New York (CNN Business) So, Cracker Barrel … It’s a restaurant you traditionally go to after church to eat an unholy amount of biscuits and gravy while your grandma stocks country-themed tchotchkes and novelty dish towels printed on gingham embroidered with nonsense. as “happiness is homemade”.
At least that’s my recollection.
The point is, it’s a healthy place. But leave it to Facebook commenters to turn it into a battleground of the Great American Culture War.
Here’s the deal: Cracker Barrel has added Impossible Sausage to their menus. Maybe because they realized (20 years too late, in my case) that they were not really provided for the growing number of vegetarians and vegans in America who, like, from time to time are also hungry.
But the most ravenous carnivores here did not like the addition of “fake” meat, and did not hold back in their Facebook comments responding to Cracker Barrel’s post announcing the update. A sampling:
“I just lost respect for a once great Tennessee company.”
“Stop with the plant-based ‘meat’ crap.”
Several commentators have criticized the addition of less than “woke”, an anti-racist term that has been co-opted into a pejorative against progressive actions and beliefs.
To be clear, Cracker Barrel is not replacing its meat sausages with veggie alternatives. It’s not mandatory or anything, as hundreds of other commenters have noted in their replies…
“It’s amazing that the snowflakes here are turned on by a meat alternative being featured on a menu. Y’all can still order regular meat, you know right?”
Ironically, an Impossible sausage is supposed to look and taste like a real meat sausage – it’s designed to go through the meat, not make an obvious statement against it. A Cracker Barrel customer who is freaked out by the new menu item probably doesn’t realize that his neighbor got an Impossible sausage instead of a regular one. He could not even understand if the product of the impostor appeared on his own plate.
Cracker Barrel, of course, remained neutral, responding that “The menu is always changing, but our love for our customers never will.”
BOTTOM LINE: It’s a silly story, sure. No one is really going to boycott the restaurant for this. But it’s a fun/slightly terrifying look at the way social media magnifies and deepens cultural divides over minor issues like what someone chooses to eat for breakfast.
Overwhelming social media reactions to food news are common—so common that conspiracy theories are generated that some changes are just stunts. After a popular ice cream maker confirmed the death of its famous chocolate taco, some wondered if the move was just a hoax designed to create hype around the product. Choco Taco fans predict a timely resurgence, after people realize how much they love and miss the sweet treat. (Choco Taco maker Klondike said this week that the backlash made it reconsider its plans.)
Companies are definitely paying attention to what customers are saying about their products online. That’s why we had a Taco Bell Hotel, for a brief, strange, brilliant moment in time.
Effusive online ribbing can be a good thing for large restaurant chains and food manufacturers. But it can also be toxic, as when hateful comments appeared online about mom-and-pop restaurants about their Covid-19 vaccination policies.
At the end of the day, Cracker Barrel’s move is a shrewd business decision.
The global market for plant-based meat is estimated to be worth around $25 billion by 2030 – there is clearly demand for it. And Cracker Barrel isn’t exactly a new find here: Burger King has the Impossible Whopper; McDonald’s is working on its own version with Beyond Meat; even meat supplier Tyson has its chicken-free chicken products.
And what red-blooded American would have beef with a restaurant that makes such a purely capitalistic decision?
— CNN Business’ Danielle Wiener-Bronner contributed to this analysis
