While Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat have long dominated the plant-based burger space, several other vegan patties have surfaced over the past year. To kick off 2020, Trader Joe's has decided to throw its hat into the ring with its own, in-house rendition on the plant meat that can cook to "medium rare."

Photo courtesy of Trader Joe's

Initially leaked in September 2019, Trader Joe's has officially sent out a release that confirms the nationwide rollout of their meat-free burger patties. The "Protein Patties," as they're called, are made similar to Beyond Meat's, with a base of pea protein, sunflower oil, and beet powder that allows the burgers to look pink and juicy in the middle when fully cooked.

Each 8-ounce package of the patties costs $4.49, putting it on par with Beyond Meat, Impossible, and other refrigerated plant-based meats currently in grocers. While that's still a hefty price compared to the current cost of ground beef, given all of the new entrants into the market in the past year, it should only be a matter of time before the price of plant-based meat drops below that of regular meat.

The Protein Patties began their release across the nation on January 20th, so if they're not at your local Trader Joe's store yet, you should expect to see them soon.