McDonald's did a lot of things wrong with their plant-based meat burger. If you want to see it done right, just take a look at Burger King. In Germany, you can now substitute animal meat for plant-based meat in every burger, and on top of that they have very tasty plant-based burgers like the long chicken and vegan chicken nuggets. In Vienna, they've opened their first 100% plant-based location.
And yes, Beyond Meat's stock is not doing well, but this doesn't mean plant-based meats in general aren't doing well.
I recently tried a vegetarian (I think vegan, even) burger at a German McDonalds and it tasted more like it contained meat than the meat based burgers they sell.
It wasn't even significantly more expensive, I think.
There's a good chance I'd choose it again when/if I go to McDonalds the next time.
mcdonald's plant-based burger is tasteless. size is very small.
on the other hand, burger king's rebel whooper is very good. problem I experienced was that staff takes too much time to make it.
I have no developed taste for "real" burgers and I still wouldn't eat plant-based ones regularly. at least the pricing is normal, compared to burgers in vegan restaurants that cost 3-5 times more.
is meat consumption in fast-food chain the majority of meat consumption? if not, why the need to discuss the global meat consumption in the context of fast-food chains.
As someone who's been eating these things for a long time, it's notable they made something that's actually good.
Historically, veggie burgers were terrible. Most meat eaters still love their beef, but most of my friends actually like Beyond Burgers and get them not because they care about the environment or animal rights, but simply because they like the taste and want something beside a beef burger for a change.
I'm not saying it can't be replicated. I have no idea how well these companies will hold their share in the future. If I had to bet, I'd bet that McDonald's and Burger King and Wendy's will all make their own version, and Kraft or Frito Lay will make one for supermarkets, too.
But the market has definitely changed with the newer burgers. They're actually good now!
Here in the Kitchener-Waterloo region of Ontario/Canada, the local McDonalds ran with Beyond Meat burgers for about a month (maybe April-ish)? From what I could tell, it was very successful (often sold-out, and anecdotally the workers told me that it was the most popular new thing they'd seen in a long time). For my family, we went from not having eaten McD's for years to getting it occasionally.
However, they stopped it suddenly. So the fam now goes to A&W since they have Beyond.
Anecdotal evidence that doing meatless right in fast food can be a driver of growth, higher margins, and bring back a key demographic that otherwise wouldn't dream of setting foot in there.
Exactly. Most burger chains don't use high quality meat for their burgers. You go to McDonald's, Burger King, or whatever and you are getting a greasy grey slab of ground "meat" (let's not think to long about where that comes from) that is 1) very thin 2) a bit rubbery 3) not that tasty 4) has some filler content in addition to meat and fat. To cover that up, most burger chains use lots of sauce, salt, and spices. It's called fast food for a reason. You eat it and you walk away mildly disappointed with the whole experience. Not that hard to compete with with a vegan option of any kind. It will taste different, and probably better by any objective standard. But when the baseline is kind of bland and boring to begin with, the benchmark for good enough isn't that high.
The beyond burger is actually fine for that segment. I've had a few. They are alright. But I don't crave a beyond burger any more than I do a big mac. It's just bland fast food to me. I'll munch it away if I'm hungry and there's nothing else but it's not particularly good or excellent.
It's miles apart from a good quality premium burger that is made of ground meat from a good cut of meat. You grill it medium, medium rare. Grease dripping all over the place when you eat it, etc. Much harder to compete with that. Now that's something I enjoy eating once in a while.
The problem is that things like the beyond burger are somewhat better than a cheap fast food burger but not really in the same league as a really premium burger. But they are priced like one. So that narrows down the audience to people that actually like meat but feel guilty about it and want to pay more to eat less of it. These people exist of course but it's a relatively small group of people. I just try to eat other things than meat to cut down on meat consumption. Works fine for me.
On similar news; McDonalds also rolled out a vegan burger in Germany today. It's apparently only a test run but I hope it stays considering it's pretty damn good.
Lifelong meat eater here. I'm really happy about this news and hope it sticks over the long-run. These new plant-based burgers are basically zero penalty ways to eat more responsibly. They taste about as good as the normal "ok" burger from FastFoodJoint(TM), cost about the same, and are less worse for the planet and everybody on it.
It's also more accepting for people who have various dietary restrictions and opens up an entirely new, mediocre, but fast/cheap dining experience.
One thing to note is that after some initial offerings, Burger King has yet to really keep their plant burger in the weekly coupon deluge I get. Meaning if I want like 2 entire burger meals I can get it for under $10 with the right coupon. But if I want their Impossible Whopper I still end up paying full-price for it.
So yes, if the plant burgers were cheaper than the alternative there really wouldn't be much of a reason to eat the originals any more.
purely driven by curiosity, not vegan or health-concerned or anything, it still took me a very long time (years) to one time take a chance and try an Impossble burger somewhere (think it was A&W). One night I just decided to take the plunge.
It was 'fine'. But nothing is really incentivizing me to have it regularly. I kind of want to be mislead -- don't tell me it's a plant-based burger. If the studies are consistent, I'll think it's fine.
McDonalds finally taking the plunge into this is big for markets as is anything they get into. I suspect that they finally see the numbers working as far as consumer-readiness and competitors all selling them now also. So that indicates it must be working somewhat at the other places like Burger King etc. Has anyone you know said they eat plant burgers regularly tho - other than veggie/vegan friends??
Maybe McNatural would be a better name, less focused on the Plant aspect which I agree will turn ppl away.
I actually quite like the beyond meat burger as a burger or in a tomato sauce, but the impossible burger is to beef like for my taste now.
There's going to be all sorts of opinions, but I would not expect any of these meat substitutes to sell well at mcdonalds. It's not typically where people who care about any of the things that lead people to eat less meat typically buy their food. I've eaten there zero times in the last decade+.
I like the Beyond Meat burgers even though I'm not vegetarian. They remind me just enough of beef, but still make a perfectly fine sandwich. A&W make a mighty fine V burger with them, and I can only imagine McDonalds will pull it off just fine.
What I really wish McDonalds would bring to this side of the pond is Chicken Big Mac. I like them more than the beef Big Macs, but I've only ever seen them overseas.
There are places with Beyond Burger in Berlin and it's one of the best patties I tried, to the point were some non-vegetarians friends choose it when available.
On the other hand, Swedish fast food chain Max has a pretty good "plant beef" burger made of wheat and soy protein, and it costs the same as the meat version.
I guess with Beyond and Impossible you pay a hefty price for their marketing. Or for irrelevant features: Didn't one of them put a lot of research into making a "bleeding" plant burger? Bleeding may be relevant in some settings, but not at Burger King where you always get your burger well done (AFAIK).
I really hope McDonalds adds a veggie burger to their menu soon, too. I try to avoid meat, but often end up eating it in fast food for the convenience and due to a lack of alternatives.
Maybe a vegan sausage patty could be more easily convincing - they usually have lots of binders and spices anyway. Beyond Meat/Impossible Burger were disgusting to me (compared to regular beef), and they were dyed bright red and stayed bright red when they were cooked which is weird and not like meat.
My favourite (chain fast food) non meat burger option so far has been the one that McDonalds recently released in New Zealand - it's a deep fried, crumbed mashed potato patty with other vegetables in it too. Doesn't pretend to be meat but is delicious.
And yes, Beyond Meat's stock is not doing well, but this doesn't mean plant-based meats in general aren't doing well.
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