Costa Coffee is rolling out fake bacon butties and McDonald’s is trialling a McPlant burger as demand for vegetarian food grows.
The coffee chain is hoping to cash in on the vegan trend with the launch of fake bacon butties.
Its plant-based Bac’n Breakfast Baps for £3 a pop follow the success of bakery chain Greggs which regularly sells out of its hit vegan sausage rolls.
The butties are being rolled out this week and contain wheat and pea-based fake meat Naked Bacon Without The Oink! from Irish company Finnebrogue.
The “rashers” come in a white bap with vegan spread and Heinz ketchup or HP brown sauce.
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In a sly dig, the butty was unveiled by a lookalike of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, who once slated Costa’s real bacon bap in a social media rant.
His doppelganger Martin Jordan said the meat-free version tasted “b****y good!”
And a Costa Coffee spokesperson added: “Gordon Ramsay might be famous for pulling kitchens apart, but the country’s favourite lookalike definitely knows how to put our Vegan Bac’n Bap together.
“At Costa Coffee we always look to challenge our alternative food offerings to provide as much choice for our customers as possible, and this breakfast alternative is very proud to be fake.”
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The meat free butty comes as burger giant McDonald’s also jumps on the bandwagon, revealing it is trialling a McPlant burger which will make its way to the UK if it is a hit in Austria, following pilots in Denmark and Sweden.
The patty has been made in partnership with American firm Beyond Meat which has already created a plant-based burger made with pea protein that was hailed the “beefiest-smelling veggie burger on the market” by US scientists.
While the McPlant is initially aimed at “flexitarians” - those who want less meat in their diet - and is made with cheese and egg-base mayo, it will need a tweak for the growing UK vegan market.
A McDonald’s spokesperson said the latest addition to the menu was “all about giving customers more choices” although there is no date yet for a UK launch.
The fast food chain has described the McPlant as delivering “our iconic taste in a sink-your-teeth-in (and wipe-your-mouth) kind of sandwich”.
It added: “It’s made with a juicy, plant-based patty and served on a warm, sesame seed bun with all the classic toppings.”
