Once upon a time, the only vegetarian options at most fast-food restaurants were salad or French fries, and maybe a burger if you were willing to pay full price just to take the patty off and eat some lettuce and tomato sandwiched between two buns.
But now, many of our favorite chains have begun offering plant-based meat products so even our veggie-loving friends can enjoy a greasy late-night burger trip.
First, we got the Impossible Whopper by Burger King.
This feat of deceptively non-meaty goodness uses a meat patty from the company Impossible Foods to help customers feel like they’re eating a real, traditional burger while also lending a bit of relief to their heart health – no red meat here!
It’s been so popular in the initial testing phase that Burger King has announced it will be rolling out the Impossible Whopper nationwide.
McDonald’s has also begun offering a meatless burger to hungry customers in Germany.
The so-called Big Vegan TS features a meatless patty courtesy of Nestle.
McDonald’s hasn’t announced any plans for further meatless products outside of Europe but we’re keeping our hopes high.
Even Little Cesars has apparently jumped on the meatless bandwagon.
An Instagram post from Impossible Foods reveals the pizza chain has begun using Impossible Sausage on its pizza, so now vegetarian pizza isn’t exclusively either plain cheese or veggie-coated.
Other restaurants have also followed suit in the plant-based meat trend, but one company refuses to join.
According to Fox News , the fast-food chain Arby’s has made it abundantly clear that they have no intentions to ever start offering meatless products at their restaurants, thank you very much.
There were initially some rumors floating around that they would be the next to join the vegan express.
These reports claimed Arby’s had been in touch with Impossible Foods to unroll some sort of meatless product for their vegetarian and vegan customers.
But an Arby’s spokesman has shot down these rumors and affirmed the chain has no intentions of following the trend.
“Contrary to reports, Arby’s is not one of the restaurant companies interested in working with Impossible Foods,” the spokesman told Fox News in an email. “We are America’s home for the meats, and are proud to have earned that title by doing things differently than the rest of the industry.”
In fact, they have absolutely no intentions on ever introducing anything less than the real meat products they’re known for.
“The chances Arby’s will bring plant-based protein to our menu — now or in the future — are absolutely impossible,” the spokesman said.
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Arby’s president, Rob Lynch, has also blasted these meatless rumors.
He told Fortune he wouldn’t let plant-based meat products happen “on [his] watch” and added, “The only way would be if I got fired for some reason.”
So there you have it. You can expect Arby’s to stay true to their slogan: “We have the meat.” After all, it would be a bit silly if they’d have to start adding, “And also the meatless if you’re into that.”