McDonald’s Bets Big on Beyond Meats

As we reported on an earlier story, meat replacement companies have been raising money for expansion for years now. This is all in preparation for potential new brand partnerships with mainstream distribution. Some headway has already been made on this path as you can see by Subway’s Beyond Meatball Marinara sandwich, as well as other fast food establishments making changes to include meat replacement options on their menus. The big hold out, however, was always McDonald’s, but as of last week, this is no longer the case.

McDonald’s has been hesitant to introduce plant based meats options. However, as stated by their VP of global menu strategy in a press conference last week, McDonald’s has been quietly working on a recipe for their plant based burger option which they cleverly will name the “P.L.T.” which will stand for Plant, Lettuce & Tomato. They revealed that they are, now, finally ready to get feedback on the recipe and will be launching it in 28 locations throughout Southern Ontario. The P.L.T., as has been the case with the other plant based meat options in the market, will be exclusively sold at McDonald’s in the deal they struck with Beyond Meats. Depending on the results of their test run, the P.L.T. might see a future in locations globally. Meat replacement companies have been raising money for expansion for some time now, and this is their time to shine.

Better food options and sustainability have become a hot topic in society within the last few years, especially with the introduction of these meat alternatives. Mainstream retailers are starting to join the crowd of supporting an alternative meat rather than a traditional meat. A lot of these companies and projects are hoping to reduce traditional meat consumption and they are doing it for a purpose, some even qualify for assistance from grants focused on their mission. These include grants available to help reduce animal cruelty, as we mentioned in our previous article.