McPlant Launch: McDonald’s Trials Beyond Burger Patty In Sweden & Denmark

McDonald’s Corp, the world’s biggest fast-food QSR chain, is now selling the McPlant burger, which features a Beyond Meat-made plant-based patty, in Sweden and Denmark in order to test response in the two markets, as reported by Bloomberg. The QSR leader says it will roll out the meat alternative burger in other markets soon as well, based on customer insights and response from the initial launch in Scandinavia.

McDonald’s has started rolling out its new plant-based burger, the McPlant, in Denmark and Sweden to trial out its product in these test markets. The Sweden test will last until March 15 2021, while in Denmark, the burger will stay on the menu until April 12 2021.

Scandinavia is a key market for plant-based alternatives, and as a result, several companies have prioritised this region for roll-outs. In fact, McDonald’s Sweden already boast five vegetarian friendly burgers on its menu, including the McVegan, which is 100% animal-free.

In November last year, McDonald’s made headlines when it announced that it would launch a McPlant Burger as well as other meat-free items such as chicken alternatives and more in 2021, in order to address the growing demand of plant-based consumers. Spanning across 100 countries, the fast-food giant serves more than 69 million people each day, selling an eye-popping 75 burgers a second, which adds up to over 2 billion burgers annually.

The company will be flexible with McPlant, which could be sold as a burger, chicken item, or breakfast sandwich

Chris Kempczinski, McDonal’ds Chief Executive Officer

Co-developed with Beyond Meat, the plant-based burger has been created using pea-based protein, according to McDonald’s Danish and Swedish websites. In an interview with Bloomberg News, McDonald’s mentioned that rice protein is a secondary protein ingredient in the burger. The fast-food giant will be sourcing the McPlant patties for the tests through Beyond Meat, however there is no mention of the supplier for future roll-outs.

In an investor meeting, Mcdonald’s international president Ian Borden said that the new McPlant alternative will be a ‘proven, delicious-tasting product.’

As the burger is topped with cheese and mayonnaise as well as cooked on the same grill as the chain’s beef burgers, the McPlant is not suitable for vegan customers.

McDonald’s Chief Executive Officer Chris Kempczinski has called the plant-based food ‘an ongoing consumer trend’. “The company will be flexible with McPlant, which could be sold as a burger, chicken item, or breakfast sandwich.”

According to the company, McPlant is available to roll out in other markets when they’re ready. Last McDonald’s Hong Kong & Macau debuted two plant breakfast menu items at all its outlet featuring Omni Luncheon, a vegan version of spam made by OmniFoods, the food tech arm of Green Monday.

The Scandinavian launch comes just days after Beyond Meat announced a collaboration with another food industry giant, PepsiCo for a new venture called The PLANeT Partnership (TPP), which will focus on creating plant-based proteins as well as take the responsibility of marketing the snacks and beverages that result from the venture.

While Beyond Meat saw its stock surge 39% the day of the PepsiCo announcement, the McPlant news has not pushed up the price by much as of yet.

Lead image created by Green Queen Media.