How Blended Burgers and Nuggets Could Entice Consumers to Cut Down on Meat
Grace Hussain | 23 July 2025
Foods that combine meat and plants might serve as a bridge for some consumers.
Burgers made with a blend of beef and mushrooms. Chicken nuggets that include a quarter cup of veggies in each serving. So-called “balanced proteins” are foods made with a mixture of meat and plants that could help address the food systems’ meat emissions issue. These blended meats come from both readily recognizable brands like Purdue and their Chicken Plus nuggets, as well as newer startups such as 50/50 Foods’ Both Burger. The pitch is that blended meats can appeal to consumers looking to cut back on meat but not willing to give it up entirely.
Advocates of the products view them as a win-win-win: they’re more familiar for meat-eaters, emit fewer greenhouse gas emissions, spare more farm animals than traditional meat and get people eating more vegetables. For now, balanced proteins account for a “negligible” part of the meat market, Rachel Stoczko, a representative of Nectar told Sentient in an email. But in a marketplace that has been sluggish for plant-based alternatives, balanced protein products could be different enough to break through.
“We want to stealth health this for adults, as much as we want to do it for kids,” Stephen Theiss, co-founder of 50/50 Foods, purveyor of a burger made up of half-beef and half-vegetables, tells Sentient. For kids and adults, the bottom line is “it goes back to the flavor.”
Read the full story.
