Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi and Alexis Christoforous speak with Impossible Foods CFO David Lee about the company’s initiatives to help solve the food insecurity crisis in the U.S.

Video Transcript

BRIAN SOZZI: Food insecurity is still very much a problem in America and has only been worsened by COVID-19. In our "Road to Recovery" sponsored by Wells Fargo, we're taking a look at the issue and initiatives businesses are taking to tackle it.

Impossible Foods is one of those companies. Its internal social good task force has been donating Impossible Burgers directly to food banks. It has also partnered with Colin Kaepernick's Know Your Rights Camp to address this issue, and they're on track to feeding 1 million people. Very good to see.

Let's bring in Impossible Foods CFO David Lee to discuss. David, always good to speak with you. Talk to us about these initiatives. What's the next step for some of them?

DAVID LEE: Well, for us, we've been hard at work for some time. But since COVID, you know, some report a quarter of all adults are food insecure. It's disproportionately hitting those who are at risk, and it's also hitting our kids.

So since the start of the pandemic, we've already given away enough food to feed about 750,000 people. But we're really targeting at least 1 million by the end of this year with some of the partners who are aligned with our mission as well.

You mentioned Colin Kaepernick. It's pretty varied. You know, we did a wonderful event with Isaac Rochell of the LA Chargers and a number of other celebrities who are committed to raising awareness for how insecure many, many folks in our country are for food.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: What have donations to food banks been like? We keep hearing that it's twofold. It's not just that the donations are down, but also that there are fewer volunteers because of the lockdown situation. And what is Impossible Foods doing to make this a more equitable and sustainable food system, David?

DAVID LEE: Well, right now we're averaging about 10,000 pounds of donated Impossible Foods product per week. And for us, it's not just about the food. It's about bringing more awareness so that we can get others to help in this campaign.

No Kid Hungry in particular is an organization that we're really trying to support. And we're trying to support them with, for example, giving away $3 for every purchase of our own cookbook on Amazon, to hosting a live Facebook event with Kal Penn and Traci Des Jardins and Eric Wareheim. So for us, it's about every lever we have to bring awareness to the crisis that we really see here in the US around food.

BRIAN SOZZI: David, are you surprised that we're still talking about food insecurity in America? Your business, by all indications, has been on fire. But on the other end of this, you have people going hungry every single day.

DAVID LEE: It's amazing how challenging food is in such a wonderful developed country as the United States. It's not just about those who are food insecure. It's about folks not having great choices for products that are nourishing, and frankly, good for the planet.

For us, our mission is around primarily giving people a better choice, meat eaters a better choice. But it's an important part of our mission to highlight the broader crisis that I think that is under-reported, frankly, about how food insecure folks are here in the US.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: What about making the food accessible? And I'm talking price point now. You know, sometimes products like yours come at a premium. How do you make sure it's accessible to everybody, David?

DAVID LEE: Yeah, it's a great point. You know, our mission requires that we be more and more accessible. We try to put our money where our mouth is, so to speak. Back in February, we reduced voluntarily our prices 15%.

We just rolled out at Walmart, the world's largest retailer, the Impossible Burger. And while they determine how to price it, their commitment to everyday low pricing was a big part of the reason why we are excited to be chainwide with Walmart.

And we will continue to reduce our prices. You know, our technology allows us to do it. As we scale, we can approach the same commodity pricing that the incumbents have. And we intend to share some of those cost savings with our customers and consumers.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: You mentioned Walmart. And Brian said a moment ago, business has been on fire. Retail sales have doubled every month, I think, since April. You're now in trader Joe's and in public supermarkets. How significant was being in those particular retailers for Impossible Foods?

DAVID LEE: Well, being able to increase our grocery business by something like 50x in the last six months was critical for our mission. And it's critical for the food insecurity issue we're talking about. More and more during this pandemic, meat-eaters are buying their products from grocery stores as they shelter in place.

So it was really important for us to support our food service customers, which we have. But we wanted to make sure that wherever meat is purchased, have the option of the Impossible Burger.

And we're not done yet. You're going to see continued announcements from us, because that's the point of our mission. The point of our mission is to let meat-eaters determine their future. And that means we have to be affordable and accessible.

BRIAN SOZZI: David, within some of those new doors, have you started to take market share from traditional meat?

DAVID LEE: Well, I know that nine out of 10 of the consumers of the Impossible Burger are hardcore meat-eaters. You know, I sometimes wonder whether or not the data will end up bearing out that we're expanding the category and consumption of meat. You know, our products have no cholesterol, less calories, less fat, but all the protein you want. Plus, it's far better for the environment.

So I think, you know, we have to wait to see. We're so small today. We're a tiny, tiny sliver of the very large meat industry. So it's too early to tell, but our mission requires us serving meat-eaters.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: What would you like to see before we let you go, David, on the policy front? How can Washington help when it comes to food insecurity?

DAVID LEE: Well, we believe that consumers will determine the future. And that requires as level a playing field for the best products offering the most transparent clarity on what their products do to people's health and the environment reign. So really, what we're looking for is an even playing field and a chance to access as many meat-eaters as possible. And I think we're beginning to do that, though we have much more to do.