McDonald’s usually leaves its fans racing to the drive-thru.
The fast food giant made a controversial decision.
And McDonald’s wants to add one bad item to the menu that left fans up in arms.
McDonald’s tests a new veggie burger in Canada
The plant-based meat industry was all the rage with companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods becoming darlings of Wall Street.
Veggie burgers have been around forever but these companies promised to make them more palatable with new technologies.
Fast food restaurants got in on the craze with Burger King releasing an Impossible Whopper made with a plant-based meat substitute.
McDonald’s began testing their own veggie burger with the unfortunate name of McPlant.
The McPlant became popular in Europe, so McDonald’s tested it in San Francisco and Dallas to see how Americans would react.
“The McPlant includes a plant-based patty co-developed with Beyond Meat that’s exclusive to McDonald’s and made from plant-based ingredients like peas, rice, and potatoes,” McDonald’s said in a statement. “The patty is served on a sesame seed bun with tomato, lettuce, pickles, onions, mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, and a slice of American cheese. It has the iconic taste of a McDonald’s burger because it is one.”
Customers in Dallas and San Francisco didn’t think the McPlant was as good as the real thing.
The test was a resounding failure, and McDonald’s decided not to add it to the menu.
McDonald’s USA President Joe Berlinger admitted what any American could have told them without a multi-million dollar campaign to test the McPlant.
People aren’t going to McDonald’s looking for healthy food or a veggie burger.
“I don’t think the U.S. consumer is coming to McDonald’s or looking for McPlant or other plant-based proteins from McDonald’s now,” Berlinger said at a conference in 2024. “It was not successful in either market.”
The company is back at it, testing another veggie burger in Canada.
Where’s the beef?
Select Canadian McDonald’s will be testing the new McVeggie in April.
In the past, McDonald’s has used Canada as their test market for items later released in the United States.
The fast food giant used a new blend for its veggie patty and also tested new sauce options to jazz it up.
“The McVeggie features a breaded veggie patty made with a blend of vegetables (including carrots, green beans, zucchini, peas, soybeans, broccoli, and corn) and seasoning, topped with shredded lettuce and mayo-style sauce served on a toasted sesame bun,” Nation’s Restaurant News reported. “Test restaurants are also offering a Spicy Habanero McVeggie with the same patty topped with creamy habanero sauce.”
McDonald’s Canada said the McVeggie was about giving customers more options.
Canada has a large Indian population that is vegetarian.
Taco Bell, Wendy’s, White Castle, and other fast food chains in the United States have experimented with plant-based meats.
The Left wants Americans to reduce their meat consumption to cut greenhouse gas emissions from livestock.
And McDonald’s could be willing to give the veggie burger another shot in America to please the environmental activist crowd.
