McDonald’s is launching plant-based McNuggets in France in partnership with Beyond Meat. According to a release from Beyond Meat, the Veggie McPlant McNuggets are made with pea and wheat proteins.
“With Veggie McPlant Nuggets, we are responding to an increasingly strong desire among French consumers to vary their protein intake without compromising on pleasure. This innovation is the result of close collaboration between Beyond Meat and McDonald’s,” McDonald’s France chief marketing officer Jean-Guillaume Bertola said in a statement.
That collaboration was solidified in early 2021 when the companies announced a strategic partnership making Beyond the “preferred supplier” for the patty in the McPlant burger. The McDonald’s/Beyond Meat partnership was initially a three-year deal in which Beyond was also tasked with exploring the “co-development” of other plant-based items, such as chicken, pork and egg, as part of the chain’s McPlant platform.
Shortly after the partnership was formed, McDonald’s began testing a plant-based meat patty in eight markets. In the United States, however, that test ended about a year later after analysts reported that sales of the McPlant were lower than expected.
However, Europe has been a different story, and the McPlant platform has been launched across several countries. Germany also recently added McPlant nuggets to its menu, for instance. In France, the nuggets will be available in the market’s 1,560 restaurants on a permanent basis, both as an à la carte option and as a part of the various menus, such as Best Of, Maxi Best Of, and Happy Meal, at the same price as the chain’s signature Chicken McNuggets.
Contact Alicia Kelso at [email protected]
