‘McPlant?’ McDonald’s is developing a meatless burger. Here’s what to know

McDonald’s said Monday it was entering the chicken sandwich wars, but it’s also dipping its toe into another fast food trend — entrees made with plant-based “meats.”

McDonald’s says it has developed the McPlant, a burger made with a meatless patty, Eater reported. It expects to test the burger in some markets in 2021, according to Yahoo.

The fast food chain said it plans to extend its meatless offerings beyond the McPlant burger to a line of plant-based items that include chicken-substitutes and breakfast sandwiches, the outlet reported.

McDonald’s International President Ian Borden described the McPlant patty as being “by McDonald’s and for McDonald’s,” according to Yahoo, a statement that has caused some confusion.

In the past, McDonald’s partnered with plant-based meat company Beyond Meat to test the P.L.T. — plant-based meat, lettuce and tomato — sandwich in Canada, and many expected Beyond to get a nation-wide partnership deal with the Golden Arches, Street Insider reported.

But McDonald’s hasn’t said whether Beyond Meat will be a supplier for the McPlant.

“We have a relationship with Beyond Meat, where they supported us in our Canadian test market,” McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski told CNBC. “We haven’t made a decision yet about how we’re going to be and which suppliers are supporting our global roll-out, so I don’t want to comment on that.”

Beyond Meat, however, told the outlet that it “co-created a meat-free patty with McDonald’s” as part of the McPlant line.

Shares of Beyond Meat tumbled more than 25% Monday after McDonald’s announced the McPlant, Market Watch reported. Its third quarter sales also fell short of estimates, something Beyond Meat Chief Executive Ethan Brown attributed to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Our financial results reflect a quarter where for the first time since the pandemic began, we experienced the full brunt and unpredictability of COVID-19 on our net revenues and accordingly, throughout our P&L,” he said, according to Market Watch.

Plant-based meats are nothing new — even in the fast food industry — and experts have said McDonald’s is late to the game.

Burger King, White Castle, KFC and Chipotle all offer entrees made with plant-based meats, Eater reported.

“Consumers now are used to seeing plant-based burgers pretty much any place they can get a burger,” Micheline Maynard wrote for Forbes. She added that the McPlant will have to be especially tasty to compete with other offerings since plant-based burgers aren’t exactly novel.

This story was originally published November 10, 2020 at 11:03 AM with the headline "‘McPlant?’ McDonald’s is developing a meatless burger. Here’s what to know."