McDonald’s has announced changes to its menu that will remove many of its plant-based offerings, leaving the McPlant burger as the only meat alternative option for vegetarian customers. These changes will take effect from Tuesday 3 February.
A spokesperson for the company explained to the Irish Farmers Journal: “We’re always listening to our customers to help inform and evolve our menu. After reviewing feedback, alongside the sales data of our veggie dippers, it’s clear this product does not match the appeal of McPlant for our vegetarian customers.
"That’s why we’ve made the decision to remove them from the menu from 3 February, as we focus on developing better vegetarian options that meet our high standards.”
The products that will be removed include: veggie dippers – 4 pieces, veggie dippers – 2 pieces in Happy Meal, vegetable deluxe and the spicy weggie one (wrap).
Despite removing them from the menu, McDonald’s emphasised its commitment to the category, saying “while McPlant remains a firm fan favourite and will continue to be the go-to choice for our vegetarian and vegan customers, we recognise these changes may be disappointing for some".
"We are actively learning from other markets to understand which vegetarian and vegan options are proving most popular and exploring exciting new offerings that we know customers will love.”
Veganuary
The announcement was made at the end of January, the month that has been rebranded veganuary in recent years by advocates for a plant-based diet.
This month-long promotion of a vegetarian or vegan diet has in the past attracted plenty of media attention and for a time it did appear that plant-based food manufacture was the next big thing.
Huge investments were made, often by celebrities with a strong media presence, and the food category was able to command a level of attention well beyond what its volume of sales merited.
Beyond Meat story
However, the business world is tough and financial markets are a ruthless place.
A good example of this is the case of Beyond Meat, a US-headquartered manufacturer of plant-based products that are marketed as an alternative to meat as the name suggests.
It also produces the plant-based burger that will continue to be sold by McDonald’s following its menu review.
Beyond Meat launched on the US stock market with a blaze of publicity in early 2020 and its share price climbed to a value of $152 (€126) by January 2021.
Since then, it has been all downhill for the business, as it struggled to gain sales volume and has never reported a profit. This week, its share price was trading at just $0.80 (€0.67).
McDonald’s secret sauce
McDonald’s, on the other hand, has successfully built a global fast food empire by knowing what its customers want and supplying it.
As with any successful business, it is always open to new products and ideas, so it was no surprise that it embraced alternative products.
After all, its signature product is the Big Mac and if a new product was to come along that threatened to replace or even undermine it, it had to be prepared.
Hence, McDonald’s embraced non-meat-based products as part of its business and was in a position to offer consumers plant or non-plant-based choices on the menu.
McDonald’s customers appear to have decided that their appetite for plant-based products is limited.
Product sales are what is required to keep a place on the menu and we can be sure that if its customers had been buying these products, they wouldn’t have been removed. McDonald’s has built a successful business empire by giving its customers what they want and it is clear that it isn’t plant-based.
Comment – ultimately it is about consumer choice
The McDonald’s story coming at the end of the month that is dedicated to the promotion of vegetarianism is a reminder that the customer is always right.
There always has been and always will be a segment of the population that doesn’t want to eat meat and in some cases no animal-based products at all.
Reasons for this are varied, from simply not liking the taste to being uncomfortable with farmed livestock.
However, for the vast majority in society, meat consumption has always been and again always will be part of a balanced diet.
The bottom line is that people should have the freedom to choose which they prefer and respect others that make a different choice. Doing this has been an integral part of the McDonald’s success story.
Read more
McDonald's spends over €240m on Irish produce each year
McDonald’s drops McPlant in US
McDonald’s loses ‘Big Mac’ trademark for poultry products in EU
McDonald’s has announced changes to its menu that will remove many of its plant-based offerings, leaving the McPlant burger as the only meat alternative option for vegetarian customers. These changes will take effect from Tuesday 3 February.
A spokesperson for the company explained to the Irish Farmers Journal: “We’re always listening to our customers to help inform and evolve our menu. After reviewing feedback, alongside the sales data of our veggie dippers, it’s clear this product does not match the appeal of McPlant for our vegetarian customers.
"That’s why we’ve made the decision to remove them from the menu from 3 February, as we focus on developing better vegetarian options that meet our high standards.”
The products that will be removed include: veggie dippers – 4 pieces, veggie dippers – 2 pieces in Happy Meal, vegetable deluxe and the spicy weggie one (wrap).
Despite removing them from the menu, McDonald’s emphasised its commitment to the category, saying “while McPlant remains a firm fan favourite and will continue to be the go-to choice for our vegetarian and vegan customers, we recognise these changes may be disappointing for some".
"We are actively learning from other markets to understand which vegetarian and vegan options are proving most popular and exploring exciting new offerings that we know customers will love.”
Veganuary
The announcement was made at the end of January, the month that has been rebranded veganuary in recent years by advocates for a plant-based diet.
This month-long promotion of a vegetarian or vegan diet has in the past attracted plenty of media attention and for a time it did appear that plant-based food manufacture was the next big thing.
Huge investments were made, often by celebrities with a strong media presence, and the food category was able to command a level of attention well beyond what its volume of sales merited.
Beyond Meat story
However, the business world is tough and financial markets are a ruthless place.
A good example of this is the case of Beyond Meat, a US-headquartered manufacturer of plant-based products that are marketed as an alternative to meat as the name suggests.
It also produces the plant-based burger that will continue to be sold by McDonald’s following its menu review.
Beyond Meat launched on the US stock market with a blaze of publicity in early 2020 and its share price climbed to a value of $152 (€126) by January 2021.
Since then, it has been all downhill for the business, as it struggled to gain sales volume and has never reported a profit. This week, its share price was trading at just $0.80 (€0.67).
McDonald’s secret sauce
McDonald’s, on the other hand, has successfully built a global fast food empire by knowing what its customers want and supplying it.
As with any successful business, it is always open to new products and ideas, so it was no surprise that it embraced alternative products.
After all, its signature product is the Big Mac and if a new product was to come along that threatened to replace or even undermine it, it had to be prepared.
Hence, McDonald’s embraced non-meat-based products as part of its business and was in a position to offer consumers plant or non-plant-based choices on the menu.
McDonald’s customers appear to have decided that their appetite for plant-based products is limited.
Product sales are what is required to keep a place on the menu and we can be sure that if its customers had been buying these products, they wouldn’t have been removed. McDonald’s has built a successful business empire by giving its customers what they want and it is clear that it isn’t plant-based.
Comment – ultimately it is about consumer choice
The McDonald’s story coming at the end of the month that is dedicated to the promotion of vegetarianism is a reminder that the customer is always right.
There always has been and always will be a segment of the population that doesn’t want to eat meat and in some cases no animal-based products at all.
Reasons for this are varied, from simply not liking the taste to being uncomfortable with farmed livestock.
However, for the vast majority in society, meat consumption has always been and again always will be part of a balanced diet.
The bottom line is that people should have the freedom to choose which they prefer and respect others that make a different choice. Doing this has been an integral part of the McDonald’s success story.
Read more
McDonald's spends over €240m on Irish produce each year
McDonald’s drops McPlant in US
McDonald’s loses ‘Big Mac’ trademark for poultry products in EU
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