McDonald's is expanding its pilot sales of vegan burgers to 40 branches, starting Wednesday of next week. The vegan products, called Big Vegan, is produced by Osem-Nestle subsidiary Tivoll. It was launched two months ago, and has hitherto been sold at only 18 of the chain's 186 branches in Israel, most of them in the greater Tel Aviv area. McDonald's is also marketing a double-size vegan burger.
In addition to physical expansion, McDonald's Israel is also expanding its geographic deployment by opening new branches. Opening of a new branch in the Zim Urban center in Arad, a branch in the Ispro Center in Ness Ziona, a kosher branch in the Holon Mall, and a branch in Afula will be completed this month. The chain will open 10 new branches by the end of the year, including the two new restaurants at Ben Gurion Airport.
The popular global trend is pushing many fast food chains to look for meat substitutes for their products. Burger King, McDonald's competitor, has already begun marketing a vegan burger made by Impossible Foods at its branches in the US, and is gradually expanding this line. Burger King Israel, however, does not yet offer a vegan burger. The US Kentucky Fried Chicken fast food chain has announced that it will also enter this sphere by launching vegan products, and food manufacturer Tyson Foods has made a similar announcement.
Meatless hamburgers made by Beyond Meat, which recently held its celebrated IPO, have been sold in recent months at restaurant chains in Israel, such as Moses, BBB, and SUSU & Sons, as well as in natural food stores, where they are relatively expensive, with three hamburgers being sold for NIS 54.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on August 27, 2019
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