(Bloomberg) — A top McDonald’s Corp. executive reiterated that the company’s previous U.S. test of plant-based meat didn’t work, adding that the burger chain’s diners don’t go to its restaurants for salads.
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A test of the McPlant burger in San Francisco and Dallas “was not successful in either market,” Joe Erlinger, the chain’s U.S. chef, said at the Wall Street Journal’s Global Food Forum in Chicago. That test was completed in 2022, the company said after the comments.
U.S. consumers are not looking for “McPlant or other McDonald’s plant-based proteins,” he added. The company says plant-based foods have performed better in European markets.
Erlinger said: “If people really want salads from McDonald’s, we will be happy to relaunch salads. But what our experience has proven is that this is not what consumers are looking for.”
Shares of Beyond Meat Inc., which partners with McDonald’s to produce the McPlant burger, erased an earlier decline as of 1:38 p.m. in New York trading on Wednesday, with little change Wednesday. McDonald’s shares were little changed.
Instead of plant-based options, McDonald’s is investing in its chicken offerings as consumers gravitate toward that protein. The company now sells more chicken than beef, he added.
“Part of it is driven by affordability,” he said. “Chicken is cheaper to produce, and so for a consumer who is looking for more affordable food, chicken is a great option right now.”
(Refreshes the first paragraph and the stock trading, and adds details about salads.)
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