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Google tried to buy company making cheeseburgers with plants instead of meat

Google has experimented with some interesting bits of tech over the past few years (Google Glass, self-driving cars, Project Ara, etc.), and continues to do so. But its experiments aren’t just limited to computer tech. Larry and Sergey are also interested in food.

The search giant already has a food delivery service in the form of Google Express, but it also tried to acquire the company Impossible Foods recently. That’s quite a fitting name as Impossible Foods is developing a range of meats and cheeses that are made from plants rather than animals. Their key product right now is a cheeseburger, with both the meat and the cheese being plant-based.

Google apparently offered up to $300 million to acquire the company, but Impossible Foods wanted more, so Google walked away. What we don’t know is why Google wants to own a food company, but it’s fun to speculate.

Google likes to revolutionize industries. It did that with online search, it’s trying to do that with transport and Internet access, so why not food, too? Real meat is a very expensive, environmentally-unfriendly industry that also has a number of health and animal welfare question marks hanging over it. The first company that can produce a non-meat burger that tastes just like a real meat burger is on to a winner. I’m sure Google would love to be that company.

Who knows, maybe one day we’ll see Google competing with McDonald’s through a chain of fast food restaurants, only Google’s restaurants would also sell Chromebooks, Android smartphones and tablets, and offer fast food home delivery using self-driving cars that don’t expect a tip.

[Fast food counter image courtesy of Jon Bunting on Flickr]