Burger King is reportedly testing out a vegetarian “Impossible Whopper” in some of their stores.
According to WTOP, the company recently announced the move, which sees the chain trying out the plant-based burger at nearly 60 locations around St. Louis, Missouri.
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If the new burger is a hit, Burger King plans to then introduce it to their customers nationwide.
Chris Finazzo, president of Burger King North America, spoke about the new experiment and told CNN Business that with potentially adding the Impossible Burger to their main menu Burger King hopes to “give somebody who wants to eat a burger every day, but doesn’t necessarily want to eat beef everyday, permission to come into the restaurants more frequently.”
“There’s a lot of interest in plant-based burgers,” he also noted, going on to explain that Burger King has been looking for a way to introduce plant-based burger option to the menu for some time now.
Per Impossible Foods, the company “started with one goal: to make meat from plants better — in every way — than meat from animals. Since then, we’ve been testing new recipes every day. After all, why stop at good, when there’s always better?”
The company goes on to explain that since first introducing the world to their new kind of burger option, they have revamped their recipe.
“We launched the Impossible Burger in 2016, but we didn’t stop there. Since then, we’ve been learning how to make it even better. As of 2019, we’re proud to announce that there’s a new recipe in town,” the company states. “The new Impossible Burger is tastier, juicier and more nutritious — featuring 30% less sodium and 40% less saturated fat than our current recipe and just as much protein as 80/20 ground beef from cows. 100% more delicious and more versatile than ever.”
“Our new recipe is better in every way: taste, texture, nutrition, versatility. To do this, we added (and removed) some key ingredients,” it adds.
Impossible Foods also explains how the new Impossible Burger “meat” is created, saying, “We swapped wheat protein with soy protein — higher in ‘protein quality’ (a more complete selection of essential amino acids), beefier in texture, and with just a bit of dietary fiber.”
“We added methylcellulose, a plant-based culinary binder commonly found in ice cream, sauces, and jams. Methylcellulose makes the new recipe juicer, and easier to handle — whether raw or cooked. We also added sunflower oil, which reduces the amount of total and saturated fat in the Impossible Burger.”
If you do not live in the St. Louis area, it’s possible that Burger King will be bringing the Impossible Whopper to you in the future, but the company is waiting to see how the sandwich does in that market first.
