Current Events > President of KFC: All our research suggests plant-based diet will grow and grow

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22876919/plant-based-food-pandemic-covid-vegan-vegetarian-meat-milk-eggs

When the pandemic hit and Americans panic-bought groceries, conventional meat sales rose by around 40 percent compared to the prior year and stayed there for months, while sales of plant-based meat surged 65 percent.

Fast food giants have made it clear that they still believe plant-based meat is a worthwhile bet. In the first two weeks of 2022, KFC launched a meatless chicken product made by Beyond Meat, Chipotle introduced an in-house pea-based chorizo, and McDonalds McPlant burger made by Beyond Meat arrived in 600 locations yesterday.

Every one of our pieces of research suggests plant-based diets will continue to grow and grow, Kevin Hochman, president of KFC US, told me. Will there be blips when theres an onset of a pandemic? Of course. We view this as a long-term trend.

Jennifer Bartashus, a senior analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, agrees. Because its a young industry and because theres a lot of volatility, youre going to have times that go up and down. But when you look at the long-term, I think theres been a fundamental shift in how people think about their health.

Vote and discuss.

I mean, duh. Look how much it's boomed just over the past decade

Yep. It's insane to see how much it's grown in the past few years. Props to the OGs who have been vegetarian long before it's become easier and more accessible

IndorilGawain posted...

I mean, duh. Look how much it's boomed just over the past decade

emblem boy posted...

Yep. It's insane to see how much it's grown in the past few years. Props to the OGs who have been vegetarian long before it's become easier and more accessible

Agreed.

Also... has anyone here tried KFC's new beyond chicken? They taste good? Taste bad?

I don't eat fast food much these days, so I haven't tried them.

ZannoL posted...

Also... has anyone here tried KFC's new beyond chicken? They taste good? Taste bad?

I don't eat fast food much these days, so I haven't tried them.

I have not heard good things lol. Which is a shame because I like most Beyond stuff. They're also not vegan apparently (presumably fried in the chicken oil)

IndorilGawain posted...

I have not heard good things lol. Which is a shame because I like most Beyond stuff.

Ah ok.

I liked them to the extent that I wondered if it was really fake meat but it was $15 for 12 nuggies, fries, and a soda pop so Id rather go somewhere else entirely.

I mean, given that KFC literally can't even figure out how to make fries suitable for vegetarians, let alone vegans, I'm not really sure I'm going to trust their plant-based nuggets or whatever to actually be meat-free rather than just bulked up with some plant-based ingredients.

(Context note: At least where I live, KFC's fries contain both beef fat in the fries themself, and chicken in the salt.)

Nah. Just have no desire to try it. I'm happy with regular meat.

I mean, good for people who want to pretend they're eating fake meat that doesn't taste like shit. I'll stick never touch fake meat. Anyone serves me a fucking cauliflower "Buffalo wing" best get right with whatever God they worship first

Of course it'll grow and grow, the margins are greater than with real meat so they'll shove it down our throats as much as possible.

Looks like meat eaters make up a large percentage of those who eat plant-based meats:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2022/01/20/meatless-restaurants-saved-700-k-animals-2021/6570343001/

The first three weeks of 2022 have already brought a variety of new alternatives to popular chains. Chipotle has introduced a plant-based, vegan chorizo for a limited time, Kentucky Fried Chicken launched a plant-based fried chicken option in partnership with Beyond Meat, and McDonalds announced this week that its "McPlant" meatless burger will be available in 600 stores in the San Francisco and Dallas areas starting next month.

While fully plant-based consumers make up a small portion of the population 5% of Americans identify as vegetarian and 3% vegan, according to a 2018 Gallup poll the demand for meat alternatives at restaurants is rising as meat-eaters also test out options.

A 2021 survey from Piplsay found that 71% of the 30,700 people polled said they'd heard of plant-based meat substitutes at fast-food restaurants. Of those, 54% had tried the alternatives, 72% of whom identified as meat-eaters.

"Restaurants are definitely trying to meet this rising demand for plant-based products by offering more meat alternatives on their menus," Maha Bazzi, farming campaign manager at World Animal Protection, US, told USA TODAY. "The industry is expected to stay the course in 2022 as meat alternatives evolve and become more widely accessible."

Restaurant chains' use of meat alternatives in 2021 saved the equivalent of more than 700,000 animals 212,000 pigs, 92,000 cows and 405,000 chickens, according to new research from World Animal Protection, a global animal welfare nonprofit organization.

"Looking ahead to 2022, we know that in this category, its not enough to just have any plant-based product in the market now. You have to prove to people that you have better products," Woodside wrote in a statement to USA TODAY. "We did that last year with our Impossible Chicken Nuggets, Impossible Pork, and Impossible Sausage products all of which were found by the majority of consumers to be as good as or better than the respective animal-based products in recent taste tests."

Meat industry leaders are working to keep pace, too.

Tyson Foods expanded its meatless options in 2021 to include plant-based burger patties and bratwurst, while Perdue has explored "flexitarian" options with chicken nuggets madecombination with cauliflower, chickpeas and plant protein alongside plant-based chicken nugget options.

"The plant-based food industry is showing no signs of slowing down," Bazzi said. "Some of the biggest meat companies are trying to keep up by introducing their own lines of plant-based products."

Personally, I think whole-plant based diet is way more healthy and tasty.

And yet there will always be a demand for real chicken. Not nuggets, but well cooked stuff.