101-Location Chain BurgerFi Adds Vegan Beyond Burger

On July 3, the vegan Beyond Burger patty will debut at eight locations of chain eatery BurgerFi. The burger—available vegan upon request—joins BurgerFi’s own quinoa-based veggie burger (the VeggieFi) that was developed by the company to appease customer demand for plant-based options. “Our VeggieFi burger is really popular, but there’s a real difference between a vegetable burger and this plant-based burger, because it truly tastes like burger,” the eatery’s executive chef Paul Griffin told the New York Times. “When you eat it, your mind tells you you’re eating beef.” Beyond Meat debuted its burger in the meat department of Whole Foods Market last year where it sold out within one hour. Since then, the brand expanded its distribution to select Whole Foods Markets and 280 Safeway supermarkets nationwide, the food halls at Yale University, Hong Kong-based vegan retailer Green Common, plant-based burger shop Next Level Burger, and vegan restaurant chain Veggie Grill. “This is a really important step out of the plant-focused world and into a place where carnivores are going to go,” Beyond Meat’s CEO Ethan Brown said of the expansion. BurgerFi plans to roll out the new vegan-friendly burger to all of its 101 locations by the end of the summer. Meanwhile, Impossible Foods’ competing “bleeding” Impossible Burger is on pace to meet its end of the year goal of being available at 1,000 restaurants nationwide, with a recent expansion to 11 locations of burger chain Hopdoddy.