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Comment by chr1 | Hacker News Reader

Sure vegan burgers have their target market, but if they were healthy in addition to being vegan they would appeal to a larger market.

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There are vegetarian/vegan burgers available with fewer calories, often containing more beans or vegetables. They've been available for longer than the Impossible or Beyond burgers without gaining nearly as much public mindshare. A random example sold at my local grocery store:

http://drpraegers.com/our-food/california-veggie-burgers/ Ingredients: Carrots, Onions, String Beans, Oat Bran, Soybeans, Zucchini, Expeller Pressed Canola Oil, Peas, Broccoli, Corn, Soy Flour, Spinach, Red Peppers, Arrowroot Powder, Corn Starch, Garlic, Corn Meal, Sea Salt, Spices

They don't taste or feel like burgers, though. It seems that the products that taste like burgers (which require more fat and won't accommodate stuff like carrots and broccoli) are the ones that appeal to a larger market.

This is true of non-vegan burgers too, surely?

No. Vegan burgers have a small target market, and are not very appealing for most of the people. Non vegans would consider buying vegan burger if it had some advantage. Most of vegans would not consider buying normal burger even if it was better for their health. (I have a friend who keeps vegan diet even though she has to take vitamin suplements).

Why would 'health' be a contributing factor for sales of vegan burgers but not non-vegan burgers?

Market for vegan burgers that have the same health effect as non-vegan burgers is vegans (including people who try to become vegans). Because if it tastes the same or worse as meat costs about the same (usually more), what is the reason to buy them instead of normal burger or something like falafel.

Market for vegan burgers with better health effect than non-vegan burgers is vegans+health concerned non-vegans which is much larger than vegans alone.

Market for non-vegan burgers is always non-vegans. Being more healthy can affect the standing of particular non-vegan burger among other non-vegan burgers, but is unlikely to attract many vegans (which is an order of magnitude smaller market anyway and couldn't have high impact on the larger non-vegan market).

I think you're overestimating the number of people who are vegan for health reasons. People who are health conscious don't choose burgers - whether they're vegan or not, and most vegans who choose burgers are looking for taste, not nutrition.

It's a false equivalence. Burgers are not healthy - and very, very few people are looking for 'healthy burgers'. People are looking for 'tasty burgers', which is why so much effort is put into replicating the flavour and texture of meat.

I never talked about people who are vegan for health reasons (†). I was talking about people who are not vegan, and would like to eat less meat if it is healthy. The reasons you describe is exactly why vegan burgers are not appealing to the larger market of non-vegans.

(†) I believe if they were health conscious, they would it less meat, but would not be vegan.

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