Dunkin’ is speeding up the nationwide rollout of its plant-based Beyond Sausage sandwich, which was developed especially for the breakfast chain by Beyond Meat.
Dunkin’ first launched the Beyond Breakfast sandwich in 164 Manhattan locations back in July. According to CNBC, the chain was planning to roll out the new offering throughout the U.S. sometime in January. However, today news broke that the nationwide release will happen a lot sooner — November 6, to be exact.
It may only be three months earlier than expected, but moving up the release timeline indicates that Dunkin’s Beyond Breakfast sandwich is selling well — or at least better than expected. In fact, Dunkin’ told CNBC that the plant-based sausage offering was their number two selling sandwich in the test Manhattan locations and that sales were more than double Dunkin’s original forecast.
We don’t know what the initial forecast was for the Beyond Breakfast sandwich, but its popularity is no surprise. Plant-based meat sales are booming across the country, especially in quick-service restaurants, where new faux meat items are leading to upticks in sales, media attention and long, long lines. It’s no wonder that Dunkin’ wants to capitalize on this trend and establish itself as a purveyor of Beyond breakfast sausage before other QSR’s roll out their own breakfasty plant-based offerings.
However, just because the Beyond Breakfast sandwich is heading out across the country doesn’t mean it’ll stay there. Last month Canadian fast-food chain Tim Horton’s abruptly stopped serving Beyond Meat items in all but two provinces, just a few months after it rolled out the plant-based meat in roughly 4,000 of its 4,800 locations. The chain did not disclose why it decided to dramatically cut back on its alt-meat offerings.
Dunkin’s nationwide effort with Beyond Meat might have brighter prospects. At present, it’s the only QSR with Beyond breakfast sausage on the menu, which could help it differentiate itself from other fast-food companies peddling alt-meat offerings — especially in the morning.
Maybe next we’ll see Dunkin’ lean into the plant-based trend even more with a JUST Egg patty.
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