McDonald's says verdict is in: US customers do not like McPlant burgers

McDonald’s plant-based burger flopped in two American test markets, according to McDonald’s USA President Joe Erlinger.

Speaking at the WSJ Global Food Forum, Erlinger said he had "asked the team to test the McPlant in two very different markets, and they chose San Francisco and Dallas."

McDonald’s kicked off testing of the plant-based burger in the two cities in February 2022 and concluded it after a limited time. It involved about 600 restaurants in total.

"It was not successful in either market," the McDonald’s USA president said at the forum. "So, I don’t think the U.S. consumer is coming to McDonald’s or looking for a McPlant or other plant-based proteins from McDonald’s now."

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He said the fast-food giant, which has over 40,000 locations around the world, would "continue to monitor" the trend, according to the Journal's footage of his remarks.

The company has introduced the McPlant to various countries in Europe over the years and even permanently added it to the menu in some places, like the U.K. and the Netherlands.

"The bigger trend around protein consumption is really around chicken, and we think we’re poised to serve that trend well, and that’s where we’re making investments," Erlinger said during the forum.

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McDonald’s has been leaning further into chicken in recent quarters.

"[We’re] also excited to further build on our success in chicken by continuing to invest in beloved icons like McNuggets and McChicken while further scaling the emerging favorites like McCrispy and McSpicy," CEO Chris Kempczinski said in February. "These four equities are the building blocks of our growing chicken business, and we see the potential to add another point of chicken share by 2026, in part through an expansion of our McCrispy platform into wraps and tenders."

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The company’s chicken category has generated $25 billion in annual systemwide sales, the company said earlier this year. That was on par with its beef business.

McDonald’s has also continued to roll out its "Best Burger" initiative — various upgrades to its popular burgers to make them juicer and more flavorful — to restaurants around the world. It wants nearly all markets to have the upgraded burgers by 2026 and, according to executives, had hit 80% as of the end of April.