The vegan meat revolution could help save the planet — and fast-food chains are finally taking notice
Vegan meat could kickstart a rapid decline in meat’s contribution to the climate crisis, driven not just by a global minority of vegans and vegetarians, but by millions of meat-eaters too.
MALTE RODL: ‘A few years ago, convincing meat-free “meat” was nothing more than a distant dream for most consumers. Meat substitutes in supermarkets lacked variety and quality. Plant-based burgers were few and far between in major fast-food outlets – and meaty they were not. But realistic alternatives to environmentally damaging meat are now big business – and global fast-food chains are finally starting to take notice. Burger King has announced that after a hugely successful trial, it will roll out its partnership with plant-based meat company Impossible Foods across the US. McDonalds recently introduced the similarly meaty Big Vegan TS in its outlets in Germany, one of its five largest international markets.
Now finally able to produce meat-free imitations that are for many indistinguishable from their beefy counterparts, the rapidly growing industry appears set to make serious waves in the once impregnable bastions of cheap meat. In so doing, it could kickstart a rapid decline in meat’s contribution to the climate crisis – driven not just by a global minority of vegans and vegetarians, but by millions of meat-eaters too.
Thanks to rising interest in food technology from Silicon Valley’s start-up scene, such indistinguishable vegan meat came on the menu a little over five years ago. Helped by huge investments, sophisticated marketing, and a friendly regulatory environment, US companies leaped to the forefront of vegan meat innovation. Products such as the Impossible Burger and the Beyond Burger soon entered into many smaller US restaurants and fast-food outlets, before Burger King made it widely available across the country…
Crucially, these fast-food vegan meats are not just aimed at vegans and vegetarians, but meat-lovers too, who still make up the vast majority of the country populations across the world. The Impossible Whopper, for example, is marketed not as a planet-saving treat, but a healthier way to enjoy the same meaty taste their customers are used to. Some vegans baulk at the idea of replicating the taste of animal flesh – but the bigger picture is that such products will play a major role in realising projections that the majority of “meat” will not come from dead animals by 2040′. SOURCE…
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