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Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Impossible Whopper

Burger King Is Launching 3 New Impossible Burgers, Expanding Plant-based Offerings in Europe

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.

The Food Tech Show: Delivery Bots Head to College

This week the Spoon gang got together to talk about some of the most interesting food tech stories of the week.

On this week’s Food Tech Show we talk about:

As always, you can listen to the Food Tech Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to your podcasts. You can also download direct to your phone or just click play below.

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Enjoy the podcast!

I Tried Burger King’s Impossible Whopper (and so Did a Lot of Other Customers)

I’m pretty sure I haven’t been in a Burger King since they were giving away The Empire Strikes Back commemorative glasses. But I, and it seems like a lot of other people, are now stopping by the BK Lounge to try the new plant-based Impossible Whopper.

We’ve been watching Burger King roll out its Impossible Whopper nationwide with great interest to see if and how consumers would take to the heme burger. Early results from BK’s market tests showed that Burger Kings serving the Impossible Whopper saw an 18 percent increase in foot traffic over those that did not carry it.

The Impossible Whopper was certainly enough to get me in the door. I honestly didn’t even know there was a Burger King near my suburban Washington home until I Googled it to see how far I’d have to drive to try one.

Thankfully it was only fifteen minutes away, but before leaving I actually called ahead of time to make sure that a) they carried the Impossible Whopper, and b) that they were in stock — Burger King had warned the Impossible Whopper would be available “while supplies last.” They didn’t pick up the phone so I drove up with a little trepidation.

Evidently, I overthought it because the people taking my order had no reaction when I asked for the plant-based burger. A little more than six bucks (the Impossible Whopper is $5.89 plus .50 for cheese) and it was mine. This was a popular order at the time: the customers before me in line ordered three Impossible Whoppers and the customers after me ordered two more.

I asked one of the managers how well the Impossible Whopper was doing and she replied “We sell a lot of them,” complete with a head roll gesture to emphasize the point. She could just be toeing the company line, but given the number of Impossible Whoppers I saw served up, I’m inclined to believe her.

I unwrapped my Whopper and disassembled it to take some pictures. Seeing the patty “naked,” I was surprised at how fake the Impossible patty looked. It was like a large coin with perfect edges. Like an MS Paint drawing of a burger patty.

I reassembled the Whopper and took my first highly-anticipated bite. It was… fine. I mean, it was good, but it’s missing some of the deep flavor complexity and texture of ground beef, and the Impossible patty was a little more dry. It definitely wouldn’t fool a meat eater. I much prefer the Impossible burger served at my local waterfront restaurant. Perhaps Burger King needs more training in the preparation of the patty, so it tastes less mass market.

My thoughts echoed Spoon reader Tom G‘s, who sent us his Impossible Whopper review awhile back. And a favorite food podcaster of mine, Dan Pashman of The Sporkful posted pretty much the same thoughts on Instagram:

I asked the customer next to me, an older gentleman, if he liked his. He said he did, but not in a particularly enthusiastic way. When I asked why he ordered it, he said it was for environmental reasons.

And that’s where I net out. I don’t think I’ll drive out of my way for an Impossible Whopper, but if I find myself in a Burger King, I’d get one again. Not because of the taste, but because I feel better about eating a burger that is better for the planet.

Anecdotally speaking, the Impossible Whopper seems to be drawing lapsed customers back into Burger King, so I’m sure the fast-food giant will see a spike in initial sales with the nationwide introduction of the Impossible Whopper. The question that remains now is how many people will come back for another.

Interested in more reviews and news about the Impossible Burger and other alternative protein stories? Subscribe to our Future Food newsletter!

Burger King Launching Impossible Whopper Nationwide Aug. 8 (While Supplies Last)

Burger King is making its plant-based Impossible Whopper available at all its 7,000-plus locations starting August 8.

Burger King’s accelerated national rollout of the Impossible Whopper is pretty impressive, given that the burger only just debuted as a test in April. The Impossible Whopper will cost $5.59 (a dollar more than a regular Whopper), and if you are dead set on trying one, you’ll want to act quickly. As CNN Business writes, Burger King has not made the Impossible Whopper a permanent part of its menu and it will only be available while supplies last.

And supply has been an issue for Impossible, which experienced a four-month long supply shortage that only ended a couple of weeks ago. But there will be new stresses on Impossible’s supply chain, as the company just yesterday announced that it will be available at retail outlets starting in September.

True, we don’t know exactly what Impossible’s availability at retail will look like. The company didn’t provide any specifics on what product was coming to market (patties or ground “beef”), or numbers around size or location of its first foray into supermarkets. So the retail rollout could be a slow drip that doesn’t impact restaurant availability all that much.

If early results are any indication, BK’s Impossible rollout could be a whopper in and of itself. Early market research showed that Burger Kings that offered the Impossible Whopper saw an 18 percent increase in foot traffic over those that did not. Burger King’s President for the Americas told CNN Business that the Impossible Whopper is drawing in new customers, something we’ve heard of first hand from at least one Spoon reader who hadn’t been in a Burger King in forever and made a trip specifically to try one out (he liked it!).

Sales of plant-based meat are booming, as so-called flexitarians are drawn to a product that tastes and feels like meat, but doesn’t have all of the ethical and environmental considerations associated with eating animals. Impossible rival Beyond Meat had its Q2 earnings call earlier this week, and reported sales of $67 million for that quarter and increased its revenue outlook for the year to $240 million.

As part of its nationwide launch of the Impossible Whopper, from Aug. 8 – Sept. 1, Burger King is running a “taste test” promotion with DoorDash, which lets you buy both a traditional Whopper and an Impossible one for $7.

Will you be taking a plant-based bite?

An Impossible Whopper Review from a Spoon Reader

Living in the Pacific Northwest has a lot to offer: Trees, mountains, a Starbucks on just about every corner. But one thing we don’t have right now is the Impossible Whopper from Burger King. It’s only available in a few areas in the country, and was recently launched in the Bay Area as it starts to roll out nationwide.

It’s hard to justify a 13 hour road trip just to try BK’s plant-based burger, which is why we were lucky enough to have friend of The Spoon, and Bay Area resident, Tom G submit his review for us. His order of an Impossible Whopper, small fries and a small Coke cost him $11.85, after tax. And what did he think?

“It was good. Probably 85% of the way there. I should have ordered with cheese,” Tom texted me, “I think with cheese and had no one told me it was fake I probably wouldn’t notice.” He went on “It did have a slightly artificial taste but since the Whoppers do already that’s ironically in their favor.”

In addition to the positive review, the good news for Burger King is that Tom doesn’t typically ever go to one of its restaurants and went specifically to try the Impossible burger. Tom’s not the only new customer Burger King has attracted with the new Whopper:

This type of anecdotal evidence helps reinforce that the Impossible Whopper could bring an entirely new, or at least long-dormant, set of customers back to BK. In St. Louis, Burger King locations that offered the Impossible Whopper outperformed the chain’s national foot traffic average by 18.5 percent. The question now is whether these Impossible-curious customers are one-offs, or if they will come back for more.

In Tom G’s case, he said he’d go back to BK for another plant-based Whopper, though there are enough other restaurants serving the Impossible burger that he wouldn’t go out of his way for it. He prefers The Melt’s Impossible burger, even though it’s more expensive.

Have you tried the Impossible Whopper? What did you think? Did it bring you back to Burger King, and will you go back for more? Drop us a line and let us know!

Burger King’s Impossible Whopper Arrives in the San Francisco Bay Area Today

Burger King’s Impossible Whopper will arrive at more than 100 of its locations across the San Francisco Bay Area today, according to various reports. This is the first West Coast arrival of BK’s hip, meatless burger, and part of the fast food chain’s national expansion of the Impossible Whopper after initial testing in St. Louis and roll out to Miami, Columbus, GA, and Montgomery, AL.

The Impossible patties won’t have far to travel: Impossible is headquartered in the Bay Area’s Redwood City, and has a production facility in Oakland, CA. That production facility has been literally working overtime as of late as Impossible has struggled to keep up with the skyrocketing demand for plant-based burger.

Though there is a perception among smaller restaurants that large operations like Burger King and Red Robin have gobbled up all the Impossible supply, an Impossible spokesperson told us recently that that was not the case.

Impossible’s popularity is part of a global boom in plant-based meat, a category that is worth more than $684 million, with plenty of headroom to grow. Impossible says sales of its product have jumped 50 percent since it debuted its new formula this past January, and rival Beyond Meat is still riding high after one of the hottest IPOs of the decade.

For its part, with the arrival of the Impossible Whopper, the Bay Area’s hottest restaurant this week will probably be Burger King.

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