Burger King wants to become a vegetarian pioneer

22-Jul-2022 - Germany

The fast-food chain Burger King wants to become a pioneer in the trend toward meat-free eating: Starting this week, the company is offering a vegetarian counterpart for all beef burgers and nearly every other meat dish in its 750 German stores. "We want to give our guests a choice and we expect this to go very well," said marketing boss Klaus Schmäing in Munich.

Vegetarian meat substitutes based on soy, peas or other crops - known as "alternative proteins" in industry jargon - are widely expected to become much more important in the food industry in the coming years. In a recent international survey by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), for example, three-quarters of the 3700 respondents said they thought alternative proteins were healthier than meat. "This is no longer a niche market, as you can see in supermarkets," Schmäing said.

Burger King is the number two hamburger chain in the German market - as it is worldwide - behind McDonald's.

The company, which for decades has focused almost exclusively on meat dishes, has already been offering a vegetarian or vegan equivalent for individual dishes for several years.

Burger King, however, now wants to go a step further with the strong expansion of these offerings. "We're the first major company in the QSR industry to do this, more than doubling our range of plant-based products," Schmäing said. QSR is the English acronym for quick service restaurant.

"The big group we want to target is flexitarians," Schmäing said. "But beyond that, of course, vegetarians and vegans." The nationwide launch was preceded by a test in a Cologne store since last year. "That was insanely well received," Schmäing said. According to the manager, Burger King is also the first restaurant company in Germany to be licensed with the European V-label for vegan and vegetarian products./cho/DP/stk (dpa)

Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.

https://www.yumda.com/en/news/1177000/burger-king-wants-to-become-a-vegetarian-pioneer.html