KFC adds meat to its menu with plant-based fried chicken from Beyond Meat

Available only in the US as of now, it’s the latest push from the QSR to add more plant-based offerings to its predominantly meat offerings.

Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) has added a new leaf to its menu with a ‘Kentucky Fried Miracle’— plant-based fried chicken developed by Beyond Meat, maker of plant-based meat substitutes, exclusively for KFC restaurants in the United States.

“The mission from day one was simple – make the world-famous Kentucky Fried Chicken from plants,” said Kevin Hochman, president, KFC U.S. “And now over two years later we can say, ‘mission accomplished.’”

KFC was the first QSR to introduce plant-based chicken on its menu. In August 2019 as a part of a limited-run test in Atlanta, it and Beyond Meat tested the first iteration of Beyond Fried Chicken. In 2020, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Beyond Meat expanded the test to select restaurants in Nashville and Charlotte. That summer, KFC shared a sneak peek of Beyond Fried Chicken at select restaurants in Southern California.

“We couldn’t be prouder to partner with KFC to offer a best-in-class product that not only delivers the delicious experience consumers expect from this iconic chain but also provides the added benefits of plant-based meat,” said Ethan Brown, Founder and CEO, Beyond Meat. “We are truly thrilled to make it available to consumers nationwide.”

Along with KFC, Beyond Meat also announced the launch of plant-based Beyond Italian Sausage Crumbles as a permanent offering at Pizza Hut Canada locations nationwide.

Also Read: Domino’s introduces ‘The Unthinkable Pizza' that is 100% chicken-like but 100 per cent vegetarian

The plant-based meat market, is set to grow to $23.2 billion by 2024, says CNBC. In January of 2021, we reported that Burger King in partnership with Unilever’s ‘The Vegetarian Butcher’ had expanded the Rebel Whopper (plant-based) to Latin America, China and the Caribbean from its initial availability in 35 countries. And let’s not leave McDonald’s that, in collaboration with Beyond Meat, has launched the ‘McPlant’ in the United Kingdom in September last year.

Back home in India, most QSRs have shied away from launching plant-based offerings as now except Domino’s. It, in 2020, launched the ‘The Unthinkable Pizza’ that is “... Made entirely from plant-based proteins, The Unthinkable Pizza is 100 per cent vegetarian and yet has the sensory properties of chicken.”