Consumers seemingly didn’t love McDonald’s McPlant, the company’s version of a plant-based burger.
During the Wall Street Journal’s Global Food Forum, Joe Erlinger, the president of McDonald’s USA, said that the meat-less burger “was not successful” in San Francisco and Dallas.
In 2021, the burger also appeared at other McDonald’s locations nationwide, including El Segundo and Manhattan Beach.
According to MarketWatch, restaurants in the Bay Area and Dallas-Fort Worth were selling 20 McPlants daily, fewer than the 40 to 60 they had expected.
“I don’t think the U.S. consumer is coming to McDonald’s looking for the McPlant or other plant-based proteins,” Erlinger said. He also shared that salads won’t return to menus nationwide either.
McDonald’s plant-based burger featured a patty made from ingredients like peas, rice, and potatoes, served on a sesame seed bun with tomato, lettuce, pickles, onions, mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard and American cheese.
The patty was co-developed with Beyond Meat.
The company has since ended its limited test run of the McPlant without disclosing any plans for a potential nationwide debut.
According to the Good Food Institute, a nonprofit that promotes alternatives to animal proteins, meat alternatives grew in popularity in the U.S. in 2019 and 2021, but their popularity lessened in 2022 and declined in 2023.
However, that’s not the case everywhere. McDonald’s international markets were apparently more welcoming of the plant-based option.
Though McPlant wasn’t a hit, Erlinger said that McDonald’s will continue investing heavily in its chicken products.
