McDonald’s Is “Keeping an Eye” on Impossible Burgers

Lucy Brady, senior vice president of corporate strategy at McDonald’s, spoke about the chain’s upcoming business strategies this week at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Next Gen Summit in California. Brady explained that McDonald’s is exploring various consumer trends, such as shifting consumer demand towards plant-based foods and opting to cook meals at home. “With delivery making it easy for people to get food at home, we need to be thinking about how to meet customer demands,” Brady said in reference to delivery service Instacart. In reference to the popularity of products such as the Impossible Burger, Brady stated, “Plant-based protein is something we’re keeping our eye on.” McDonald’s in other regions have added vegan options, most notably the McVegan and El Veggo burgers, in Nordic locations. However, North American outposts have not modernized their menus to keep up with competitors such as White Castle—which added the vegan-friendly Impossible Slider to 140 locations earlier this year. Speaking at the same conference, power-executive Kat Cole—former president of Cinnabon and current Chief Operating Officer for Focus Brands North America—revealed that she intends to add more plant-based protein and dairy-free milk options to the menu at subsidiary brand Jamba Juice.