KFC to test Beyond Meat's plant-based chicken this week in Georgia store
Kentucky Fried Chicken is the latest fast-food giant to explore serving meatless meat, saying Monday that it will test Beyond Meat's chicken substitute this week in one of the chain's Atlanta restaurants. The promotion will run Tuesday, August 27 from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at a KFC outlet in Smyrna, Georgia.
Local diners will be able to choose chicken nugget combo meals and boneless wings that will use Beyond Meat's plant-based poultry alternative. KFC will assess the trial ahead of potentially rolling out the product nationwide.
Beyond Meat, which this year made an impressive public debut on Wall Street, makes a line of meat-alternative products targeting meat lovers. Unlike competitor Impossible Foods, it has mainly focused on getting its product into grocery stores, including Kroger, Publix and Whole Foods.
But Beyond Meat is now expanding its restaurant footprint, launching plant-based sausage breakfast sandwiches with Tim Hortons restaurants nationwide. Starting next month, Subway will roll out Beyond Meat meatball marinara sandwiches in more than 600 stores in the U.S. and Canada.
Impossible Foods also tested a meatless burger in Burger King in April before launching nationwide with the chain this month, though in a limited release. The California startup has struggled to keep up with national demand, leading to reported shortages in some restaurants.
Beyond Meat's stock price jumped more than 4% on Monday to $153.35.