Henry Horkan, North American Manager, Bord Bia – The Irish Food Board
Despite the seeming ubiquity of meat free and vegan options in both retail and increasingly foodservice, some industry stalwarts in the United States remain unconvinced that the trend will sustain its current buzz. Perhaps the most obvious member of the ‘wait and see’ club is McDonald’s, always in the spotlight and all the more so as pressure mounts from consumers as its rivals add plant-based options to their menus.
Speaking recently McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook said he needs to know adding a vegan burger will boost traffic to restaurants. In recent months, McDonald’s has been scaling back its menu, including speculation it’s about to trim its All-Day Breakfast offering in order to speed up service times. “The question is: Will the demand make absorbing it worth the complexity because it will drive the business? We had a similar discussion maybe four years ago about All-Day Breakfast,” Easterbrook said on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.”
Echoing Easterbrook, Shake Shack CEO Randy Garutti says the upmarket burger chain won’t be adding meat alternative products to its menu anytime soon. “Shake Shack was built on doing classic things better than other people did them, so let’s watch a little bit,” said Garutti, continuing by saying he was “fascinated” by the early sales numbers released by restaurants that have already tried it, but wants to see if those numbers continue.
In the meantime, McDonald’s and Shake Shack rivals are rolling out meat free and vegetarian options. Restaurant Brands International’s Burger King is testing the Impossible Whopper, which is made with the plant-based Impossible Burger. In the pilot, the new offering boosted traffic to locations in the test market by 18.5% in April, according to a report from location data firm inMarket inSights.
Despite the US continuing love affair with burgers others are hedging bets and in a canny move to guard against any potential slowdown in its traditional business, US meat giant Tyson Foods this month launched its first vegetarian and mixed-protein products, including a beef and pea burger. Similarly Nestle and Canada’s Maple Leaf Foods Inc are launching their own competing patties and vegan “ground beef” in coming months.
While some consumers might be irked with McDonald’s lack of vegan options, investors remain convinced the Quick Serve behemoth is in fine fettle, pushing the stock to a new all-time high in recent weeks. In the last year, its stock is up 22%.
While a cautious approach is adopted by some, those that have adopted the trend for plant based and meat free alternatives are certainly doing so without neglecting their core beef and chicken offerings. Irish suppliers are well placed to grow their business in this changing landscape and indeed many are already well ahead of their international peers in bringing new and innovative products to market, satisfying changing consumer habits and adopted trends. Further information on the Future of Meat and Consumer Lifestyle Trends, including the emergence of veganism and flexitarianism is available from Bord Bia’s Consumer and Market Insight Team.