McDonald’s had high hopes when it launched its signature plant-based burger in California and Texas two years ago, but it turned out customers didn’t like it.
McDonald’s U.S. President Joe Ehlinger said at the Wall Street Journal’s Global Food Forum this week that the meatless burgers don’t sizzle; He bluntly said that McPlant “wasn’t successful” in the Bay Area or in Dallas.
Erlinger said Wednesday that U.S. consumers “are no longer looking for McPlant or other plant-based proteins from McDonald’s.” “We will continue to monitor this trend.”
At the heart of McPlant is a patty developed in partnership with Beyond Meat that features vegetarian ingredients such as peas, rice and potatoes.
The plant-based patties appeared in eight McDonald’s restaurants across the country in late 2021, including locations in El Segundo and Manhattan Beach. By January 2022, 600 restaurants in the Bay Area and the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area will begin selling meatless sandwiches.
At the time, the fast-food giant was luring customers by suggesting they take a road trip to try the McPlant — which was “available for a limited time while supplies last,” the company wrote in a press release.
But a March 2022 analysis by research firm BTIG showed that demand has shrunk and consumers are uninterested in culinary creations.
Restaurants in the Bay Area and Dallas-Fort Worth are selling 20 McPlants a day, down from the 40 to 60 they expected. In rural East Texas, only three to five sandwiches were sold a day, Marketwatch reported at the time.
That July, the company ended a trial run of its meatless burgers without revealing plans for a nationwide rollout. U.S. demand for meat alternatives climbed rapidly between 2019 and 2021, then weakened in 2022 and declined in 2023, according to the Good Food Institute, a nonprofit organization that promotes animal-based protein alternatives.
However, that’s not necessarily the case on the other side of the Atlantic, where McDonald’s plant-based products have clearly found a more favorable niche. In European markets, you can find the McPlant patty on a sesame seed bun with lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mustard, vegan sandwich spread, vegan cheese, pickles and onions.
Ellinger said the company’s focus in the U.S. is on chicken options, which are more popular with consumers.
