Burger King’s meatless meat selection just got bigger, as the chain is expanding its family of Impossible burgers in the U.S. On Monday, BK announced it will test three new offerings made with the plant-based “bleeding” burger at 180 restaurants.
The Impossible Whopper Jr. is a smaller version of the wildly popular Impossible Whopper, which BK released nationwide in August and which has been such a hit with customers it recently boosted the chain’s sales by 5 percent.
For those craving simpler sandwiches, The Impossible Burger and The Impossible Cheeseburger are pared-down offerings that come with just ketchup, mustard, and pickles on the plant-based patty.
Burger King will initially test the new burgers at restaurants in Milwaukee, Cedar Rapids, Augusta, Cinncinnati, and Buffalo. Given how ridiculously popular the chain’s first Impossible offering was, a nationwide release of these latest three patties will no doubt follow soon.
And while Impossible isn’t yet available on the other side of the Atlantic, that hasn’t stopped BK from doubling-down on its plant-based offerings in Europe. The company is launching its Rebel Whopper, made with plant-based patties from Unilever-owned The Vegetarian Butcher, to more than 2,400 European locations today.
So far, none of BK’s direct competitors have embraced the plant-based meat concept as rapidly or widely, though that is finally starting to change. McDonald’s is testing a plant-based burger that uses Beyond Meat, though that’s only available in Canada at the moment. McDonald’s also has a plant-based burger in Germany, that one made with Nestlé’s incredible patty. Carl’s Jr., too, is working with Beyond and has had a plant-based patty on its menu for some time now. Wendy’s, meanwhile, is semi-secretly testing a plant-based burger, though we don’t know yet if it’s made with Beyond, Impossible, or some other alt-protein.
What we do know is that the list of QSRs offering plant-based meat items is only going to get bigger and that chains will keep expanding their menus to accommodate consumers’ growing demand for alt-protein options.
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