The vegan and vegetarian food business is not for everyone. Or at least that’s the chaos of the fast food chain McDonald’s confirmed that its plant-based burger, called McPlant, was a failure in the United States.
As detailed Joe Erlinger, director of the chain in the USA, A test of their McPlant burger in San Francisco and Dallas “was not successful in any of the markets.”
In turn, the executive assured that Consumers do not choose the fast food multinational to buy such products. “Americans are not looking for McPlant or other plant-based proteins from McDonald’s,” he explained at the Wall Street Journal’s Global Food Forum in Chicago.
In this frame, In Argentina the company does not sell vegetarian burgers either. and as an option for vegetarians and vegans it offers salads. The truth is that the company has not been able to reach consumers with this type of products. Nor was its partnership with the giant Beyond Meat successful, as in 2020 it officially launched the McPlant with little success.
The signature had been left behind in this market niche in which Burger King had already launched a vegetarian version of its iconic “Whopper” burger in April 2019 in the United States.
In this context, the McDonald’s executive explained that instead of plant-based options, The firm is investing in its chicken products, as consumers are leaning towards that protein. One fact that he revealed is that these days the company sells more chicken than beef.
“Part of this is affordability,” he explained. “Chicken is less expensive to produce and so for a consumer looking for more affordable food, chicken is a great option right now.”
Another setback
Fast food giant McDonald’s also recently lost a legal battle against an Irish chain after a European Union court ruled that it cannot call its chicken burgers “Big Mac.”
The legal dispute began in 2017, when Irish chain Supermac’s sought to have McDonald’s “Big Mac” trademark revoked in the EU. At the time, the European Union Intellectual Property Office initially granted Supermac’s application, but then, on appeal, reaffirmed trademark protection for McDonald’s “Big Mac” burgers.
Supermac’s argued that McDonald’s was using its brand dominance to unfairly block the expansion of smaller competitors.
The truth is The court’s ruling could open new opportunities for other competitors in the European market, allowing them to use similar names for their own products.
