McDonald's trials Beyond Meat plant-based burgers

Fast food chain McDonald’s is going to sell a plant-based burger made by Beyond Meat in a number of Canadian branches. The test will run for twelve weeks.

New recipe

Beyond Meat developed this new burger, which will appear on the menu at McDonald’s under the name PLT (Plant-Lettuce-Tomato), especially for the hamburger chain. The PLT, a vegetarian alternative to the well-known BLT burger (Bacon-Lettuce-Tomato), will be sold at 28 locations throughout the Canadian province of Ontario. After a test period of twelve weeks, McDonald’s wants to gauge customers’ responses and evaluate the project.

Fast food chains are increasingly experimenting with vegetarian alternatives: in the United States, Kentucky Fried Chicken is currently testing ‘plant-based chicken’ from Beyond Meat. McDonald’s already has a project in Germany, in collaboration with food giant Nestlé, and the chain has even opened restaurants in India where meat is no longer offered at all.

News about the partnership has meant a new boost for Beyond Meat’s share price on the American stock exchange, with the share closing more than 11.5% higher yesterday.