Food Professor Examines Relationship Between McDonald's & Beyond Meat

It appears that McDonald's could be moving ahead with its McPlant product lineup without Beyond Meat.

 

The plant-based meat alternative products will be rolled out by McDonald's in 2021. There is some question as to whether or not the two companies will continue to work together.

 

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois is a food professor at Dalhousie University.

 

He believes Beyond Meat has hurt itself by encouraging consumers to ditch real meat.

 

"People who actually like Canadian beef will continue to like Canadian beef," he said. "The issue here is about inclusiveness, it's about flexibility as well. Sometimes people do want to try something else and by saying that this plant-based alternative can replace other options that may actually be seen as less environmentally friendly or less healthy, can be seen as insulting for consumers and farmers as well."

 

McDonald's and Beyond Meat teamed up in late 2019 with the Plant, Lettuce, Tomatoes (PLT) sandwich, running a pilot program in southern Ontario.

 

Charlebois says McDonald's is one of agriculture's greatest ambassadors, promoting Canadian commodities quite well over the years.

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This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under agreement number 2023-38640-39573 through the North Central Region SARE program under project number ENC23-226. USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.