The international fast food chain Burger King has just taken an interest in plant-based chicken at its locations in Chile. Created in collaboration with the Chilean company TheNotCompany (“NotCo”), the chain now serves two vegan chicken sandwiches: King Vegetal and King Italiano Vegetal. As part of the partnership, Chilean chain outlets also offer vegetable chicken nuggets.
NotCo is on a mission to change the way the world feeds through technology. The company creates its products, including meat and milk analogues, using ‘Giuseppe’, an AI-based discovery platform that draws from a database of 300,000 plant ingredients to accurately replicate plant-based animal foods at the molecular level.
This plant-based chicken line extends NotCo’s existing partnership with Burger King in the region, which introduced the plant-based whopper in 2020. “We are proud to introduce this new line that tastes like chicken but is made from plants and brings a new flavor to our customers,” said Lucy Garrido, communications director at Burger King Chile. “We want to go further, and those who come to Burger King know they can choose new options.”
The Chilean premiere follows a similar release in April of King Vegetal at Burger King locations in Argentina.
Burger King bets on plant-based fast-food
In 2019, Burger King was one of the first fast-food chains to add the vegetable meat option to its menu with the debut of Impossible Whopper. Today, the global network is constantly transforming its menu in unique ways around the world.
Outside of the US, Burger King has partnered with The Vegetarian Butcher, which supplies its plant-based meat products that span the spectrum from vegan chicken nuggets to vegetable whoppers and more. In the UK, Burger King aims to make 50 percent of its plant-based menu by 2030, and has recently transformed its flagship London location into a vegan paradise with 25 plant-based options including vegan double bacon cheeseburgers, chilli cheese pieces and the popular Whopper based on plants. This may interest you : 10 Best Anime -Based Video Games | Eye Watch. Burger King explored the idea of completely meatless locations in other regions, recently converting two outlets in Switzerland to serve 14 meatless options for 10 days in June.
After returning to the US, Burger King recently expanded its partnership with Impossible Foods by adding two additional menu options: The Impossible King and The Southwest Bacon Impossible Whopper. While both of the new options are not entirely plant-based (as they include additives such as pork bacon and milk cheese), the use of Impossible patties in place of beef signals Burger King’s readiness to incorporate vegetable meat into the main menu in new ways.
“We were overwhelmed by the reaction to Impossible Whopper and knew Burger King customers would be keen on even more Impossible options to choose from,” said Dan Greene, senior vice president of sales for Impossible Foods. “We couldn’t find a better partner at Burger King and we are delighted to be working closely with them to serve more vegetable patties.”
NotCo is transforming food industry with artificial intelligence
For its part, NotCo is also changing the fast-food industry. Its latest menu extension with Burger King is just one of the major partnerships NotCo cultivates as part of its mission to transform the food system using Artificial Intelligence.
Last year, NotCo announced a partnership with Starbucks in Chile, where several of its “no” products – including meatless beef sandwiches from NotMayo and NotMeat – are now on the menu in 130 locations nationwide. Read also : Carlos Santana on spirituality in music, 53 years after Woodstock. In May, Starbucks expanded its partnership with NotCo to add the company’s vegan milk to its Columbia locations.
NotCo plant meats are also on the menu of Papa John’s international chain in several countries, including Chile and Peru. There, customers can try Vegan Royal, which includes the trademark NotMeat and vegan cheese from the American brand Follow Your Heart.
The Chilean startup is also in the process of expanding to the United States, where NotMilk made its retail debut as part of the Whole Foods Market partnership in 2020. In terms of gastronomy, in May, Shake Shack announced that it was working with NotCo on its first plant-based milkshakes and puddings. Throughout the summer, customers can try out dairy-free innovations at 10 Shake Shack locations in New York and South Florida – with the possibility of greater deployment depending on how this test runs.
“We want to reach all corners of the world,” Maximiliano Silva, Country Manager NotCo Chile, said in a statement. “We are at a complex environmental moment and believe that with these alliances we can make a difference to make an impact on the planet.”
For the latest vegan news, read: California is the first state to support plant-based school meals Harlem’s Uptown Veg opens new Brooklyn location Tabitha Brown hosts Food Network’s first vegan cooking show
Anna Starostinetskaya is a Senior News Editor at VegNews and always keeps an eye on everything vegan in her hometown of San Francisco, California and everywhere else.
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