OAKLAND, Calif. – Impossible Foods launched production this week at its 68,000-sq.-ft. Oakland, California, production plant. The new facility will eventually have the capacity to produce 1 million lbs. of plant-based meat per month, which is enough to make 1 million ¼-lb. Impossible Burgers per week.

The Impossible Burger, which was developed in 2011, is the first burger made entirely from plants that looks, smells and tastes like ground beef, according to the company. The burgers are starting to appear on restaurant menus around the country including Umami Burger locations in California, Bareburger restaurants in New York and Hopdoddy locations in Texas as well as award-winning establishments in New York, San Francisco, Houston and Las Vegas.

“Our mission to transform the global food system is urgent, and the opportunity is huge – so we are embarking on one of the most ambitious scale-ups of any startup in the food industry,” said Impossible Foods CEO and Founder Patrick O. Brown, MD, Ph.D. “Our goal is to make delicious, sustainable, nutritious and affordable meat for everyone, as soon as possible.”

The discovery of a molecule called “heme” gives the Impossible Burger its beef-like attributes, according to the company. Key ingredients in the Impossible Burger are water, wheat protein, coconut oil, potato protein and leghemoglobin plus natural flavors and micronutrients. The Impossible Burger also contains protein and iron like regular beef but does not contain cholesterol, hormones or antibiotics. Impossible Foods states that the Impossible Burger requires about 75 percent less water, generates about 87 percent fewer greenhouse gases and requires around 95 percent less land to make compared to conventional ground beef from cows.

Impossible Foods employs about 200 people, including more than 40 people in Oakland. When the new plant is running at full capacity it will employ around 80 people.