Burger King Thailand Joins Plant-Based Whopper Bandwagon With Aussie Alt Meat Player v2food

Burger King Thailand has become the latest to join the plant-based wave sweeping the global franchise, partnering up with Australian food tech v2food to launch a new meatless Whopper to its menu. The new Plant-Based Whopper will swap out the conventional beef patty for an animal-free soy-based version, and will be available across 100 locations in Thailand, in response to surging demand in the country. 

Launching on March 1, Burger King Thailand, subsidiary of QSR chain operator Minor Food Group, will now serve up plant-based versions of its famous Whopper. Minor The new meat-free burgers will be made with a soy-based patty supplied by Sydney-based startup v2food, all the regular toppings like tomatoes, lettuce and onion, as well as ketchup and conventional mayonnaise, which is suitable for vegetarians but not vegans. The burger is on the menu at 100 locations across the country and is sold THB165 (USD5.36) on its own and THB219 (USD7.12) as part of a set meal. 

It’s a move aligned with the fast food franchise’s global push to respond to the mainstream demand for meatless options, which has seen the chain roll out plant-based Whoppers made with v2food’s patties in South Korea, Japan and the Philippines. The Australian food tech, who recently closed record-breaking US$55 million Series B round, also produces the plant-based Rebel Whopper at Burger King-franchise Hungry Jack’s across Australia, and at Burger King locations in New Zealand. 

Minor Food also operates Burger King franchises in the Maldives, Myanmar and the Seychelles, but it remains to be seen if they will choose to debut the plant whopper in those locations. 

Elsewhere, Burger King has chosen to partner with Unilever-owned The Vegetarian Butcher to supply its plant-based burgers across Europe and mainland China. The fast food giant’s first-ever partnership with alternative protein players dates back to 2019, when it teamed up with Impossible Foods to debut a meatless whopper in its U.S. locations. 

Since pioneering the concept with its Impossible Whopper, Burger King has ignited a tidal wave of plant-based partnerships across the QSR industry, with other giants hopping on board to launch new meatless offerings in response to the mainstream demand from flexitarians and vegans alike. 

While KFC has announced its plan to become a “restaurant of the future” by collaborating with a number of firms in different markets, including Beyond Meat, Quorn and Lightlife, Starbucks has rolled out new plant-based offerings with Oatly, Beyond Meat and OmniPork in a landmark nationwide deal across mainland China, followed by debuting the Impossible Breakfast Sausage in Hong Kong and later on, in several key Asian markets. 

Perhaps the most attention-grabbing partnership to date is the recent major deals that Beyond Meat has secured with the “holy grail” of fast food giants: McDonald’s. Just last week, the Californian plant-based meat major revealed it has landed a three-year partnership to supply McDonald’s for its new “McPlant” line, as well as a global collaboration with Yum! Brands, which will see Beyond Meat co-develop new exclusive meat-free offerings for the group’s three biggest subsidiary chains: KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. 

Lead image courtesy of Burger King Thailand / designed by Green Queen Media.