McDonald’s normally sticks to the classics like hamburgers and milkshakes on its menu.
But the fast food giant rolled the dice with one new age offering.
And McDonald’s eliminated one menu item that will have Democrats raising hell.
McDonald’s test run for the McPlant fails miserably with customers
McDonald’s will test potential new additions to its menu in select markets before it releases it nationwide.
Some items like the Filet-O-Fish end up becoming additions nationwide.
But others flop, never to be heard from again like the ill-fated McCrab – a crab cake sandwich that was tested in Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware.
McDonald’s tested one of the most unusual potential menu additions in the chain’s history, the McPlant.
The McPlant was a plant-based burger that was tested at more than 600 locations in 2022.
It featured a veggie burger patty from Beyond Meat – a plant-based meat substitutes company – made from potatoes, rice, and peas.
And it was topped with a slice of American cheese, lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, ketchup, and mayonnaise.
Texans were not McLovin the McPlant
McDonald’s USA President Joe Erlinger talked about the McPlant experiment at the Wall Street Journal’s Global Fast Food Forum in Chicago.
Erlinger said he “asked the team to test the McPlant in two very different markets, and they chose San Francisco and Dallas.”
“It was not successful in either market,” Erlinger said. “So, I don’t think the U.S. consumer is coming to McDonald’s or looking for a McPlant or other plant-based proteins from McDonald’s now.”
He said that the global fast-food giant would continue to watch the trends involving plant-based proteins.
The McPlant is a permanent addition to the menus of McDonald’s in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
“The bigger trend around protein consumption is really around chicken, and we think we’re poised to serve that trend well, and that’s where we’re making investments,” Erlinger said.
Chicken sales have surged at McDonald’s reaching near parity with beef.
“[We’re] also excited to further build on our success in chicken by continuing to invest in beloved icons like McNuggets and McChicken while further scaling the emerging favorites like McCrispy and McSpicy,” McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said in February. “These four equities are the building blocks of our growing chicken business, and we see the potential to add another point of chicken share by 2026, in part through an expansion of our McCrispy platform into wraps and tenders.”
This is the latest setback for plant-based proteins.
Veggie burgers have received a renewed push on Wall Street and in the media because they produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions than livestock.
Fast food restaurants began to jump onto the trend.
Burger King released an Impossible Whopper made with a plant-based patty from Impossible Foods.
And Taco Bell, Wendy’s, and other chains followed suit with their own plant-based offerings.
Beyond Meat was a hot stock on Wall Street reaching a price of over $230 a share in 2019.
Now the company’s stock is trading for less than $7.00.
All the hype in the world and moralizing can’t make the public want to eat veggie burgers.
