New York: For decades, fast-food giant Burger King has been the undisputed Home of the Whopper — the chain’s signature sandwich featuring one of its flame-grilled, “no nonsense” 100 per cent beef patties. So, what happens when the Whopper doesn’t actually have any meat? BK is going vegan. That’s right, folks: enter the Impossible Whopper, a meatless version of “America’s favourite burger.”
Made up of soy and potato protein, and featuring coconut oil, sunflower oil and heme — an iron-rich protein that simulates the texture, colour and taste of actual meat. For years, Burger King has offered a veggie burger on the menu at thousands of eateries, but it was not marketed as anything even remotely resembling a juicy, tender slab of meat. So far, the Impossible Whopper is only available at several dozen restaurants in the Midwestern city of St Louis.
But Burger King’s chief marketing officer Fernando Machado told The New York Times the company expects to quickly expand availability nationwide if all goes well. “I have high expectations it’s going to be big business, not just a niche product,” Machado said. Burger King’s tie-up with start-up Impossible Foods is the latest, perhaps boldest move by a power player in an industry seeking to make inroads with customers on plant-based diets. On Tuesday, Nestle announced plans to roll out “cook from raw” plant-based burgers in Europe — under the Garden Gourmet brand — and in the US under the Sweet Earth label. —Agencies
