Fried chicken QSR KFC and plant-based protein makers Beyond Meat debuted Beyond Fried Chicken on 27 August at a store in Atlanta, Georgia.
Atlanta residences were the first to taste the plant-based fried chicken — the result of a partnership between KFC and Beyond Meat. The one-store trial was an apparent success with the offering sold out in single day. A KFC representative told The New York Times it took just 5 hours for the store to run dry of complimentary samples of the plant-based nuggets and wings.
One customer tweeted a 4-hour wait in line was “worth it”.
A tweet from animal rights activists PETA showed excessive queues.
Beyond Meat competitor Impossible Foods recently made inroads with Burger introducing the Impossible Whopper nationwide. However, with the launch of Beyond Fried Chicken, KFC has become the first QSR to trial plant-based, vegan “chicken” in the US. The company will now consider customer feedback from the Atlanta test as it decides whether to conduct a broader test or rollout Beyond Fried Chicken across the US.
In Australia, McDonald’s recently re-introduced a McVeggie burger through trials in South Australian stores, while Hungry Jacks launched a vegan cheeseburger. Both are more traditional options made from vegetables including corn, capsicum, peas and potatoes. Burger chain Grill’d partnered with Beyond Burger to release vegan faux meat patties, as has 100 per cent vegetarian and vegan QSR chain Lord of the Fries.
A KFC spokesperson told news.com.au that there were no plans to introduce Beyond Fried Chicken in Australia, but added to “never say never”.
Photography: John Amis/Associated Press for Beyond Meat (via The New York Times)
