The move away from meat is attracting more and more big names, and now the Colonel himself is getting onboard. KFC has announced its plans to trial a plant-based chicken substitute from Beyond Meat, in a one-store, one-day limited test with an eye towards a possible national rollout across the US.
Beyond Fried Chicken, as its known, will be on the menu on August 27 at the Cobb Parkway restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia. The chickenless chicken will be available in the form of nuggets and boneless wings, which can be bought on their own or as part of a six- or 12-piece combo meal.
The major selling point of Beyond Meat is that its products taste like real meat, and the company says that Beyond Fried Chicken is no exception. Already, Beyond pork, beef and poultry is available in supermarkets, restaurants and fast food joints in the US and other countries, but coating the stuff in the Colonel’s 11 secret herbs and spices is sure to help attract more attention to it.
And that can only be a good thing. As a whole humans need to eat less meat, for both health and environmental reasons, but giving it up cold turkey (excuse the pun) can be hard. The meatless meat movement is gaining traction, and Beyond isn’t the only player in the field. Impossible Foods recently teamed up with Burger King to make a plant-based version of the Whopper.
Although the KFC/Beyond Meat trial is only in one store for one day, the companies say that if customer feedback is positive, a wider test or even a national rollout could be considered.
For those wanting to check for themselves whether Beyond Fried Chicken is as finger-lickin’ good as the real thing, the trial kicks off at the Cobb Parkway store at 10:30 am on August 27. Visitors will get a free sample (with another purchase, of course), and meals start at US$1.99 for four Beyond nuggets. A six-nugget combo meal will run $6.49 while 12 costs $8.49. The boneless wings will be available in six or 12 pieces, for $1 each.
Source: KFC via PR Newswire