In comments delivered at the Wall Street Journal Global Food Forum, Joe Erlinger, President of McDonald’s U.S., confirmed that his company had no interest in serving plant-based burgers for the U.S. market. He stated, “U.S. consumers aren’t coming to McDonald’s looking for the McPlant or other plant-based proteins.” This conclusion was based on a one-year test conducted between 2021 and 2022 in both San Francisco and Dallas. In contrast, plant-based meat alternatives are acceptable in the E.U. and U.K.
It is understood that other QSR chains have trialed plant-based burgers without success. It remains to be seen whether plant-based ersatz chicken nuggets will be more successful. Given current prices of real and alternative meat products, it is doubtful whether plant-based products will gain traction in mainstream chains.