The McPlant, McDonald's first vegan burger created in collaboration with Beyond Meat, will be available in about 600 more locations in California and Texas beginning next month.
McDonald's will extend the test of its first vegetarian burger, the McPlant, to around 600 more sites in the San Francisco Bay area and the Dallas-Fort Worth region on February 14. McDonald's initially tested the McPlant, which it created in collaboration with vegan business Beyond Meat, in early November at eight test sites in Irving, TX, Carrollton, TX, Cedar Falls, IA, Jennings, LA, Lake Charles, LA, Manhattan Beach, CA, and El Segundo, CA.
The plant-based patty is constructed of peas, potatoes, and rice and is topped with tomato, lettuce, pickles, onions, mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, and a slice of American cheese. The mayonnaise and cheese are not vegan, and the burger patty is cooked on a surface that also contains animal ingredients. McDonald's USA stated in a statement, "McDonald's USA is extending the test to select outlets in your region to help us assess consumer demand."
Prior to this revelation, Wall Street experts predicted that McDonald's will expand the McPlant faster than planned because to its success in test markets. After barely a month on the menu, the McPlant was exceeding its daily sales objectives of 70 burgers at each of the eight test sites. According to Piper Sandler analyst Michael Lavery, a countrywide deployment of the McPlant to McDonald's more than 13,600 US outlets may happen as early as the end of the first quarter of 2022. Back in December, BTIG analyst Peter Saleh accurately forecasted that the vegetarian burger will expand to 700 test sites in February. According to Saleh, the McPlant will become nationwide in 2023.F
McDonald's has gone meatless.
McDonald's tested the vegetarian P.L.T. (Plant, Lettuce, and Tomato) burger prepared using Beyond Meat's Beyond Burger patty at 28 locations throughout Ontario, Canada in 2019. The test culminated in a three-year development agreement between the vegan brand and the fast-food behemoth to build the McPlant platform, which will result in the worldwide roll-out of region-specific plant-based dishes. While the relationship has thus far resulted in the release of the McPlant burger, further products ranging from plant-based chicken to breakfast alternatives are in the works.
The McPlant burger first appeared in various European nations earlier this year, including Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Austria. A completely vegan McPlant, with vegan mayonnaise and cheese and cooked on a separate grill, debuted last month at 250 restaurants throughout the United Kingdom, with a full national rollout planned next year. McDonald's wants to become a category leader in the plant-based area in the UK and Ireland by 2040, and a net-zero company internationally by 2050.
Beyond Meat achieves its McDonald's target.
When Beyond Meat Founder and CEO Ethan Brown first introduced the Beyond Burger in 2016, he already had his eyes set on McDonald's. Brown told Fortune that year, "I've set a target for the firm and for myself, and it's extremely personal to me." "By the time my kids reach 16—they are 11 and 12 right now—they should be able to go into a McDonald's or Burger King and get a Beyond Burger." Brown's children have now reached that age, and his aim of having them order a Beyond Burger at every McDonald's in the nation may soon become a reality.
"We are thrilled to engage into this strategic worldwide collaboration with McDonald's, an exciting milestone for Beyond Meat, and look forward to supporting McDonald's as they deliver increased choice to menus internationally," Brown said in November to VegNews. "We will combine the power of Beyond Meat's quick and relentless commitment to innovation with the worldwide brand strength of McDonald's to deliver craveable, innovative plant-based menu items that people will enjoy."
Beyond Meat hired two new executives in December, Bernie Adcock and Doug Ramsey, both of whom spent decades working for meat behemoth Tyson. Ramsey, who formerly ran Tyson's McDonald's business, is now Beyond Meat's COO and will assist the firm in navigating its McDonald's development ambitions.