I love a good burger. Indeed, if I could choose one meal to repeat day-in and day-out until the end of my days it would probably be a Beefy Boys burger with a side of buffalo wings. So, given that today is National Burger Day (the latest in a long line of supposed national days I rarely bother to keep track of in all honesty) I will probably celebrate by tucking into a local dry-aged beauty at some point this evening.
Or will I?
You see, the burger market has been pulling in two parallel directions in recent years which you could argue quite nicely balance each other out. On one hand you have the artisan, boutique burger invasion coming out of the US, which is generally based out of the back of a van, caked in grease and tastes like the nectar of the gods. Then you have the “impossible” vegan burgers.
KFC and McDonald’s have both tried to legitimise the fake burger in the eyes of meat eaters and expand its market beyond vegans, vegetarians and pescatarians but KFC’s vegan chicken is a rubbery wasteland and the McPlant is ok but nothing to write home about (much like McDonald’s itself in my humble opinion).
Burger King, however, has made a right song and dance about its plant-based Whoppers and vegan chicken royales and while I have yet to sample the latter, I have to admit the former had me fooled. But that’s neither here nor there.
What’s interesting about this whole situation is that I willingly tried all three not out of sheer curiosity but because I genuinely want to start eating less meat and most of my friends feel the same way. The question is, could this be because we’re all genuinely aware of the negative impact the meat industry has on the planet or have we just been advertised to really well?
Selling meatless meat
For today only, Burger King has vowed to offer fans to swap their usual whoppers for a plant-based alternatives and to charge them nothing for the privilege. The idea comes after research revealed one in two (51%) meat eaters across Britain wouldn’t try a plant-based burger even if it was free. Nine in 10 (91%) Brits are meat-eaters according to the new study, with two in three (66%) admitting to being reluctant to try a vegan or plant-based burger.
The figures seem a little odd to me, given that the vast majority of meat-eaters I know would at least be curious about the vegan option. But if it’s true it would go some way towards explaining why the McPlant became a bit of a McFlop this year. It’s also why gimmicks like the one being tested today by Burger King might be key when it comes to ensuring plant-based burgers survive as more than just a gimmick.
Burger King’s meat free items cost the same as their meaty counterparts, but to prove their comparative worth, fans can tuck into the flame-grilled Plant-Based Whopper, or the Vegan Royale for free today only.
It’s part of Burger Kings plans to go 50% meat free by 2030, a plan which also included the launch of its first ever completely meat-free restaurant, with a pilot takeover at the Leicester Square flagship earlier this year. Whether or not it’s an admirable attempt to facilitate long-term change or the sign of greenwashing but the vegan burger market is nowhere near as strong as it should be.
I for one am a regular consumer of Beyond Burgers and believe the market is ripe for the picking. That’s why I’m going to take Burger King up on their offer – it’s my own little way of adding fuel to the fire and letting the fast-food giants know that tasty vegan alternatives are something we want, it might just take a few more shots across the bow before a real dent it made.
The right products are already there. Now all we need is the right campaign ideas to shake it up and give beef a real run for its money.
