Since the end of April, McDonald’s has been offering a vegan burger, following a trend many other companies have already recognized. Although the proportion of vegans is relatively low, they have great purchasing power and many non-vegans also occasionally like animal products. For example, the meatless burger Patty from Beyond Meat, which was recently offered by Lidl, was sold out at lightning speed, Magnum’s vegan ice cream version is very popular, the sugar company Pfeifer & Langen is taking an interest in Amidori and Katjes is launching the chocolate sale with a vegan version. How does the veggie burger of the American chain get to consumers? To this end, CodeCheck, in collaboration with Bonsai Research, surveyed some of the 3 million users of CodeCheck, the leading community for Conscious Consumers in German-speaking countries.
Conscious meat consumption and attentive consumers
An average of 74 percent of respondents had heard of veggie burger from McDonald’s just a few days after the launch of the Big Vegan TS. Although 82 percent had not yet tried it, the awareness of alternative products shows that not only vegans are interested in meatless nutrition. McDonald’s speaks to the Big Vegan TS millions of people who do not want to sacrifice meat in terms of taste, but want to reduce their consumption for ethical or health reasons.
Meatless yes, but not tasteless
More than 50 percent of the participants, who consisted almost equally of vegans, vegetarians, flexitarians and meat eaters, found the burger to be very good or good in taste. Especially the meat-like taste and the possibility of choosing a vegan alternative were well received. Nevertheless, everyone agreed that it was a bit dry and lacked sauces. In the group of vegans, the cooperation with Nestlé daughter Garden Gourmet was also named as a criticism.
Young, critical audience that changes the market
While most of the study participants are aware of the Big Vegan TS, they still do not want to test it for the most part. McDonald’s reveals the ingredients of the new addition and does not hide the cooperation with Garden Gourmet, but that could be the reason for the restraint. Vegan World writes that “Nestlé meat substitutes, such as the Garden Gourmet brand, are not compatible with a vegan setting,” so too McDonald’s burger. Germany is considered one of the leading markets in terms of implementing and testing trends. Millennials in particular, with their purchasing power and the turn to conscious consumption, are changing the product decisions of many companies.
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