Hold the beef!
Burger King is unveiling a new version of the iconic Whopper this week that has one major difference.
The “Impossible Whopper,” a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods, is the biggest validation — and expansion opportunity — for a young industry that is looking to mimic and replace meat with plant-based alternatives, as noted by The New York Times.
The fast food giant and its start-up collaborator are hoping to replicate some of the success realized by its competitors in the field, like Beyond Meat, a veggie company that has made meatless burgers available in over a thousand Carl’s Jr. locations.
A national rollout of Impossible burgers at the King’s 7,200 locations would more than double the total number of locations where the patties are available, according to the Times. And in tests so far, customers and even employees had not been able to tell the difference between the old and new burgers.
“People on my team who know the Whopper inside and out, they try it and they struggle to differentiate which one is which,” Burger King’s chief marketing officer, Fernando Machado, told the newspaper.
Just under 60 establishments in the St. Louis area will get their hands on the Impossible Berger first before the company expands to the rest of the country.
“I have high expectations that it’s going to be big business, not just a niche product,” Machado said.
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