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Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

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Wendy’s is Semi-Secretly Testing a Plant-Based Burger in Canada

Wendy’s seems to be following in McDonald’s footsteps and launching a plant-based burger in Canada. In September McDonald’s began testing a meat-free burger in select Canadian locations. Earlier today, vegan advocacy sites LiveKindly and VegNews reported that social media picked up an outdoor Wendy’s advertisement in Toronto showing a burger called “The Plentiful” along with the words: “Where’s the beef? Not here.”

The fast-food chain hasn’t publicly announced the new burger yet, nor is it listed on its website. According to LiveKindly, The Plentiful is made from pea protein and is served with non-vegan cheese and mayonnaise.

And… that’s about all we know for sure. It’s unclear how much The Plentiful will cost, how many Wendy’s locations will offer it, or how long it will be available. Perhaps most importantly, we don’t know which brand of plant-based burger is on The Plentiful or whether it’s made from a patty developed internally by Wendy’s. Since we know the burger is pea protein-based, that rules out Impossible, which is made from soy and potato protein — but not Beyond.

If indeed The Plentiful is made with a Beyond Burger, Wendy’s would really be taking a page from McDonald’s book. The latter began testing a plant-based burger made with a Beyond patty called the P.L.T. (Plants, Lettuce, Tomato) in select locations in Canada this September. If this is the case, both Wendy’s and McDonald’s chose to omit the Beyond brand name from their new menu items — a move that I think is a missed opportunity to draw in new consumers familiar with the Beyond media buzz.

Regardless, it’s not a huge surprise that Wendy’s is hopping on the plant-based meat trend. During this year’s second-quarter review call Wendy’s CEO Todd Penegor acknowledged the popularity of meat alternatives and said it was something that the fast-food chain would “look into.” Right after that Wendy’s fans gathered around 30,000 signatures on a petition calling the restaurant to add a plant-based burger to its menu.

Canada seems to be prime territory for fast food restaurants to test out new plant-based products. In addition to McDonald’s, 7-Eleven began selling a Beyond Meat pizza in the Great White North. Canadian chains Tim Horton’s and A&W were some of the first major fast-food chains to add Beyond Meat to their menus — though Tim Horton’s has since stopped serving the meat alternative in all but two regions.

We’ve reached out to Wendy’s and will update the post when we hear back. Until then, if you’re a Spoon reader in Toronto, give The Plentiful a try and tell us what you think!

 

Nestlé’s Sweet Earth Foods to Launch Plant-Based Awesome Burger in US this October

Today Sweet Earth Foods, a U.S.-based vegetarian brand owned by Nestlé, announced it would begin selling its plant-based Awesome burgers and ground meat in retail on October 1.

The burgers will launch at a variety of retailers across the country, including Safeway, Fred Meyer, and more. I connected over the phone with Brian and Kelly Swette, the co-founders of Sweet Earth Foods, who told me that pricing will vary at each location but would be competitive with other plant-based burgers in retail: likely around $5.99 for two quarter pounders.

Nestlé launched its cook-from-raw vegan Incredible burger in Europe this April. Unlike the Incredible burger, which is soy-based, the Awesome burger is made from yellow pea protein. According the Swettes, relying on yellow pea protein gives their burger a higher nutrient density than most of their competitors: 26 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber per 4-ounce burger patty, to be exact. They may win the title of the most protein per plant-based burger, but the margin is slim. For context, Lightlife and Beyond’s quarter-pound burgers both have 20 grams of protein.

Photo: Hardy Wilson

The Swettes told me they also have foodservice partners in the works, though they wouldn’t disclose who. Could it be that the Awesome Burger is headed to McDonald’s? After all, Nestlé’s Incredible burger is already on McDonald’s menus in Germany and Israel.

True, Micky D’s has been pretty vocal that it’s not ready to embrace faux meat on its menus yet, at least in the U.S. But if the Incredible Burger proves to be driving significant sales for McDonalds’ overseas, they could change their mind in the U.S. And since their competitors, such as Burger King and Carl’s Jr., and are already embracing Impossible and Beyond, respectively, the Awesome burger could be a logical choice — provided it actually tastes good.

The cook-from-fresh plant-based burger category is becoming more and more crowded by the day, as everyone from startups to grocery brands to Big Food debut their own take on a meatless burger. Within the past month alone, Impossible Foods, Kroger, and Hormel have all made an entrance into the refrigerated grocery aisle. But the Swette’s aren’t sweating it (sorry). “We think it’s an incredibly positive thing that the plant-based burger space is so dynamic,” Kelly Swette told me.

The Swettes believe that they can differentiate themselves from the competition because of the beefy taste and nutritional density of their burger. But I think the bigger advantage is their parent company, Nestlé. After all, being owned by one of the largest CPG companies in the world has its perks. Sweet Earth is able to take advantage of Nestlé’s massive R&D and manufacturing resources to bring their product to market quickly and on a large scale. They’ll also presumably be able to get into more grocery shelves by taking advantage of Nestlé’s preexisting retail partners. “It’s true — Nestlé will help give us an edge,” Brian Swette told me.

We’ll have to see if that edge is enough to help Sweet Earth edge out the other plant-based meat competition.

Beyond Beyond Meat: Which Companies Have Developed “Bleeding” Meatless Burgers?

When vegetarians went out to eat and ordered a veggie burger, even as recently as a few years ago they’d get a hardened puck of black beans or mish-mashed vegetables.

Now it’s a whole new world. Vegetarians and flexitarians alike can bring Beyond Burgers to backyard barbecues and order Impossible patties as a sub at local restaurants (if they’re in stock, that is).

Impossible and Beyond may be the two names that even most carnivores are familiar with, but they’re far from the only ones making plant-based burgers meant to look, grill, and even “bleed” like real beef. Should you want to venture — cough, beyond — here are a few other options in the grocery aisle.

Nestlé: The Incredible and Awesome Burger

Photo: Nestlé

Nestlé announced last December that it would be launching two meaty plant-based burgers over the next year. Launched under the Swiss giant’s Garden Gourmet brand, the Incredible Burger (in no way inspired by the Impossible Burger) became available in Europe this spring. It currently stars in the Big Vegan TS at McDonalds in Germany. Stateside, Nestlé plans to release the Awesome Burger under its Sweet Earth brand in the fall of this year.

Lightlife: The Plant-Based Burger

Lightlife’s plant-based ground “beef”

Earlier this year plant-based food brand Lightlife began selling its new plant-based burger, called… The Plant-Based Burger. Like Beyond Meat, Lightlife’s burger uses beets to get its red color. Interestingly, Lightlife (along with fellow vegan meat brand Field Roast) are owned by Maple Leaf Foods, a major Canadian meat processing company which recently announced it was building the largest plant-based protein factory in North America.

Dr. Praeger’s: The Perfect Burger

Photo: Dr. Praeger’s.

Natural food company Dr. Praeger’s just launched its new plant-based burger… today! Modestly called The Perfect Burger, it’s made of sweet potatoes, butternut squash, carrots and beets (presumably for color). Dr. Praeger’s offering is significantly lower in fat and sodium than options from Beyond and Impossible, and is seemingly trying to position itself as a more wholesome, natural alternative to their heavily-processed patties. The Perfect Burger is currently available for foodservice and will soon roll out in retail.

Morningstar Farms: Meat Lovers Vegan Burgers

Photo: Morningstar Farms.

Though not quite as meaty-looking as any of the above, Morningstar Farms, a stalwart of vegan animal products, released the Meat Lovers Vegan Burger last year. It comes pre-cooked and doesn’t contain any beets to get that rosy color, but it does have tomatoes, soy and wheat protein, and lots of spices, making it less of a neutral base and more like veggie burgers of yore. However, the Meat Lovers burger does have a whopping 27g of protein per serving — significantly more than Beyond or Impossible.

Moving Mountains: The Moving Mountains Burger

Photo: Moving Mountains burger.

If you’re in the U.K. or Europe you can try Moving Mountain’s eponymous plant-based burger. Made with a very similar ingredient list to the Beyond Burger — pea protein, coconut oil, and beets — the plant-based burger launched in select London restaurants last year. The Moving Mountains burger is currently available in over 3,000 foodservice establishments in the U.K. and Europe.

Have you tried any of the above meatless burgers? Which was your favorite? Sound off in the comments below!

Down Under, Australia’s Burger King is Developing a Vegan Whopper to Fool Carnivores

Hungry Jack’s, the Australian franchise of Burger King, is stepping into the meaty plant-based burger game with a whopper investment of… a million bucks?

The Australian Financial Review reported today that the founder Hungry Jack’s, Jack Cowin, has invested $1 million to develop a vegan burger made from legumes that looks, tastes, and even bleeds like real meat. It will be sold in their new vegan Whopper, which Hungry Jack’s will sell at all 400 locations across Australia by this summer. The forthcoming burger is being developed by v2food, a company founded by Cowin, in tandem with Australia’s national science agency, with the goal of developing better tasting meat alternatives.

That’s a noble mission, but I’m not sure how realistic it is with only $1 million behind it. For context, Impossible Foods has raised over $687 million and Beyond Foods had amassed $122 million before its IPO last month. Put next to those figures, $1 million looks like a drop in the bucket. There’s probably some knowledge that v2food can glean from forerunners like Beyond and Impossible, but R&D for food products is extremely expensive.

v2food is also working on a very tight timeline. Hungry Jack’s has announced it will have the plant-based Whopper out by sometime mid-year, which basically gives them three months tops to develop a new burger and start producing it at scale. The fast-food chain already can leverage its own established production facilities, but if they need any new equipment to make the plant-based burger, scaling could actually present a challenge.

It would have been easier for the company to just roll out a new Whopper made with “beef” from Beyond Meat or Impossible Foods, as Burger King is doing in the U.S. Impossible isn’t in Australia yet (possibly due to tighter restrictions on genetically modified food), though Beyond is. Maybe Hungry Jack’s is hoping it will be cheaper — at least in the long run — to develop their own patty. Though by taking that path, they won’t be able to leverage Beyond or Impossible’s brand recognition as a tool to entice new customers.

Concerns aside, Hungry Jack’s is smart to cash in on the growing demand for plant-based burgers. They just might need to invest a lot more cash in order to make it happen.

Video: Creator’s Robo-Burger Joint Seems Like a Pretty Cool Place for a Human to Work

Out of all the burger restaurants you could work for, Creator in San Francisco seems like it would be a good choice. First, the burgers there are made by a robot, so duh, awesome. But while a robot may be the center of attention, it’s actually the humans that Creator CEO Alex Vardakostas seems to care the most about.

Vardakostas was on stage at our recent ArticulATE conference, where he explained that Creator’s mission is to create the most human-centric dining experience. Ironically, a giant robot helps them do just that. First, diners can enjoy a nice meal with friends at a fair price ($6 for a burger) in a well-appointed restaurant (with, admittedly, severely restricted open hours).

But using a robot to cook the burgers, Vardakostas also hopes to help free up the creativity of his human employees. With the monotonous “burger flipping” done by the robot, employees can provide better customer service and spend time in more creative ways.

But Varakostas and Co. take it one step further. Creator gives all their employees 5% time. This paid time is for employees to learn about whatever they want. Some take the opportunity to take online classes, or learn console code used on the robot, or study flavors in the hopes of opening up their own restaurant one day. Vardakostas doesn’t want Creator to be a dead-end job where you do the same thing for ten years; he understands that he’s equipping his employees to move on to other, better opportunities. Hopefully it’s something other restaurants implementing robots will learn from.

ArticulATE 2019: Building a Better Burger Joint with Creator CEO Alex Vardakostas

Be on the lookout for even more food robot-related videos from our ArticulATE conference here on The Spoon!

*An earlier version of this post said Creator staff were freed up to do social media campaigns. Creator reached out to say that restaurant staff do not engage in social media campaigns.

Big Beef Company ABP Launches Vegan Burger in U.K. Supermarkets

The largest beef processor in Ireland and the U.K. just became the latest major food company to make their own version of a meatless burger meant to look, cook, and taste like the real deal.

Ireland-based ABP Group announced this week the launch of its new plant-based food line, Equals. The first product: a two-pack of quarter-pound meat-free burgers. The burgers are made of seasoned pea and soy proteins, plus something to make them look red and meaty (maybe beet juice, like Beyond Meat uses?).

ABP has been making pre-cooked meatless products since 2011, but this is the company’s first foray into fresh plant-based foods. Britons can now purchase Equals’ products in Asda supermarkets. A two-pack will cost £2.50 ($3.30). That’s on par with other meatless burger options like Vivera, and roughly half the price of Beyond’s patties, which cost £4.95 ($6.50) for a two-pack.

There must be something in the water. Recently a wave of Big Food (and more interestingly, Big Meat) companies have been developing plant-based burgers that have an uncanny resemblance to meat. Nestlé launched the Impossible Incredible Burger in December, and earlier this month Tyson, the world’s second-largest producer of beef, chicken, and pork, announced plans to internally develop its own line of plant-based proteins. Meatless food company Lightlife also recently unveiled its own beefy-looking burger.

Big Food might have the advantage of sizeable warchests, manufacturing facilities, and existing sales channels, but Beyond Meat — which is also available in the U.K. — is set to go public this year, which means they could theoretically raise enough money to challenge Big Food.

Then again, as we’ve said time and time again, demand for plant-based protein is growing so quickly that it’s not a zero-sum game. There’s plenty of room out there for more meatless burgers, especially in the U.K. where The Guardian reports that one-third of consumers have are either vegetarian or flexitarian. Good thing: I have a feeling that over the next few months we’ll be seeing other Big Meat companies launching plant-based burgers of their own.

Lightlife’s New Plant-Based Burger Looks a Lot Like the Beyond Burger…

Alternative protein company Lightlife announced yesterday the release of a new plant-based burger that, according to a press release, is meant to deliver “the sensory experience consumers crave from a beef burger.”

The so-called Lightlife Burger is made of pea protein, coconut oil, and beet powder. It has 20g of protein, no cholesterol, and is free from soy, gluten and GMOs. The burger will be the face of a new pea protein-based product line from the company, which meant to be more evocative of meat.

The launch is in tandem with Lightlife’s upcoming rebrand to mark its 40th anniversary. It’s also just a smart move on Lightlife’s part to try and compete with other meat-like burgers on the market, like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods — especially as Beyond prepares for an IPO and Impossible gears up for its retail launch. Composition-wise, the Lightlife Burger seems closer to the Beyond Burger, which is also pea protein-based and also uses beets for its “bloody” look.

But young upstarts like Beyond and Impossible aren’t Lightlife’s only competitors. Big Food has also been getting into the meat alternative space, releasing products that are more meat-like to capture flexitarians and cash in on the plant-based eating trend. Last month Nestlé released the Impossible  Incredible Burger, just a few days after Unilever bought Dutch plant-based meat company The Vegetarian Butcher.

Lightlife could have an advantage, though. Both it and Field Roast are owned by Maple Leaf Foods, a major packaged meat company in Canada. That means that the company has the advantages that come with being part of a Big Food company, including supply chains, sales channels, and retail partners. But, since it’s also a veteran in the meat alternative space, it also has more plant-based street cred than, say, Nestlé. This could lead to less blowback from consumers who don’t trust Big Food to make their vegan meats.

Recently I predicted that veteran plant-based protein companies, like Lightlife, Tofurky, and Boca, would rebrand from “vegan” companies to “meat” companies–just ones who happened to make meat out of plants. It seems that, at least in the case of Lightlife, that prediction is coming true.

In the U.S., the Lightlife Burger will start rolling out in foodservice this month and hit grocery shelves in late March. It will launch in Canada in April. I couldn’t find any information about pricing, but I imagine it will be in line with other Lightlife vegan burgers (around $2.50 per patty). We haven’t tasted the Lightlife Burger yet, but as soon as it’s available in Seattle grocery shelves it might be time for an alterna-meat burger cookoff.

U.K. Finally Gets a Beef-Like Vegan Burger

Picture a juicy seared burger, mac and cheese, short rib, and smoky barbecue sauce, sandwiched on a soft bun. But it’s all vegan. Dubbed the “Vegan Mac Daddy,” it’s the plant-based meat behemoth that restaurant Dirty Bones will premiere at its London and Oxford locations this June.

The base of this head-turner is the vegan B12 Burger by Moving Mountains. It’s made from coconut oil, wheat, soy, potatoes, mushrooms and beet juice, which makes the patty appear to “bleed” when you cut into it. According to Moving Mountains Founder Simeon Van der Molen, their product is “the UK’s first ever raw bleeding plant-based meat burger.”

The patty has 20 grams of protein, no cholesterol, and low saturated fat, but is on-par with beef in terms of protein. As its name suggests, the B12 burger is also fortified with B12, a vitamin that can be hard to get in a meat-free diet.

Moving Mountains launched their burger at vegetarian London chain Mildred’s earlier this year, but when they premier at Dirty Bones this June it will be the first time their patty will grace the menu of a restaurant that also serves meat dishes. The Vegan Mac Daddy will be £12 ($16), which is just £1 more expensive than its meaty alter-ego.

While I certainly wouldn’t mind taking a taste of this burger (and maybe I will when I head to the U.K. after Smart Kitchen Summit Europe!), the most interesting part about the B12 Burger isn’t the burger itself, but how long it took to get here. And by here, I mean the U.K.

After all, we in the U.S. have two options for plant-based burgers meant to mimic the look and feel of beef: Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat. Moving Mountains’ burger is the first attempt in the U.K. to make a plant-based product that’s marketed not just at vegetarians, but also at meat-eaters and flexitarians.

The recent arrivalof a meaty vegan burger is pretty surprising considering London was named the most vegetarian-friendly city by PETA and has over 3.5 million vegans. A recent study from Kantar Worldpanel showed that 29% of evening meals in the U.K. don’t contain any meat.

While I lived there I came to expect a vegetarian option — in fact, a good vegetarian option — at every burger joint and cafe, no matter how meat-focused. Which is not always the case in the U.S.

The ingredients in Moving Mountains’ plant-based burger.

Perhaps it’s because of these omnipresent veg options (often built around halloumi, the most delicious substance on the planet Earth) that the U.K. has been slow to hop on the meat-like vegan burger train. Though the B12 Burger’s positive reception at Mildred’s shows that there’s certainly a market for it, though it’s still so new that it’s mostly a novelty.

Part of this delay is just timing. Founder Simeon Van Der Molen told the Spoon that the idea for Moving Mountains formed in 2016, after he “recognized a restriction on the impact we can have on the environment and animal agriculture,” and then decided to create an “innovative plant-based food product that could affect positive change for public health and the planet by reducing animal meat consumption.”

After he had the idea, it took Van Der Molen and his team two years in a lab working with a team of scientists, chefs and farmers to nail the formula — they went through 100 recipes before they settled on a final one. They wanted to get a burger that, in Van Der Molen’s words, “replicates animal meat in every way, from the sizzle and texture to the taste.”

It seems like Moving Mountains may have hit the market just in time. Beyond Meat announced that it was planning to start selling their burgers in the U.K. by the end of 2018. In fact, the Guardian reported that Beyond Meat was rumored to have a deal with British supermarket Tesco to bring their burgers across the pond by July of this year.

As of now Moving Mountains is only available at a handful of restaurants in London and Brighton. If Beyond Meat does indeed make it to the U.K., we’ll see if there’s enough room for two meat-like meatless burgers in the ever-growing British flexitarian market.