Kentucky Fried ... plant-based meat substitute: KFC to hold US trial of vegan ‘chicken’ nuggets
- Fast-food chain working with meat substitute company Beyond Meat for one-day trial that could see item appear on menus across the United States
KFC is to deviate from Colonel Sanders’ original “finger lickin’ good” recipe by offering nuggets made from plants, rather than its traditional chickens.
The fast-food chain said it was working with the rapidly growing meat substitute company Beyond Meat on a one-day trial that, if successful, would lead to plant-based chicken nuggets and wings appearing on its US menu. KFC, which is owned by the New York Stock Exchange-listed Yum! Brands, has more than 23,000 restaurants around the world.
The product is called Beyond Fried Chicken and comes with the tagline “a Kentucky fried miracle”. The nuggets are presented in green rather than KFC’s trademark red containers and carry the promise that what is inside is “still finger lickin’ good”. The limited trial involves giving out free samples to customers. Kevin Hochman, the chief concept officer of KFC US, claimed that customers would “find it difficult to tell” the nuggets were plant-based.
Shares in Beyond Meat jumped 4 per cent after the trial was announced, with Yum! rising by 1.3 per cent.
KFC is the latest in a long line of food companies that are trying to appeal to the growing number of people following a flexitarian – where meat is eaten only occasionally – or completely plant-based diet. Beyond Meat’s main competitor, Impossible Foods, has, for example, introduced a meatless Whopper at Burger King.
