The plan to have it sold at the meat counter is cute in terms of confidence, but suicidal if they want to market to vegetarians. Once you stop associating raw meat with food, it starts looking, well, gross and violent, and the smell is off-putting. Most vegetarians I've known, myself included, try to avoid that section of the grocery store entirely.
So while I applaud them trying to compete with meat directly and potentially sniping some carnivorous business, I hope they will also keep a few boxes for me in the hippie section.
I'd think that the market for "I can't believe it's not dead chicken" for vegetarians would be a tiny trickle compared to if they can sell it as "good conscience, and healthier too" to the section of us meat eaters who also find the meat counter off putting.
It's a bold move, to be sure. Nobody has ever had a fake meat product they were confident enough in to market to meat eaters, and as an ethical vegetarian, I certainly hope it works.
As a meat eater who happily eats pretty much whatever animal part I'm offered, I hope they succeed too, because I'd love to see a market for meat substitutes that are good enough that I get more delicious meat-like products to choose from that eventually taste better than the real thing.
So while I applaud them trying to compete with meat directly and potentially sniping some carnivorous business, I hope they will also keep a few boxes for me in the hippie section.