Vegan burger launched at US fast food chain

US burger chain, BurgerFi, is set to launch a vegan burger from Bill Gates-backed plant-based brand Beyond Meat.

The burger chain is adding the vegan burger to the menu in eight locations initially. They will continue to roll our the vegan burger to all of the 100+ stores of the burger company by the end of summer.

The vegan burger patties have been available at a small West Coast vegetarian burger chain for sometime. Moving into the meat-based market is a huge deal though. Ethan Brown, founder of Beyond Meat, explained: “This is a really important step out of the plant-focussed world and into a place where carnivores are going to.”

Customers at the burger chain look for plant-based options

BurgerFi already had a plant-based, quinoa burger on their menu. Despite being well-received, the chance to serve a vegan burger which actually tastes like meat was a huge draw. An important step in retaining a customer-base continually turning more towards plant-based options.

Paul Griffin, Executive Chef at BurgerFi, said: “Our VeggieFi burger is really popular, but there’s a real difference between a vegetable burger and this plant-based burger, because it truly tastes like burger. When you eat it, your mind tells you you’re eating beef.”

Demand for vegan burger outweighs risk

BurgerFi Chief Executive, Corey Winograd, discussed the risk involved when launching the vegan burger. He concluded that the rising demand outweighed those risks though.

He said: “It’s not easy to introduce new products. It’s certainly not easy to introduce new products that don’t have strong public awareness. But there’s a movement beginning where people are looking to have a diet that’s primarily plant-based. We try to give people what they want.”

“I’ve now come to understand that there are a growing number of semi-vegetarian people who want a primarily plant-based diet, and since we want to appeal to 100 per cent of consumers out there, we have to have something for them.”

The burger will be available from July 4th.

Beyond Meat launched their vegan burger in the meat department of chain Whole Foods Market last year. It sold out within one hour. The vegan burger brand also gained investment from meat giants Tyson Foods.

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