By Debayan Paul
In a recent round of interviews, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski was quoted saying that the fast-food giant “certainly expects to see plant-based on the McDonald’s menu.”
Understandably, it sparked a widespread conversation and speculation about the future of the popular fast-food chain launching vegan options.
However, it looks like the quote has been edited out from the original CNBC post it appeared first, due to unknown reasons.
In the interview, the CEO reportedly spoke about the expected fall in same-store sales, as the spread of the pandemic has affected its international market.
“Looking at comparable sales, we expect the second quarter as a whole to be significantly worse than what we experienced for the full month of March,” Kempczinski said.
Mc Donald’s restaurants in Australia, UK, Germany, France, Spain, and Italy are closed. In China, where 99% of the store is still open, “consumers have been slower to resume their old habits.”
McDonald’s has already implemented vegan options in their international markets. The company’s Finland market saw the launch of a soy-based McVegan burger. The vegan burger proved to be very successful with 150,000 burgers sold, making it a permanent item on the menu. McDonald’s Sweden locations also have plant-based options throughout the country.
Nestlé’s ‘Incredible Burgers‘ are also sold at 1,500 McDonald’s restaurants in Germany, where they are labeled as the ‘Big Vegan TS’.
Whether or not a plant-based option is brewing in the kitchens of McDonald’s is a matter of revelation over time. As of now, we can only hope.
