WEBVTT - Why is plant-based food having such a moment? 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:04.000 Hi everyone, I'm Katie Couric and welcome to Next Question. 0:00:05.360 --> 0:00:09.560 Today we're exploring the rapidly expanding world of plant based 0:00:09.600 --> 0:00:13.960 foods with Ethan Brown, the CEO of Beyond Meat. What 0:00:14.120 --> 0:00:16.520 starts with what are the parents are gonna feel really 0:00:16.520 --> 0:00:18.840 great about feeding their kids? You can't load it up 0:00:18.840 --> 0:00:20.720 with things that aren't naturally You can't put gm os 0:00:20.760 --> 0:00:23.040 in it. People don't want that. They want all natural foods. 0:00:23.040 --> 0:00:25.720 They want to eat healthier, but they still want to 0:00:25.760 --> 0:00:28.720 feel like it's familiar to them. Plant based food might 0:00:28.720 --> 0:00:31.720 have started out as a niche lifestyle choice for vegans 0:00:31.720 --> 0:00:35.760 and vegetarians back in the seventies with tofurkey and frozen 0:00:35.880 --> 0:00:41.320 veggie burgers, but today you can find plant based milk, cheese, fish, meat, 0:00:41.400 --> 0:00:44.760 and so much more in your local grocery store. The 0:00:44.840 --> 0:00:49.120 plant based market is even conquering fast food, joining in 0:00:49.200 --> 0:00:52.000 on the plant based meat craze with their newest addition 0:00:52.080 --> 0:00:55.800 to the menu, the PLT. McDonald's will no longer just 0:00:55.880 --> 0:00:57.960 be a place for a meat lover is as it's 0:00:58.000 --> 0:01:03.920 introducing it's very own plant based burger. From McDonald's to 0:01:04.000 --> 0:01:08.440 Burger King, from Kentucky Fried Chicken to Whitecastle, beyond meat 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:12.080 and competitors like Impossible Burger can be found in pretty 0:01:12.160 --> 0:01:16.200 much every fast food chain across North America. And for 0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:19.759 Ethan Brown, that's exactly where he wants to be. Our 0:01:19.840 --> 0:01:23.839 job is not to moralized or or to to tell 0:01:23.840 --> 0:01:26.520 people what to do, and that's why again people give 0:01:26.520 --> 0:01:28.759 bel Muscow hard time. I actually really admire what he's 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:31.120 done because he's made it sexy to have a car 0:01:31.280 --> 0:01:33.399 that's really good for the earth, right, And that's what 0:01:33.480 --> 0:01:34.600 we have to do. I don't know if you can 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:37.640 make a sexy burger, but it can help you look sexy. 0:01:37.720 --> 0:01:39.000 But we have to go out and do that, create 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:43.559 something that people just as satiates and they love. So 0:01:43.720 --> 0:01:47.760 my next question, why is plant based meat having a moment? 0:01:48.320 --> 0:01:50.720 I recently have the chance to talk to Ethan for 0:01:50.800 --> 0:01:55.160 Next Question Live, our intimate business and innovation focus series 0:01:55.440 --> 0:01:58.080 that's recorded in front of a live audience in our 0:01:58.080 --> 0:02:02.320 New York offices. Thank you are coming and welcome to 0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:06.400 Next Question Live. When I asked Ethan where this seed 0:02:06.800 --> 0:02:10.720 pardon the pun of his plant based company ideas sprung from, 0:02:10.760 --> 0:02:14.840 he said his childhood and his dad were major influences. 0:02:15.520 --> 0:02:17.480 So my dad grew up in the country. Um, he 0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:20.840 grew up in Connecticut in New York, but married my 0:02:20.880 --> 0:02:22.840 mother who was from the city, and so sort of 0:02:22.880 --> 0:02:25.880 a compromise was they were going to live in the city. 0:02:25.919 --> 0:02:27.680 But but he really have you ever seen like a 0:02:27.680 --> 0:02:29.839 deer in Central Park or something like that? That would 0:02:29.840 --> 0:02:32.280 be my dad, Like you just sort of not comfortable, right, 0:02:32.320 --> 0:02:33.680 So he always wanted to be out in the in 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:37.040 the country where he enjoyed nature, and so, um, you know, 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:38.919 ever since I was a baby, we would go out 0:02:38.960 --> 0:02:42.960 to a farm and enjoy ourselves and associpe for recreation. 0:02:43.000 --> 0:02:45.440 But he's pretty entrepreneur himself, so he started to create 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:49.079 a dairy operation at the farm we bought, um, as 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:51.840 I mentioned, and and uh, that took on a life 0:02:51.880 --> 0:02:53.720 of its only that hunter ahead of Holstein cattle. And 0:02:53.760 --> 0:02:55.720 you know, he's a professor and he's very sort of 0:02:55.720 --> 0:02:57.880 cerebral as a person. Um. But this is a part 0:02:57.919 --> 0:02:59.240 of him that I think he wanted to express and 0:02:59.240 --> 0:03:02.800 bring ourselves together with. And so you know, as you 0:03:03.200 --> 0:03:06.280 become exposed to the animals that are in the food system, 0:03:06.320 --> 0:03:08.360 it becomes harder, at least it did for me as 0:03:08.360 --> 0:03:12.600 a child, to differentiate between our dog, for example, in 0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:14.959 a pig or a dog and sheep, right, because they're 0:03:15.000 --> 0:03:18.680 so similar biologically. And I didn't understand that as a child. 0:03:18.840 --> 0:03:20.560 But as I got older and started to read and 0:03:20.600 --> 0:03:23.560 understand science better, I began to understand why I felt 0:03:23.600 --> 0:03:27.320 that way. And so over time I developed a discomfort 0:03:27.400 --> 0:03:30.560 with treating one animal one way and another another way. 0:03:30.600 --> 0:03:32.919 I felt that wasn't consistent. But then I went into 0:03:33.000 --> 0:03:35.320 my own career, which was an energy and and I 0:03:35.360 --> 0:03:38.320 really was focused on climate coming out of school, and 0:03:38.320 --> 0:03:41.680 and even then it was something that people were really 0:03:42.440 --> 0:03:44.760 anxious about. And of course we haven't done much in 0:03:44.840 --> 0:03:46.640 all these years, but we're now starting to You are 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:50.880 a vegetarian, Yes, I'm worth, I'm vegan. You're vegan? Okay, whoa? 0:03:51.200 --> 0:03:54.480 So when did you become vegan? I was totally, like 0:03:54.480 --> 0:03:57.280 like most young people, uh, you know, trying to find 0:03:57.280 --> 0:03:59.920 my way. So I wasn't completely integrated or coherent. Right. 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:04.280 I would stop eating certain types of animals and I'd 0:04:04.280 --> 0:04:05.880 have fish instead, you know, And I said, well'm not 0:04:05.920 --> 0:04:08.600 gonna need land animals, but I have fish. Right. My daughter, 0:04:08.640 --> 0:04:11.720 when she was a vegetarian, she didn't eat meat except 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:15.200 for bacon. Yeah, exactly. So there's bits and elements of 0:04:15.280 --> 0:04:18.280 your trying to become this integrated person. And so I 0:04:18.320 --> 0:04:20.600 would do things like that throughout my childhood, and then 0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:24.839 as I became an adult, UM, I became a vegetarian. 0:04:25.200 --> 0:04:27.680 But it's interesting even then, UM in this I think 0:04:27.720 --> 0:04:29.880 you'll see this in our work, particularly with athletes. I 0:04:29.920 --> 0:04:31.720 played basketball when I was in college, and I kept 0:04:31.720 --> 0:04:33.560 getting injured for reasons had nothing to do with diet. 0:04:33.600 --> 0:04:35.840 My knees just we're not where they needed to be, 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:38.240 and people around me and be like, oh, you gotta 0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:40.920 eat meat. You know, you got and so I started 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:42.640 to eat meat again, you know, and then I stopped 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:45.680 after I got out of school. Um. And part of 0:04:45.680 --> 0:04:48.120 what I've done with athletes is just trying to trying 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:51.080 to sort of dis uh, you know, disabuse that notion 0:04:51.120 --> 0:04:53.360 that you need to have animal protein to flourish. In fact, 0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:56.440 that's completely wrong. In fact, it has the opposite of 0:04:56.440 --> 0:05:00.200 fact correct. It creates inflammation in your joints and other 0:05:00.240 --> 0:05:03.159 parts of your body that inhibit your ability to recover quickly. 0:05:03.160 --> 0:05:06.200 And so therefore from a simply getting as much as 0:05:06.200 --> 0:05:08.559 you possibly can in it's better to have a plant 0:05:08.560 --> 0:05:10.760 based source of protein, and we can unpack this. But 0:05:11.440 --> 0:05:13.520 if you think about it, you know what we're trying 0:05:13.560 --> 0:05:15.760 to do is get protein into our bodies, and you 0:05:15.760 --> 0:05:18.000 have to think about the delivery mechanism for that. If 0:05:18.000 --> 0:05:20.320 you think about the animals doing, the animal is consuming 0:05:20.400 --> 0:05:22.679 a lot of vegetation and they're consuming a lot of water, 0:05:23.320 --> 0:05:25.760 and then they're using the digestive tracks and their skeletal 0:05:25.800 --> 0:05:29.480 muscular system to create muscle, which we then harvest is meat. 0:05:29.760 --> 0:05:31.800 But the purpose of that muscle is not for us 0:05:31.839 --> 0:05:33.880 to eat it. It's actually for the animal to perform work, 0:05:33.960 --> 0:05:35.839 just like it is in your body and my body. 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:37.479 So there's lots of things in it that we don't 0:05:37.520 --> 0:05:40.640 necessarily want, right and so if we're going to start 0:05:40.640 --> 0:05:43.359 from a blank canvas, we have the opportunity now to 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:45.280 go ahead and build a piece of meat that's free 0:05:45.279 --> 0:05:47.279 of many of those things that we don't want. And 0:05:47.320 --> 0:05:49.240 if you can do that, then you create something that 0:05:49.279 --> 0:05:52.640 really helps the human body flourish rather than has dilatorious 0:05:52.680 --> 0:05:56.400 impact in certain wis when we come back the mad 0:05:56.560 --> 0:06:12.520 scientists who help get Ethan Brown beyond eat. For Ethan 0:06:12.600 --> 0:06:14.800 spending time on the farm as a kid, had a 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:18.840 huge impact on his personal relationship with animals and meat, 0:06:19.400 --> 0:06:21.880 but it took him a while to get there professionally. 0:06:22.600 --> 0:06:25.760 He went to Connecticut College, where he played basketball, and 0:06:25.800 --> 0:06:29.240 then got his NBA at Columbia. He had always been 0:06:29.240 --> 0:06:33.400 passionate about the environment, so after graduation he got into 0:06:33.480 --> 0:06:36.640 clean energy tech. But it wasn't until he became a 0:06:36.720 --> 0:06:39.920 father that he got the push he needed to get 0:06:39.920 --> 0:06:43.400 into the meatless meat biz. But my kids really young. 0:06:43.480 --> 0:06:45.920 One of the moments I did have was my wife 0:06:46.000 --> 0:06:47.760 und I necessarily weren't on the same page at first. 0:06:47.839 --> 0:06:49.159 Where she grew up. She grew up in the country, 0:06:49.160 --> 0:06:51.400 her father hunts and things like that, and so you know, 0:06:51.440 --> 0:06:53.880 our kids when they were really little would have animal protein. 0:06:54.120 --> 0:06:56.120 Uh And I can remember being on the Jersey Turnpike 0:06:56.240 --> 0:06:58.919 driving up to probably see my family up here, and 0:06:59.279 --> 0:07:02.320 uh um, stopping at a fast food restaurant and the 0:07:02.400 --> 0:07:04.800 kids were ordering something and I just felt so uncomfortable 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:06.840 with right, and it was at discomfort and they were 0:07:06.920 --> 0:07:08.840 really small. So I gotta go start this business. I've 0:07:08.880 --> 0:07:10.800 been thinking about it for getting what a happy meal 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:13.880 or something. I won't say where it was, but it 0:07:14.080 --> 0:07:16.520 really gave me. It wasn't that, but it gave me discomfort. 0:07:16.720 --> 0:07:19.600 And it's that sense of inside that if I don't 0:07:19.640 --> 0:07:21.920 express this, then I'm going to let my life go 0:07:21.960 --> 0:07:25.760 by without doing it. Let's talk about this idea that 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:29.840 you brought to the University of Missouri. You went to 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:32.960 a lab there and you met two kind of mad scientists, right, 0:07:33.960 --> 0:07:36.720 and they were working and they would provide the perfect 0:07:36.760 --> 0:07:41.320 recipe for the beyond meat product, so um in Layman's terms, 0:07:41.360 --> 0:07:43.520 what were they doing? It was so interesting. So I 0:07:43.520 --> 0:07:45.360 looked for years for something that would do this. I 0:07:45.400 --> 0:07:47.160 looked at lab row eat a lot, and sort of 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:51.240 mid two thousands, someone asked about that, and I felt coming. 0:07:51.280 --> 0:07:52.640 I was in the fuel cell sector, which is a 0:07:52.640 --> 0:07:56.720 great sector for for replacing the internal combustant engine UM. 0:07:56.760 --> 0:08:00.440 But if you look at um lab ow meat, it's 0:08:00.480 --> 0:08:03.120 very difficult to see when it's going to become commercially available. 0:08:03.200 --> 0:08:06.000 But what these scientists were doing was essentially taking the 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:07.920 protein from plants, and let's say it organizers like this 0:08:08.000 --> 0:08:10.840 in a plant, right, we need to basically break its 0:08:10.840 --> 0:08:13.480 bonds and reset it so it takes on that texture 0:08:13.520 --> 0:08:15.440 of muscle that you're so familiar with when you bite 0:08:15.480 --> 0:08:17.160 into a piece of meat. So they were doing that 0:08:17.240 --> 0:08:18.560 and they had found a way to do it better 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:20.520 than anybody else. And so I called them up and 0:08:20.520 --> 0:08:22.760 just said, hey, can we can we work together? And 0:08:23.520 --> 0:08:26.040 they really needed an entrepreneur because they were more propos 0:08:26.080 --> 0:08:29.200 oial than entrepreneurial. And we started working together and it 0:08:29.240 --> 0:08:33.800 worked out. So what exactly is in beyond me? Sure? Sure, 0:08:33.920 --> 0:08:36.320 and it's we get a lot of questions about that, 0:08:36.360 --> 0:08:37.800 and so it's a really good opportunity me to talk 0:08:37.840 --> 0:08:40.720 about it. So it's the core parts of meat. It's protein, fat, 0:08:40.720 --> 0:08:43.760 and water. And so the protein is harvested directly from 0:08:43.760 --> 0:08:45.959 a plant. And when you when you think about this, 0:08:46.400 --> 0:08:49.440 so you have let's say a p or we can 0:08:49.559 --> 0:08:51.959 use any any lagoon really works right, and you're you're 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:54.160 extracting the protein from it. So we millet. We have 0:08:54.160 --> 0:08:56.840 a producer millet for us, and then we separate by 0:08:56.920 --> 0:08:59.480 changing the pH level and water the protein and the fiber. 0:08:59.800 --> 0:09:02.240 We take that protein and reset those bonds so it 0:09:02.280 --> 0:09:04.280 takes on the former muscle. That's kind of it, right, 0:09:04.480 --> 0:09:05.760 And there are other things we have to add into it. 0:09:05.760 --> 0:09:07.959 There's fats and and and minerals and vite him and 0:09:08.080 --> 0:09:10.600 and things like that. But for me, it's really important. 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:12.360 You know, I always start with mom, and that's really 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:15.280 how I think about things. I started so early working 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:17.240 in the stores, so I would go to whole foods 0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:19.240 and hand out our products and listen right, and and 0:09:19.280 --> 0:09:21.160 so Mom would often tell me, Hey, this is what 0:09:21.200 --> 0:09:22.920 I want. Dad would tell me this is what I want. 0:09:23.000 --> 0:09:25.120 So what else do you put in there other than 0:09:25.320 --> 0:09:27.880 the protein and the fat? And where do you get 0:09:27.920 --> 0:09:31.720 the fat? And for you, it's such a interesting subject. 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:34.720 And so we're continuing to So the protein, let's say, 0:09:34.720 --> 0:09:36.760 comes from the I'll talk about our Dunking product, which 0:09:36.760 --> 0:09:38.120 is great. If you're walking out the city, you can 0:09:38.120 --> 0:09:40.240 see uh, you know, Duncan selling the product. I would 0:09:40.280 --> 0:09:41.840 really encourage people to go out and get that here 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:44.280 in New York. It's so good. And so that has 0:09:44.679 --> 0:09:48.440 I bet you would love it. I literally love it. 0:09:48.559 --> 0:09:50.400 And but that one's a really neat one. It has 0:09:50.600 --> 0:09:52.520 it has sunflower seed protein in it. Like who doesn't 0:09:52.520 --> 0:09:53.840 want to get up in the morning and have sunflowers? 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:55.319 Like you can either have a piece of pork, you 0:09:55.360 --> 0:09:58.360 know something. It's been made from sunflower seed protein, mung bean, 0:09:58.559 --> 0:10:01.360 brown rice and peace, so that creates the protein. And 0:10:01.400 --> 0:10:03.480 by adding all this protein together, we're actually putting more 0:10:03.480 --> 0:10:05.320 protein in it than it is pork. And then you 0:10:05.320 --> 0:10:08.000 have things to create the fatty mouth feels of cocon 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:11.240 and oil and and uh and canola and things like that. 0:10:11.559 --> 0:10:13.080 And then you have to add the minerals right, and 0:10:13.080 --> 0:10:16.040 the vitamins right. So they're giving people something that satiates 0:10:16.080 --> 0:10:18.600 but also provides nutrition for their body in the same way. 0:10:18.760 --> 0:10:21.200 But when it comes to color, for example, for our products, 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:23.640 we have to use things like beet juice and pomegranate, 0:10:23.679 --> 0:10:25.280 and we try to find parts of algae that will 0:10:25.280 --> 0:10:28.400 transition from red to black and gray. So you know, 0:10:28.440 --> 0:10:31.200 you can rest assured that we'd have put really strict 0:10:31.200 --> 0:10:33.839 guidelines on what goes into this product, how many calories 0:10:33.840 --> 0:10:36.720 and it be on its It's really not about the 0:10:36.760 --> 0:10:39.439 calories for us. It's the calories are roughly equivalent. If 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:41.880 you look a regular ham. Yeah, if you look at 0:10:41.960 --> 0:10:43.880 and just goes on the sausage, I'll talk about that 0:10:43.880 --> 0:10:47.439 for a second. That is less fat, it has less 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:49.839 saturated fat, and we've taken on the nose a lot 0:10:49.880 --> 0:10:53.079 about sodium. That product is thirty seven percent less sodium 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:55.400 than a normal pork sausage. Now you go to our burger, 0:10:55.400 --> 0:10:57.360 people like, ah, that burger has so much sodium in it. 0:10:57.520 --> 0:10:59.560 But does anyone in the audience know how much sodium 0:10:59.559 --> 0:11:02.040 is in our produ Like, given what you hear, let 0:11:02.040 --> 0:11:04.400 me just take a guess somebody, I don't know. I 0:11:04.440 --> 0:11:06.960 had to confess I didn't see that, okay. So people 0:11:07.000 --> 0:11:10.800 in the media saying, oh, you know as it so yeah, okay, 0:11:10.800 --> 0:11:13.640 So it is eighteen of daily value of your sodium, right, 0:11:13.679 --> 0:11:15.280 So that's the same that's in a half a cup 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:18.240 of Mari narrow sauce for example, or tortilla wraps and 0:11:18.280 --> 0:11:20.959 things like that. So you know, there's an article that 0:11:20.960 --> 0:11:22.319 around the Wall Street Journal and said, oh, bee, I 0:11:22.360 --> 0:11:26.280 mean there's more sodium than a normal burger. Okay, But 0:11:26.320 --> 0:11:27.720 then you gotta unpack that a little bit. What were 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:30.400 they comparing. They were comparing a season burger, which is ours, 0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:33.080 with an unseasoned burger. So go walk down the island 0:11:33.120 --> 0:11:35.560 the supermarket pick up or preseason burger, and you're gonna 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:37.719 have more sodium or at least an equivalent amount, right, So, 0:11:37.880 --> 0:11:39.440 lots of games that are being played in print of 0:11:39.440 --> 0:11:41.360 position our product and were you getting a lot of 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:46.600 pushback from you know, not only some health health food people, 0:11:46.840 --> 0:11:50.280 but you know, for example, John Mackie, the CEO of 0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:54.600 Whole Foods, who was instrumental in your early success, has 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:56.920 said that quote, if you look at the ingredients, they 0:11:56.920 --> 0:12:02.640 are super highly processed foods, which isn't very healthy. Now, 0:12:02.679 --> 0:12:05.240 I know you want an opportunity to kind of respond 0:12:05.280 --> 0:12:07.320 to some of that. And I imagine some of this 0:12:07.480 --> 0:12:11.080 is being fueled by the cattle industry, the meat industry. Yeah, 0:12:11.080 --> 0:12:12.720 I'm gonna have a ton to say about this. How 0:12:12.800 --> 0:12:17.520 much time do you guys have? So John Mackie is 0:12:17.520 --> 0:12:19.080 giving me the great gift of like being one of 0:12:19.080 --> 0:12:21.600 my most important customers and then also saying this thing right, 0:12:21.640 --> 0:12:24.120 So I gotta figure out how to walk that line. 0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:26.760 That's a good guy for sure, And you know he 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:28.640 has his opinion and he's free, free to share it. 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:32.880 He's wrong for sure. Um, but you know it's it's 0:12:32.880 --> 0:12:35.480 a new day and and uh not everyone grasps us 0:12:35.800 --> 0:12:39.120 So what we what we are doing? And it's really 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:41.839 a tale of two processes. Which process do you want? Right? 0:12:41.920 --> 0:12:44.120 So the process, in my mind is a series of 0:12:44.160 --> 0:12:46.600 steps to get to an outcome. That's what a process is, right, 0:12:47.040 --> 0:12:50.320 and so is our process better than industrial agriculture? Right? 0:12:50.360 --> 0:12:52.120 And so let me just walk through it. So we 0:12:52.200 --> 0:12:54.679 start with the plants, right. We separate the protein from 0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:57.240 the plant, and then we run it through steps of heating, cooling, 0:12:57.240 --> 0:12:59.880 and pressure which set it into that muscle structure. Right, 0:13:00.120 --> 0:13:02.960 and we present that with fat and and uh and 0:13:02.960 --> 0:13:06.599 and minerals and vitamins as a piece of meat for you. Right. Okay, 0:13:07.040 --> 0:13:08.800 you can then look at animal I your culture, right, 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:10.960 And what's happening there is the animals consuming the product. 0:13:11.160 --> 0:13:16.880 They're also being giving antibiotics, this is industrial agriculture animal product, antibiotics, hormones, 0:13:17.200 --> 0:13:20.200 veterinary drugs right there, being raised in special conditions. Some 0:13:20.240 --> 0:13:22.839 of them are being given so much feed so quickly 0:13:22.880 --> 0:13:25.720 they can't walk uh, and then they're brought to slaughter. 0:13:26.120 --> 0:13:28.880 When they're slaughtered. There's all sorts of contentments and residual 0:13:29.559 --> 0:13:31.400 elements that are in the product that the USDA in 0:13:31.440 --> 0:13:33.240 fact has a program to try to keep those out 0:13:33.240 --> 0:13:35.640 of the food supply. So that's the process that you 0:13:35.640 --> 0:13:38.840 really need to consider. Now, it might be that Michael 0:13:38.840 --> 0:13:41.360 pollen And and Mackie live in a world where they 0:13:41.360 --> 0:13:43.719 can go to Martha's vineyard or to Marin County and 0:13:43.760 --> 0:13:47.160 they can get that grass fed hen that that most 0:13:47.200 --> 0:13:49.880 of us can't have, right, And so that's the world 0:13:50.679 --> 0:13:52.880 where I think people maybe get into trouble. They think, 0:13:53.200 --> 0:13:54.840 you know, if we can all just have this type 0:13:54.840 --> 0:13:58.000 of product, will be fine. But that's not how we eat, right, 0:13:58.040 --> 0:13:59.559 And that's not just that's not a way that we 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:02.360 can feed the world's population. So we have to develop 0:14:02.400 --> 0:14:05.120 a better process, and that's what we do. You know, Um, 0:14:05.520 --> 0:14:09.240 I know that you're not trying to say to people, 0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:12.360 don't eat meat at all necessarily. I mean, I think 0:14:12.400 --> 0:14:15.040 you're saying you let me read a quote that you've 0:14:15.200 --> 0:14:17.959 You've said, you don't build a business telling people not 0:14:18.080 --> 0:14:21.720 to eat what they love. Um. So, so you're really 0:14:21.840 --> 0:14:26.720 asking them to supplement sort of meat if they can, right, 0:14:27.000 --> 0:14:30.120 I mean, tell me your philosophy, Like, who's your target market? 0:14:30.480 --> 0:14:33.040 How are you trying to really sell the concept to 0:14:33.200 --> 0:14:36.920 consumers who may you be curious but not that jiggy 0:14:37.000 --> 0:14:39.600 with it. As my daughter would say in seventh grade 0:14:39.600 --> 0:14:46.640 about twelve years ago, ahead Will Smith, Um, he's great. 0:14:47.000 --> 0:14:52.800 Uh So, Um, you know it's our target customer is 0:14:53.080 --> 0:14:56.840 the American consumer and the global consumer. It's somebody that 0:14:57.040 --> 0:15:01.800 is interested in consuming meat. But it's beginning to realize 0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:04.120 that there are issues around the levels of me and 0:15:04.160 --> 0:15:06.920 something we're having and I just don't know. I love 0:15:07.000 --> 0:15:10.360 me like I love to have burgers, and I loved 0:15:10.360 --> 0:15:13.200 having fried chicken. It's one of my favorite things, right, 0:15:13.240 --> 0:15:16.040 And so I get it. I'm not in any way 0:15:16.080 --> 0:15:18.960 you love that now, well, I love our products that 0:15:20.080 --> 0:15:22.360 I was going to say, you're vegan, you can't eat 0:15:22.400 --> 0:15:25.080 that stuff? Pick me off the show. No, no, so 0:15:25.160 --> 0:15:27.520 I But but growing up, that's really what I developed 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:29.000 a taste for and it was really good and I 0:15:29.040 --> 0:15:32.360 understand it, right, and and so this is not about, 0:15:32.720 --> 0:15:36.560 you know, vilifying that decision. It's it's simply about you 0:15:36.640 --> 0:15:39.680 think about the landline. Did anyone get into like a knockdown, 0:15:39.760 --> 0:15:42.480 drag out fight about like you know, the cell phone 0:15:42.520 --> 0:15:45.400 or placed in the landline. It just happened, right. There 0:15:45.400 --> 0:15:47.840 are people like my daddy using landline. I'm always going 0:15:47.880 --> 0:15:51.040 to use the landline, like you're not a man if 0:15:51.040 --> 0:15:54.400 you don't use a landline like that. Never Yeah, but 0:15:54.440 --> 0:15:57.120 there wasn't a whole industry at risk right, A T 0:15:57.240 --> 0:16:01.840 and T provides myself service SERVI. So that's what some 0:16:01.880 --> 0:16:03.920 of the smartest meat companies are doing. So it's really 0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:07.320 not around us versus them, it's around is there, and 0:16:07.320 --> 0:16:09.640 it's I think it's a quintessential American idea is there's 0:16:09.640 --> 0:16:12.360 something that's good, which is meat. Let's make it better. Right, 0:16:12.440 --> 0:16:14.080 Let's go ahead and create meat that doesn't have the 0:16:14.080 --> 0:16:15.840 same impact on the environment, doesn't the same impact on 0:16:15.880 --> 0:16:18.280 our bodies. So let's be honest. Those cattle farmers, you know, 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:21.400 they want people to eat regular beef that they're you 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:24.240 know that they're raising on their branches and they'll probably 0:16:24.280 --> 0:16:26.240 for a very long time be able to keep doing that. 0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:28.920 But well, that's not good news for you. Well, I 0:16:28.960 --> 0:16:31.560 think there's so much demand and it depends on what 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:33.920 the consumer wants. So when we go you know, when 0:16:33.920 --> 0:16:35.560 I was I was at a Barclay's conference and the 0:16:35.600 --> 0:16:38.280 audience was probably you know, in their fifties or so, 0:16:38.360 --> 0:16:40.560 and I asked them, ten years from now, you know, 0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:43.400 what percent of the market will be plant based? The 0:16:43.480 --> 0:16:47.120 numbers were extremely low. You go to places, to universities 0:16:47.400 --> 0:16:49.720 and it's like standing them. Only the kids understand this 0:16:49.920 --> 0:16:51.480 and One of the reason to understand it is because 0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:53.720 information is being disseminated so quickly. They can see on 0:16:53.760 --> 0:16:56.480 their handheld phones stat statistic things, see videos. And I 0:16:56.520 --> 0:16:58.800 also think they care more. I hate to say it 0:16:58.960 --> 0:17:02.160 because it's embarrassing for my generation, but they're really committed 0:17:02.200 --> 0:17:05.280 to doing something about climate change. They are, and they're okay, 0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:08.320 boomerang us to death. Have you have you seen? Have 0:17:08.359 --> 0:17:10.280 you seen the stuff that's going on in Sweden with 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:12.800 this flight shaming? Like that gives me real hope. Like 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:14.560 so people, if you take a flight somewhere where you 0:17:14.600 --> 0:17:16.840 could have taken a train, you're sort of seen as 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:20.080 neanderthal like kind of change. What are you doing? Yeah, 0:17:20.080 --> 0:17:22.160 And so I think there's a consciousness that's this rising, 0:17:22.200 --> 0:17:27.119 which just thrills me. It really is. It's an environmental 0:17:27.160 --> 0:17:30.920 consciousness that Ethan built into his own product. If you 0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:33.879 look at our impact, we use less water when we 0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:38.040 create a burger, I mean less land, we use half 0:17:38.080 --> 0:17:41.120 the energy, and we've fewer emissions. So from an environment 0:17:41.119 --> 0:17:45.840 of respect, if we feel great about the products, he 0:17:45.920 --> 0:17:48.600 may be flying high now, but when we come back, 0:17:49.000 --> 0:18:07.960 Ethan talks about almost hitting rock bottom. When Ethan Brown 0:18:08.040 --> 0:18:11.240 started bringing his plant based products to the masses. He 0:18:11.359 --> 0:18:15.639 thought about another mass market food campaign from his childhood, 0:18:16.160 --> 0:18:22.240 Good Milk, Got Milk, Got Milk. When I was growing up, 0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:24.760 they Got Milk campaign was a big deal. You know, 0:18:24.800 --> 0:18:27.000 started with like Bo Jackson and then Derek Jeter and 0:18:27.160 --> 0:18:30.040 and you know, Taylor Swift and all these others. And 0:18:30.280 --> 0:18:32.080 it shocked me that you could be in a school 0:18:32.200 --> 0:18:34.520 and you could advertise for a particular protein in the 0:18:34.600 --> 0:18:36.480 lunch room. And that was what the California that was 0:18:36.480 --> 0:18:38.080 what the Milk Board wasn't able to do right with 0:18:38.119 --> 0:18:40.760 these posters and things that we all grew up with. Uh, 0:18:40.960 --> 0:18:42.480 When it came time for me to build a campaign, 0:18:42.480 --> 0:18:44.040 and said, that's exactly what I want to do because 0:18:44.040 --> 0:18:46.280 I want moms and dads understand that their kids will 0:18:46.280 --> 0:18:48.480 flourish on this right. And so I hired the original 0:18:48.520 --> 0:18:50.560 architect of the Got Milk campaign, a guy named Jeff 0:18:50.600 --> 0:18:53.280 Manning is your first sponsor of California Milkboard. Great guy. 0:18:53.320 --> 0:18:56.199 We still work together, keep in touch. Um he's in 0:18:56.200 --> 0:18:57.800 the seventies now. And I said, can you help me 0:18:57.840 --> 0:18:59.800 do this? So we created a program called the Future Protein. 0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:02.320 Then we hired someone named Beth Moskowitz, who has been 0:19:02.320 --> 0:19:04.560 a rock star. She basically bought all of these NBA 0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:07.560 players into our brand and they live the brand. So 0:19:07.680 --> 0:19:09.480 Chris Paul this summer made a remark to me said, 0:19:09.520 --> 0:19:11.480 you know what, for the first time in years, I've 0:19:11.480 --> 0:19:14.320 forgot to ice after practice because my inflammation is so low. 0:19:14.640 --> 0:19:17.240 And he's running around like a kid. Now, an inflammation 0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:21.199 is such an exciting, relatively new area to really study 0:19:21.240 --> 0:19:24.040