Beyond Meat Sausages Now In Whole Foods Stores Nationwide
Beyond Meat's new line of plant-based sausages is now available in Whole Foods stores nationwide, the brand has announced. Beyond Sausage is meant to mimic the taste of pork sausage and will be available for $8.99 per 4-pack in three varieties: Original Bratwurst, Hot Italian, and Sweet Italian.
Beyond Sausage uses an algae-based casing to mimic the "snap" of real sausage and a blend of pea, fava bean, and rice proteins to match the texture. The product was introduced in December at Whole Foods' flagship store in Boulder, Colorado.
The product has since been prominently featured on some restaurant menus, including at Schaller's Stube next door to the Schaller & Weber German meat market in New York City. The Daily Meal staff had a chance to try Schaller's version of the sausages in February, and while none of us exactly made plans to go vegan on the spot, most were reasonably pleased with the sausages.
We recently asked Jesse Denes of Schaller's Stube about his experiences serving Beyond Sausage over the past few months. "The customer response has been great," he told us. "There's a passionate fanbase for it — a lot of people willing to come uptown just to try it out."
As for how to cook Beyond Sausage, we noticed in our February tasting that the casing is somewhat less firm than the genuine article, and Denes confirms that it helps to prepare these sausages with a bit more care. Schaller's Stube typically boils meat sausages to bring them to temp before grilling, whereas they've been heating Beyond Sausage with a sous-vide technique, as they don't hold together quite as well in water.
Schaller & Weber plans to carry the sausages once they're available to retailers other than Whole Foods. In the meantime, they'll stay on the menu at Schaller's Stube.
Beyond Meat has eagerly reached out beyond vegan circles to pitch its products as a tasty plant-based option for all diners. Their Beyond Burger, touted as a more responsible and healthful yet still satisfying alternative to beef, has made its way onto supermarket shelves and restaurant menus across the country, including at burger-centric chains like Bareburger and TGI Fridays; California-based Luna Grill raised some hackles recently by topping the otherwise-vegan patty with feta cheese.
If Beyond Meat's new product is as successful as they hope, people might soon be talking about the nation's best plant-based sausages the way we're already talking about America's best restaurant veggie burgers.