Burger King is testing a plant-based “Impossible” Whopper at 59 locations in St. Louis.
The restaurant is now the largest food chain and the first coast-to-coast, quick-service restaurant to serve the Impossible Foods patty.
California-based Impossible Foods makes plant-based products that taste like meat, dairy and fish. The company’s mission is to make the global food system sustainable by eliminating the need to make food from animals.
In 2016, the company launched its first product: the Impossible Burger, which uses “a small fraction of the land, water and energy used to make meat from a cow.”
About one in five U.S. consumers has reduced their red meat consumption in the past year, according to market research firm Mintel. And nearly two in five consumers say they’re trying to add more plant-based foods into their diet.
To promote the offer, Burger King surprised customers by serving the Impossible Whopper instead of the classic Whopper and filmed their reactions in a taste-test video on YouTube.
So far, neither employees nor customers have been able to distinguish between true beef and Impossible’s plant-based meat, Burger King CMO Fernando Machado told The New York Times.
Fast food chains like White Castle and Carl’s Jr. already offer the Impossible Burger, so if Burger King’s tests in St. Louis go well, the Impossible Whopper could become a full-time menu option nationwide.
