Quick service restaurant chain McDonald’s will release a plant-based burger and the long-awaited premium chicken sandwich in 2021, the brand announced at its November investors meeting.
"McDonald's also has significant opportunity to expand its chicken offerings, a category that is growing faster than beef," the company said in a press release. "This includes leveraging the extraordinary global strength of Chicken McNuggets and the McChicken sandwich, and investing in new line extensions and flavors."
Plant-based test on a market-by-market basis
A plant-based patty called the McPlant burger will debut in the chain’s restaurants on a market-by-market basis in 2021.
The announcement follows a 2019 test of a plant-based burger called the P.L.T. in Canada. The burger, developed in partnership with meat alternative company Beyond Meat, featured a plant-based patty with no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives.
The McPlant burger, however, was developed in-house at McDonald’s, although Beyond Meat’s CEO did clarify that their “relationship was very strong” and that the two companies were still working very closely on future products.
“As we have worked to better understand customer demand, some markets around the world have tested plant-based products. Informed by those learnings, we have created a delicious burger that will be the first menu option in a plant-based platform we are calling McPlant. McPlant is crafted exclusively for McDonald’s, by McDonald’s,” said McDonald’s International President Ian Borden in a statement.
Other quick service brands, including Burger King, Starbucks and White Castle, have already introduced plant-based products to their menus.
Long-awaited chicken sandwich innovation
McDonald’s also announced that they planned to introduce the Crispy Chicken Sandwich to menus in 2021, after a successful trial of the premium chicken sandwich in Houston, Texas and Knoxville, Tennessee in December 2019.
The Crispy Chicken Sandwich is a fried chicken patty topped with butter and crinkle cut dill pickles, while the Deluxe Chicken Sandwich features tomatoes, lettuce and mayo. Both sandwiches are served on a potato roll.
The brand has been under pressure to release a competitive chicken product for at least a year. In July 2019, the board of the National Owners Association (NOA), a group of McDonald’s franchisee owners, called chicken sandwiches a top priority to help bring in more customers and better compete in the chicken sandwich wars, which boosted sales for the entire quick service restaurant chicken market.
In August 2020, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski promised customers that “some more innovation in chicken” would be coming by the end of the year.
“We’re certainly working on ways that we can update and upgrade our chicken offering in the U.S. Suffice to say we will continue to be competing and innovating in chicken,” Kempczinski told Time.
The brand did not disclose the exact debut date for either sandwich.
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