US fast food chain tests meat vegetables
Answer to vegan hype
Meat replacement manufacturers such as Beyond Meat are booming, and the hype surrounding vegan burgers is huge. But now the spit is turned around: The fast food chain Arby's blows to counterattack - with vegetables made of meat. The US company promises a whole new category of food: "Meat Vegetables". Is the company really serious about this?
"It's not a PR stunt," assures an Arby's spokesman on Monday upon request. Founded in 1964 in Ohio and with 3300 branches, the chain still tries out its meat vegetable creations in the test kitchen, but the whole thing is supposedly not meant as a joke. "We intend to sell them in our restaurants," says the spokesman. "We're working on it right now."
"If others can make meat from vegetables, why shouldn't we be able to make vegetables from meat," asks Arby's marketing director Jim Taylor in the company blog. A first product - a turkey breast carrot called "Marrot" - has already been presented. Meat substitute products ultimately only tried to make vegetables look like what Americans really wanted, says Taylor: "Delicious meat.
It remains to be seen whether Arby's will really pull through the action or just want to cut a short slice of the current hype.
The "Megetables" of the chain with the slogan "We have the meat" would probably be trustworthy. But whether it can thus build on the success of the vegan vertical takeoffers? One thing's for sure: Other chains - from TGI Fridays to White Castle to Burger King - are ripping for the vegan burgers of Beyond Meat and its rival Impossible Foods./hbr/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.
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