McDonald’s Exec Says McPlant Was ‘Not Successful’ In The US

A top McDonald’s executive has said there are no plans to bring the McPlant burger to McDonald’s in the US due to an unsuccessful trial run. 

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Joe Erlinger, president of McDonald’s USA, was speaking at  the Wall Street Journal‘s Global Food Forum in Chicago earlier this week. When asked if the burger would be returning to US menus, he replied: “We actually tested the McPlant, and I asked the team to test the McPlant in two very different markets. And so they chose San Francisco and Dallas, and I said: ‘Perfect.’”

He went on to say that the product was “not successful” in either markets. “I don’t think the US consumer is coming to McDonald’s looking for the McPlant or other plant-based proteins,” he added. 

Erlinger did say, however, that the company will “continue to monitor” the situation. 

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The McPlant in the US

The McPlant burger was first launched in the UK in January 2022. The UK’s version features a Beyond Meat patty alongside egg-free mayo, dairy-free cheese, ketchup, mustard, onion, and pickles. The burger is hugely popular, and high demand led to McDonald’s introducing a “Double McPlant” back in 2022. While the McPlant has always been entirely vegan in the UK, this wasn’t the case for its USA trial run. 

By default, the burger came with dairy cheese and egg mayonnaise. Customers had the option of removing these, but that nevertheless meant that the burger wasn’t as well-rounded as it is in the UK. The McPlant was also cooked on the same grill as meat, meaning many vegans and plant-based eaters would have avoided it. 

There are a very limited number of plant-based options at McDonald’s US. The fries, which are vegan in the UK and some other countries, contain milk, and the main menu is almost entirely made up of meat. 

Those seeking plant-based burgers in the US have a number of all-vegan fast food restaurants they can try. Mr Charlie’s, for example, is known as the “vegan McDonald’s,” and even stocks its own take on a Happy Meal (known as the “frowny meal”). 

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