Burger King tests plant-based Chick’n Sandwich, McDonald’s to launch chicken Big Mac Transcript

Speaker 1: (00:01) Well, a little bit of food news for you. Burger King, fitting to keep the crown for plant-based innovation with the fast food chain out with a new menu item, the Impossible Chicken Sandwich. That's it right there. Yahoo Finances Brooke DiPalma here with the details. Did you give it a shot? Have you tried it? Brooke DiPalma: (00:16) I haven't tried it yet and that's because it's only being tested right now in Cincinnati, Ohio. So yet to be determined if that'll roll out nationally, but I do want to tell you a bit more about it. It's pretty similar actually to their chicken sandwich that they already have on the menu. It'll be seasoned, topped with lettuce and mayo and on that sesame bun. But according to release, similar to the Impossible Whopper, it will be cooked in the same fryer that the other chicken sandwich is cooked in. Brooke DiPalma: (00:40) And so with that said, of course one can remember back in 2020 when a judge dismissed a lawsuit when a customer accused the Impossible burger of being cooked in that same fryer and deceiving vegan and vegetarian customers. But the judge ruled that Burger King promised a non-meat patty and they delivered. So on this press release, they noted that it will be cooked in the same fryer. And now of course, its biggest competitor McDonald's, they debuted the McPlant, tested rather in certain locations, it has since concluded testing. But of course, our friend Peter Saleh, BTIG analyst, noting that that actually would came in at or below low end sales projections. But the plant based meat market pretty hot. It's actually expected to reach $24.8 billion by 2030. So Burger King may be ahead of the game here. Speaker 1: (01:25) Interesting story about the fryers. But on the other hand, they're not the only ones that are going to be testing something because McDonald's apparently testing a chicken Big Mac. Brooke DiPalma: (01:35) That's right. That's right. So this rolled out in the UK earlier this year. And according to McDonald's USA, they said that there it received rave reviews. Now that includes two chicken patties, pickles, shredded lettuce, and American cheese. So quite similar to the Big Mac there. I also did confirm that it will not be the same patty that's used in the McChicken. I thought maybe they would just take the patties and put it on there. But that is not in fact the case. Brooke DiPalma: (02:01) This was, like I said, introduced in the UK earlier, lots of buzz there, even some reporting that it was sold out at some locations. So McDonald's maybe to do the same here. But while the excitement is there, the company did say in a statement to Yahoo Finance that "Not everything we test makes it to our US menus," but they do plan to use this time to gather feedback from both customers and restaurant crews. Brooke DiPalma: (02:22) But the chicken is big business there. In the quarterly earnings report, CEO, Chris Kempczinski noted that chicken continues to be a significant opportunity for us. Of course, they got into the chicken sandwich battle earlier this year or rather last year. Speaker 1: (02:36) They did. To be clear, and that's real chicken. That's not plant-based chicken. That's going to be real chicken. Or as real as McDonald's chicken can be. Brooke DiPalma: (02:41) That will be a real chicken for the Big Mac chicken. Speaker 1: (02:43) Okay, well, we'll have to do a taste test and see how it differs from the McChicken. So we'll have that right here. Brooke DiPalma: (02:46) Absolutely. Speaker 1: (02:48) Okay. Yahoo Finances Brooke DiPalma. Thanks so much.