As fake meat sales began to falter, the fast food chains that had been so instrumental in their meteoric rise began to quietly remove faux meat from their menus. First, it was Dunkin’, which had been an early adopter. Having introduced Beyond Meat’s sausage patties to its menus in 2019, it quietly discontinued the option in 2021, long before the sharp decline of the fake meat sector had taken hold.
Then came the McPlant. It had never really been a success for McDonalds. Not long after the burger made its debut in California and Texas in 2022, the company announced that it would not be expanding the product to other parts of the country even as its competitors, such as the Impossible Whopper, were fixtures on menus around the nation. There is no specific reason that the McPlant never managed to get off the ground, but its slightly higher price point might have had something to do with it. Additionally, the chain’s use of vegan cheese might have been a turn-off for some customers who were either vegetarian or meat-eaters just trying it out. In 2024, Carl’s Jr. and Del Taco slashed fake meat from their menus, too.
Finally, in 2024, the CEO of Burger King revealed that, despite the initial success and continued availability of the Impossible Whopper, the company would not be expanding its plant-based options in the U.S. anytime soon.
