Burger King announced of testing a vegetarian version of its Whopper burger made with plant-based Impossible Burger and the results are stupendous. Made with plant-based meat substitutes, the Impossible Whopper is released in test markets and in some locations like St. Louis it has outperformed national foot traffic average by 18.5% in April which is 16.75% higher than the previous month’s average.
This could offset Burger King’s declining same-store sales growth. During Q1, the company reported same-store sales growth of 2.2%, down from 3.8% a year earlier. Impossible Whopper has the potential to break that trend.
Analysts believe that plant-based meat alternatives have the power to disrupt the meat category like plant-based milk drinks disrupted diary and energy drinks disrupted caffeinated beverages.
Impossible Foods, the original inspiration for plant-based burgers, raised $300 million in its latest funding cycle. It has already introduced Impossible Burger to restaurants like Red Robin and Qdoba.
They said the burgers have been such a hit, that Impossible Foods is increasing the number of hours for employees in places like Oakland, California to meet the rising demand. Currently, it is working on putting plant-based sausage in pizza.
Another plant-based meat manufacturer, Beyond Meat, saw its stock rise 218% after it went public earlier this month. It has also signed a deal with Zandbergen World’s Finest Meat to roll out products at its Dutch facility by the first quarter of 2020.