UK pub chain JD Wetherspoon is adding its first ever fake-meat burger to its nationwide menu this week.
The plant-based product will be rolled out to all 880 UK Wetherspoons after a successful six-month trial in 40 of its outlets.
The patty, created by Leeds-based company The Meatless Farm, is a gluten-free blend of pea, soy and rice protein, carrot fibre and chicory root.
It joins 13 other burger options, including a vegetarian patty but marks the franchise's first venture into a totally vegan burger offering.
It isn’t the only new vegan item making its debut on the Wetherspoon’s menu either. The chain will also be adding a vegan version of Heinz's no-added sugar baked beans to its plant-based breakfast, alongside the other 10 vegan main meals it offers, which include curries and Teriyaki noodles.
“We are keen to offer vegetarian and vegan pub-goers an excellent choice of meals to enjoy at Wetherspoon,” said Wetherspoon’s head of catering, Jameson Robinson, about the launch.
“The plant-based burger is a great addition to the menu and we are confident that it will prove popular with vegetarians and vegans as well as those who eat meat.”
Veganism and meat-free diets have soared in popularity in Britain over the last decade.
A 2018 report by supermarket Waitrose found that one in eight Brits is now vegetarian or vegan and 21% of the total population are ‘flexitarians’, following mostly plant-based diets with the occasional consumption of meat or fish.
Wetherspoon’s launch comes just days after craft brewery chain BrewDog left customers bemused with the announcement they were adding a half-vegan, half-beef burger to their menu.
The intention was to encourage consumers to eat meat but feedback suggested the public were less than impressed with the effort.
“What is the point of this? Why not offer a meat burger AND a plant-based burger? That way you can appeal to meat eaters, vegetarians, and vegans. This hybrid burger cuts your market significantly,” wrote one Twitter user.
So far the Wetherspoon’s burger is yet to receive the same drubbing, with one user describing it as ‘immense’.
