McDonald’s and Beyond Meat announce 3-year partnership with McPlant

Today, vegan brand Beyond Meat announced that it has entered into a three-year global strategic partnership with fast food chain McDonald’s. Through this partnership, Beyond Meat will help McDonald’s develop new plant-based menu options through its recently announced McPlant platform. “Our new McPlant platform aims to give customers more choices when they visit McDonald’s,” said Francesca DeBiase, executive vice president and chief supply chain officer for McDonald’s. “We are excited to be working with Beyond Meat to drive innovation in this space, and entering into this strategic agreement is an important step in our journey to deliver delicious, high-quality, plant-based meals to our customers.”

McDonald’s bets on plants

In 2019, McDonald’s began testing the PLT (Plant, Lettuce & Tomato) Burger made in partnership with Beyond Meat at select locations in Ontario, Canada. Shortly after the test ended, McDonald’s announced the launch of the “McPlant” platform, which will be used to develop future plant-based dishes for its menus around the world, starting with the McPlant burger. This month, McDonald’s launched the McPlant burger at test sites in Sweden (Linköping and Helsingborg) through March 15 and in select locations in Denmark through April 12, with the goal of rolling out the meatless burger in McDonald’s establishments in other markets. While McDonald’s was initially hesitant to confirm Beyond Meat was the originator of its McPlant mash, the new partnership cements Beyond Meat as the chain’s preferred plant supplier.

As part of the deal, Beyond Meat and McDonald’s will also explore co-development options such as plant-based chicken, pork and eggs as part of the McPlant platform. “We are proud to enter this global strategic agreement with McDonald’s, a milestone for Beyond Meat, and we look forward to serving McDonald’s as they expand menu choices globally,” said Ethan Brown, Founder and CEO of Beyond Meat. “We will combine the power of Beyond Meat’s quick and relentless approach to innovation with the strength of McDonald’s global brand to introduce new plant-based menu dishes that will appeal to consumers.”

KFC, Pizza Hut and Pepsi go above and beyond

Brown announced the McDonald’s partnership during the Beyond Meat earnings call today, where he also revealed that the vegan brand has signed a similar partnership with Yum! Brands. As part of the deal, Beyond Meat will also work with Yum-owned KFC and Pizza Hut chains! To develop future herbal options. Last month, Beyond Meat also formed a joint venture, The PLANeT Partnership, with food and beverage giant PepsiCo. As part of this venture, Beyond Meat and Pepsi will develop, produce and market plant-based snacks and beverages.

“These deals are huge,” Brown said on the call. “These are the biggest food deals you could possibly get in our industry.”