Impossible Foods IPO: Everything you need to know about Impossible Foods

What do we know about the Impossible Foods IPO?

The Impossible Foods IPO was first rumoured in April 2021 and was expected within 12 months. Some reports have the listing at as much as $10 billion, although the valuation and size have not been confirmed publicly.

The company has been mulling over either an IPO or SPAC, although the latter is unlikely as it would dilute existing shareholders more than a traditional listing.

Impossible Foods CEO Pat Brown has said the company wants to give the ‘millions of non-billionaires’ who are supportive of the company’s mission the opportunity to own shares.

Impossible Foods’ main audience segment is millennials, who are most likely to be interested in a plant-based diet. That’s why it’s thought Impossible Foods could also attract far more millennial investors who are also more likely to base their portfolio choices on environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria.

Explore other upcoming IPOs to watch in 2022.

When is the Impossible Foods IPO?

The Impossible Foods IPO was expected to happen before April 2022, however, due to continued market volatility that's had to change. Now it's likely the IPO will take place in H2 2022 or early 2023. 

This is especially likely given what’s happened to shares of Beyond Meat over the last couple of years. Despite an impressive IPO in 2019 and subsequent few months, Beyond Meat’s share price was trading below its initial listing price as of March 2022. The market’s reception of its competitor might make Impossible Foods – and more importantly investors – think twice about listing any time soon.

How much is Impossible Foods worth?

Impossible Foods could be worth as much as $10 billion according to rumours of recent offers from SPACs. If this is the case, it’s worth far more than Beyond Meat was at the time of its listing – the company secured a $1.46 billion market cap post-IPO.

In November 2021, Impossible Foods secured $500 million in a new funding round led by Mirae Asset Global Investments. This funding round valued Impossible Foods at $7 billion.

Impossible Foods’ funding total is close to $2 billion.

How to trade the Impossible Foods IPO stock

Once Impossible Foods has been listed, you’ll be able to trade its shares in the same way as any other stock on the market.

In the meantime, you can trade thousands of other shares with City Index in these easy steps:

1. Open a City Index account, or log in if you’re already a customer
2. Search for the company you want to trade in our award-winning platform
3. Choose your position and size, and your stop and limit levels
4. Place the trade

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What does Impossible Foods do?

Impossible Foods is a plant-based meat manufacturer, or agri-food startup, which uses molecular research to create realistic substitutes for meat, dairy and fish.

While most competitors don’t use synthetic ingredients to create their plant-based products, Impossible Foods is solely focused on the genetic modification of ingredients and proteins to make fake meat, ‘meaty’.

How does Impossible Foods make money?

Impossible Foods makes money through the sale of its products – which include beef burgers, sausages, pork and chicken nuggets – are found in over 20,000 stores and 40,000 restaurants worldwide.

A Forbes report stated that the company’s retail sales were up 85% in 2021 from the year before. This makes sense given that in 2020, the Impossible Burger was only sold in 150 stores, compared to the thousands that now stock it.

Impossible Foods also makes money through brand collaborations, including household names like Burger King, Starbucks and Little Caesars.  

Is Impossible Foods profitable?

As of 2019, Impossible Foods’ revenue was approximately $90 million. But as a private company, Impossible Foods hasn’t had to release figures on its net profits. That will change as the company starts any IPO proceedings.

What is Impossible Foods' business model?

Impossible Food’s business model is rooted in its target audience. While most plant-based food companies are focused on a consumer base of vegans or vegetarians, the mission of Impossible Foods is to create options that meat-eaters would love.

This was the driving force behind the company’s research, trying to identify and replicate the biochemical reactions meat eaters experience. It’s to this tactic that Impossible Foods credits its rapid growth.  

And according to statistics collected by analytics firm Numerator and shared by Impossible Foods, 82 cents of every dollar spent on Impossible Burgers comes directly from money previously spent on animal-based products.

But as it stands, Impossible Foods has a long way to go to convert meat-eating America. Research from the USDA estimates that, on average, American consumers eat 2.4 burgers per day—that’s a whopping 50 billion burgers a year across the US.

Throughout 2021, the company cut prices to both distributors and grocery retailers to get its costs down to the same level as animal-derived meat.

But the company’s mission is to replace destructive animal food production technologies completely by 2035, which may be a little ambitious. Impossible Foods has said it will need to double production every year, on average, for 15 years to achieve its target.

The agri-food tech firm will be putting all the money it raises through funding rounds – and its potential IPO – toward retail expanding into international markets, building out its product portfolio and strengthening its supply chain capabilities.

This last point is particularly necessary due to the issues the company has already faced with its manufacturing costs. Initially, the low-volume production meant that just one Impossible Burger cost $13.95. But the company has already scaled up production to around 4 million burgers per month, which has helped it lower prices and enter larger contracts.

However, Impossible Foods had to turn down a contract with McDonald’s because it still didn’t have enough resources to meet demand. The contract was signed by Beyond Meat instead.

Who are Impossible Foods’ competitors?

Impossible Foods’ most direct competitor is Beyond Meat. But there are plenty more rivals to reckon with too, on the US front Tyson Foods, Perdue Farms, Smithfield Foods and Hormel have all introduced meat alternative products.

Then you’ve got a whole class of more independent plant-based food retailers. The ease of mass-produced vegan products has created a shift away from the smaller stores due to the excitement of seeing supermarkets stocking goods, but the growing conversation around the importance of shopping local could see this reverse again.

Who owns Impossible Foods?

Impossible Foods is privately owned by a number of investors including Coatue Management, Temasek, Horizons Ventures, Mirae Asset and Khosla Ventures. Several celebrities have invested capital, including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, musician Jay-Z, athlete Serena Williams and film director Peter Jackson.

Impossible Foods’ management team

Impossible Foods’ management team, according to its website, currently includes:

• Pat Brown, CEO and Founder
• Dennis Woodside, President
• David Borecky, CFO
• Jason Gao, Chief Legal Officer
• Leilani Gayles, Chief People Officer
• Steve Turner, Chief Experience Officer
• Smita Shankar, SVP of Biomanufacturing
• Nick Halla, SVP International
• Dan Greene, SVP North America Sales
• Sue Klapholz, VP Nutrition and Health