On this day in vegan history · February 25, 2021
McDonald's Picks Beyond Meat for the McPlant
The world's biggest burger chain put its name behind a plant-based patty, and for a moment it looked like the mainstream tipping point vegans had been waiting for.
The facts
- Date
- February 25, 2021
- Deal length
- Three-year global strategic agreement
- Beyond Meat's role
- Preferred supplier for the McPlant patty
- Built on
- A 2019 Canadian test of a Beyond Meat patty sandwich
On February 25, 2021, Beyond Meat and McDonald's announced a three-year global strategic agreement naming Beyond Meat as McDonald's preferred supplier for the patty in a new burger called the McPlant. The deal built on a smaller 2019 test in Canada, and it opened the door to co-developing plant-based versions of chicken, pork, and egg. McDonald's framed it as giving customers more choice; Beyond Meat framed it as validation from the biggest name in fast food. The McPlant rolled out first in Sweden and Denmark, then the UK, but the US pilot that finally launched that November never caught on, and McDonald's quietly ended the American test in August 2022.
In their words
The day in the words of the people who were there. Every quote is verbatim, and every source links out so you can check it.
-
Our new McPlant platform is all about giving customers more choices when they visit McDonald's.
Francesca DeBiase, McDonald's Executive Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer, February 25, 2021
Source: Beyond Meat press release -
We are proud to enter into this strategic global agreement with McDonald's, an exciting milestone for Beyond Meat
Ethan Brown, Beyond Meat Founder and CEO, February 25, 2021
Source: Beyond Meat press release
Why it still matters
It was the clearest signal yet that fast food's biggest player thought plant-based meat was worth betting on at scale, and its uneven aftermath, hit in parts of Europe, dropped in the US by 2022, is a reminder that a logo on a menu board doesn't guarantee an appetite for what's under it.
Sources
This history is still being written.
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