Photo: Mx. Granger via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
From today the plant-based Impossible Whopper is on the menu at all 7,200 Burger King restaurants in the United States. It's the biggest launch yet for Impossible Foods' meat-free patty.
Burger King first put the Impossible Whopper on sale at 59 restaurants around St. Louis, Missouri, on April 1. Some people thought it was an April Fool's joke. It wasn't, and it soon spread to San Francisco, Las Vegas, Miami, Baltimore, Columbus in Georgia and Montgomery in Alabama.
The test brought people through the doors. Location analysts inMarket found that Burger King restaurants selling the Impossible Whopper outperformed the chain's US foot traffic average by 18.5%, while traffic at its other US restaurants fell 1.75% over the same period.
Chris Finazzo, president of Burger King North America, said in a statement:
From the launch of our test in St. Louis, we knew that our guests really enjoyed the taste of the flame-grilled Impossible Whopper. We're now making the Impossible Whopper available for our guests across the country at an unbeatable price for a limited time only so visit one of our restaurants before they sell out.
He added that the burger appeals to both existing Whopper fans and new guests:
We've heard great feedback and know the Impossible Whopper appeals to both current guests who are already big fans of the Whopper sandwich, as well as new guests who are excited about this new option.
The Impossible Whopper costs $5.59. Burger King and DoorDash are also running an "Impossible Taste Test" until September 1, offering an Impossible Whopper and an original Whopper together for $7. To keep up with demand, Impossible Foods has just teamed up with food manufacturing giant OSI Group to boost production.
Quick tip: the Whopper comes with mayo, which contains egg, so ask for it without.
Swapping beef for plants is a smart move for your heart. Research in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found plant proteins are significantly more heart-healthy than animal proteins, and Oxford University research found a global shift to vegan diets would save 8 million lives by 2050.
In 2017 we reported that Impossible Foods was gearing up to make 4 million burgers a month. This year Beyond Meat had the best IPO debut of 2019, and Greggs' vegan sausage roll pushed sales past £1 billion. In 2017 we covered the world's first 24-hour vegan drive-thru and Pizza Hut launching vegan cheese. Now the world's second-largest fast food chain is all in. It's the plant-based revolution Google predicted.
Have it your way. Now with plants.