Updated September 21, 2019. | Burger King Brazil is joining in on the plant-based meat action.
The chain is trialing its own meat-like veggie burger in 58 São Paulo locations, reports Época Negócios. “The brand will assess public acceptance, then evaluate product expansion,” a source told the publication.
Marfrig Global Foods — the second-largest food processing company in Brazil, after JBS — worked with Burger King to create the new plant-based burger, called the Rebel Whopper.
Currently, Brazilian locations of the fast-food chain offer two vegetarian options: a vegetable burger and a salad. The new meat-like addition comes in response to consumer demand, according to the Huffington Post Brasil.
Brazilian cuisine is traditionally meat-heavy, but recent research — conducted by the Good Food Institute (GFI) — revealed that 30 percent of citizens are opting for more vegan foods.
GFI noted at the end of last year, “nearly 30 percent of respondents reported that they are moving toward reducing their consumption of animal products or are already vegetarian. This indicates that the Brazilian plant-based market has a potential reach of 60 million interested eaters.”
Burger King Embraces Vegan Food
The Rebel Whopper follows in the footsteps of the Impossible Whopper, a vegan meat burger added to the menu in U.S. locations of Burger King. Initially, Burger King trialed the plant-based patty in 59 locations in St. Louis, Missouri before it was rolled out nationwide.
Burger King locations in other countries also added vegan burgers to the menu. In Sweden, customers have to guess whether the Whopper they’re eating is made from meat or plant-based ingredients. They enter their answer into an app, which then informs them if their guess was correct.
“We are really proud of how hard it is to tell our plant-based burgers apart from real meat,” said marketing director for Burger King Sweden, Daniel Scröder, in a statement. “With the 50/50-menu, we hope that more people dare to try them. And hopefully, have fun trying to figure out which one they got.”
A plant-based burger could also be about to launch in the UK. A Burger King spokesperson said recently, “we know there is a huge appetite for alternative options to meat here in the UK. We are currently exploring opportunities to bring a meat-free burger to the UK.”
Burger King Brazil began trialing the Rebel Whopper on September 10. It will be introduced nationwide in November.
