you judge hardest for the industry to address, and why? Use specific evidence from the article.
Suggested length: ~100 words
- 05
Evaluate the industry's pivot toward high-protein, high-fibre marketing and hybrid meat-plant burgers. Is this a credible strategic response to the problems described, or a distraction? Justify your view with reference to the article.
Suggested length: ~100 words
Questions
Check your understanding
- 01
What best summarises the article's account of why plant-based meat sales are falling?
- 02
Why does the article describe the industry's situation as a 'correction, not a collapse'?
- 03
What strategic pivot does the article suggest cultivated-meat investors believe gives their product an advantage over plant-based meat?
- 04
The article presents four separate pressures on plant-based meat (price, taste, culture war, ultra-processed classification). Which of the four do you judge hardest for the industry to address, and why? Use specific evidence from the article.
Suggested length: ~100 words
- 05
Evaluate the industry's pivot toward high-protein, high-fibre marketing and hybrid meat-plant burgers. Is this a credible strategic response to the problems described, or a distraction? Justify your view with reference to the article.
Suggested length: ~100 words