McDonald’s in US - to trial selling substitute meat burger at some stores

Recently CNN.co.jp reported the following:

代替肉バーガー、一部店舗で試験販売へ　米マクドナルド

2021.10.17 Sun posted at 15:30 JST

 ニューヨーク（ＣＮＮ Ｂｕｓｉｎｅｓｓ） 米ファストフード大手マクドナルドは１７日までに、植物由来の代替肉を使ったハンバーガー「マックプラント」を米国内の８店で１１月３日から試験的に売り出すと発表した。

代替肉などを手がける企業ビヨンド・ミートと協力した事業で、販売は期間限定。カリフォルニア、アイオワ、テキサスやルイジアナ各州にある８店が対象。

マクドナルドは、代替肉バーガーが調理部門や店自体などに及ぼす影響を見極める機会にしたいとしている。

ファストフード業界ではここ数年、厳格ではない菜食主義者の客を取り込むため植物由来のメニューの試験に取り組んできた。

マクドナルドは昨年１１月に投資家向けの説明で、マックプラントの事業を明かし、最終的には植物由来のチキンや朝食用のサンドイッチなどを含めたいとの計画を打ち出していた。過去１年ではスウェーデン、デンマークや英国などを含む一部の欧州市場でマックプラントを試験販売していた。

マックプラントは代替肉や卵製品に加え、マヨネーズ、アメリカンチーズ、ケチャップ、トマト、レタス、ピクルスやタマネギを使用。パティはエンドウ豆、ジャガイモや米などの成分で作られる。

Translation

New York (CNN Business) McDonald's, a major US fast food company, announced that it would sell a hamburger "McDonald's" using plant-derived meat substitutes at eight stores in the United States on a trial basis from November 3rd.

This was a business in collaboration with Beyond Meat, a company that handled meat substitutes, and sales were for a limited time. Eight stores in California, Iowa, Texas and Louisiana were the targets.

McDonald's wanted to take the opportunity to determine the impact of meat burgers on the cooking sector and the store itself.

The fast-food industry had been testing plant-based menus for the last few years to attract less serious vegetarian customers.

McDonald's announced in a briefing to investors of the McDonald's business last November that it would like to launch a project which in the end would include plant-derived chicken and breakfast sandwiches using it. In the past year, Macplants had been doing test selling in some European markets, including Sweden, Denmark and the United Kingdom.

In addition to meat substitute and egg products, Macplant used mayonnaise, American cheese, ketchup, tomatoes, lettuce, pickles and onions. Patties were made from ingredients such as green peas, potatoes and rice.

              So, McDonald's has announced that it will launch a project which in the end would provide plant-derived chicken and breakfast sandwiches using it. I am interested to see how the American public would react to that.