After an anticlimactic launch, McDonald’s has ended the McPlant product test with no intention as of now to re-launch.
According to the global financial services firm BTIG, “franchisee sentiment on the sales performance was underwhelming,” said BTIG analyst Peter Saleh. “Their assessment was that they don’t see enough evidence to support a national rollout in the near future.”
The McPlant was first rolled out November 2021 in Texas, Iowa, Louisiana, and California and supplied by plant-based meat substitute company, Beyond Meat. The roll out was initially successful selling approximately 500 McPlant burgers per week, or 70 per day.
So, McDonald’s expanded the product in February 2022 to approximately 600 stores, primarily 350 in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas and 260 in the San Francisco Bay Area. By March however, the McPlant was not performing as well, selling about 20 burgers per day and only three to five in rural areas.
While the burger is made from ingredients like peas, rice and potatoes, the McPlant is also not a vegetarian option since it is cooked with the same equipment used for real meat.
The McPlant, however, has only been discontinued in the U.S. According to McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski, the burger is more popular in the U.K. and has been launched in all restaurants in the U.K. and Ireland.
“As I’ve said before, when customers are ready for McPlant, we’ll be ready for them,” said Kempczinski.
While the McPlant is no longer an option, there are many other fast-food chains with plant-based meat alternatives:
- Burger King’s Impossible Whopper
- Carl Jr’s Beyond Famous Star Burger
- Freddy’s Steakburgers Veggie Burger
- Shake Shack’s ‘Shroom Burger
- White Castle’s Impossible Slider or Veggie Slider
