McDonald’s Corp. has announced it will expand its eight-unit U.S. test of its plant-based McPlant burger to about 600 restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area and Dallas Fort Worth.
The Chicago-based burger giant, which has been piloting the McPlant domestically in eight restaurants since early November, said its McDonald’s USA LLC division would offer the new plant-based patty, developed with Beyond Meat Inc., for a limited time while supplies last.
The company said the test was being expanded “to help us understand customer demand” and “its impact to restaurant operations.”
McDonald’s first unveiled the McPlant in 2020, and it has since been introduced in such countries as Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The McPlant patty features plant-based ingredients like peas, rice, and potatoes. McDonald’s did advise customers that the plant-based burger in the U.S. contains non-plant-based ingredients such as American cheese and mayonnaise. It is served on a sesame-seed bun.
“It’s also cooked on the same grill as meat-based products and eggs,” the company said.
McDonald’s began testing the McPlant burger in eight U.S. restaurants.
“Based on our franchisee checks, we believe several locations are selling as many as 500 McPlant sandwiches per week, or about 70 per day,” noted BTIG restaurant analyst Peter Saleh.
