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McPlant may be McShelved for now

If you’ve been a subscriber for some time you’ll have note that we’ve been eagerly covering news about the McPlant for more than two years. Our first story on the new plant-based “platform” was back in November 2020. At that time it looked like the burger would be an in house creation and:

“2021 will see the unveiling of the McPlant “platform” – an opened end plant-based formula that will provide the basis for a range of products. A plant-based burger will start to roll out first in various test markets to begin with according to the CNBC report.”

What ultimately transpired was a partnership with Beyond Meat for a custom burger, and then release in various test markets in the USA. Sadly (for lovers of meat free options at fast food like us) industry press have reported US sales were poor. Restaurant Business Online writes:

“McDonald’s has ended its expanded test of its meatless McPlant burger in the U.S., the company confirmed on Thursday, without a clear indication of whether the plant-based product will make a national debut.

The company’s confirmation followed continued speculation from Wall Street analysts indicating that the product underperformed those tests. An analyst with J.P. Morgan this week said that the product was pulled in many stores and low sales were cited as the primary reason.”

According to reports the burger fared well in bigger cities, but poorly in smaller towns where the Golden Arches has a large footprint, especially compared to some competitors. As a result it looks like the plant-burger is a no go for the biggest fast food chain in American, but watch this space, we will report as ever if that changes.

Image credit, McDonald’s.

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