Impossible Foods is Doing the Impossible
                     IMPOSSIBLE FOODS IS 
DOING THE IMPOSSIBLE
www.barnummech.com | 800.922.7686 
3260 Penryn Road Loomis, California 
95650
 Impossible Foods set out to make the global food 
production system more sustainable by 
creating products which are healthier for people 
and the planet, and they’ve achieved their 
goal. 
 The Impossible Burger uses 75% less water, 
generates 87% less greenhouse gases, and 
requires 95% less land (and 100% fewer cows) 
as a conventional burger. 
ACHIEVING THE 
IMPOSSIBLE
 The global mega-trend toward healthier eating 
has led more and more consumers to seek out 
new plant-based food, less meat and less dairy. 
 Nowhere is this more evident than in the plant 
protein market, where research confirms plant-
based protein product’s steady growth for 
16 straight years. 
 This trend, coupled with concerns over the far-
reaching environmental impact of meat 
production has many consumers considering, 
and some even changing their attitudes toward 
eating plant-based meat. 
EATING IS BELIEVING 
 The veggie burger, developed in 1982, was quickly 
adopted by vegetarians but after its initial splash 
the 
appeal was limited to a very small hard-core market 
segment. Then, as now, consumers based their 
purchasing decisions on price, convenience, and 
taste and the veggie burger never tasted like a 
burger. Fast-forward to the present, and Impossible 
Foods has delivered a plant-based burger which 
looks, tastes, chews, and smells like beef. Named 
the Impossible Burger, it fulfills the company’s core 
mission of making delicious meat using plant- 
based products. 
 But don’t take their word for it! The Impossible 
Burger is now sold in more than 2,000 restaurants, 
from burger franchises to upscale dining venues 
throughout the United 
States and Japan. The burger won a 2017 Tasty 
Award and the prestigious National Restaurant 
Association’s 2018 FABI Award.
IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME 
 Achieving scale and planning for even more 
growth, Impossible needed to streamline and 
automate their 
production. 
 Their production process included numerous 
manual operations to move the product from one 
stage to another. They also had too much down-
time when they manually cleaned the equipment 
and performed other contamination prevention 
steps. 
 Despite the success of the product they were 
constantly changing and improving on their initial 
recipe to make the burger even better. 
 Impossible Foods’ evolving product line 
required evolving process solutions. 
Recognizing a need for systems which 
balance flexibility and cost-effectiveness, 
Impossible asked Barnum Mechanical to 
design and install a solution that allows for 
high availability, ease of operation, 
automated controls, is easy to clean, and 
conserves water and energy.
 Doug Cornwell, Barnum’s Controls Engineering 
Manager said “We designed a system which 
automated the transfer of the plant protein from 
the batching room to the paddle blenders where 
the product is mixed with the other ingredients. 
We knew Impossible needed a system which was 
flexible and sustainable. It needed to be easy to 
clean with minimal downtime and it needed to be 
agile to accommodate process changes.” 
 The new system automatically transfers the 
ingredients throughout the entire process, reducing 
raw material waste and improving production yields. 
Adhering to stringent food safety regulations, the 
system ensures sanitary product transfer while 
optimizing resource management. The new system 
supports continuous and semi-continuous blending 
and increases batching efficiency and production by 
allowing process adjustments without reconfiguration. 
The new Clean-in-Place (CIP) system facilitates 
automated cleaning cycles with minimal downtime. 
 Barnum’s Cornwell said “Impossible Foods wanted a 
system that would take them well into the future. 
We are proud to help them achieve their goals. We 
love the burger and look forward to tasting their 
next product.”
You Know Your Product. 
We Know the Process.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
 Doug Cornwell has been the controls engineering 
manager at Barnum Mechanical Inc. since 2006. He has 
been in the controls field specializing in food, beverage, 
and aseptic processes for 20 years. Doug enjoys 
designing and overseeing the implementation of the 
controls and electrical systems that bring Barnum 
Mechanical Inc.’s process designs to life. 
CONTACT 
Doug Cornwell / [email protected] / 
    (916) 663-5322 
ABOUT BARNUM MECHANICAL INC.
Barnum Mechanical Inc. (BMI) is a forward-thinking 
design-build firm specializing in the food, beverage 
and specialty process industries. BMI is known for 
superior design, project management and 
installation services. 
BMI has operated throughout the United States 
since1980.
GET YOUR PROCESSING 
SYSTEMS
www.barnummech.com 
800.922.7686 
3260 Penryn Road Loomis, 
California 95650