The PLT burger by McDonald's is set to compete against other "meatless" burger. (Image via VegNews)

McDonald's finally tries 'meatless' burger

Alfonsus Adi Putra
Business & Industry
Foods & Service
Sep 27, 2019
2116
On Thursday (26/9), McDonald’s in Canada finally decided to join the “green” bandwagon. For the trial period of 12 weeks, the fast-food chain is going to sell the plant, lettuce, and tomato (PLT) burger in 28 stores in Southwest Ontario.

This is an effort to compete against Burger King’s (BK) “Impossible Whooper” using Impossible Foods’ burger which went first in August and keeps on hailing customers. It is a tag-team match between McDonald’s and Beyond Meat versus BK and Impossible Foods.

For McDonald’s, this small test was important for it to “look before leaping”.

But, what is a burger without meat? McDonald’s collaborates with Beyond Meat, a start-up in California, to use its “meat” made of pea protein, canola oil, beet juice, and other ingredients.

The difference between “Impossible Whooper” and McDonald’s Beyond Meat burger is that McDonald’s is still going to cook the burger on the same grill used to cook meat and eggs, while BK cooks them separately. After all, it turns out that these burgers are not aiming for vegans, but for avid burger-eaters that see this “meatless” burger as a healthy switch.

Since its IPO in May, Beyond Meat’s shares had risen by 517%. Despite tumbling in recent months, cooperation with McDonald’s made the share rose up by 11% on Thursday. Beyond Meat was glad to announce its cooperation with McDonald's adding that it was able to fulfill the demand from the largest fast-food chain in the U.S.

Many fast-food chains began cooperating with Beyond Meat to invent healthier dishes. Last month, for instance, KFC in Atlanta began testing plant-based nuggets and boneless wings. The producer of such meat? Beyond Meat. Carl’s Jr and Del Taco also sell Beyond Meat’s products.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/sep/26/mcdonalds-beyond-burger-new-plant-based-food-plt

Business , Food , Burger , Meatless , McDonald's , Beyond-Meat , Canada