Burger King doubles down on plant-based meat bet with Impossible Foods breakfast sandwich
Burger King is doubling down on its big bet on the plant-based meat craze with a new addition to its breakfast menu.
Burger King is teaming up with Impossible Foods for the second time with the testing of the Impossible Croissan’wich. Beginning at the end of January, the burger chain will be first to test out the new Impossible Foods plant-based sausage in a breakfast sandwich form.
The new breakfast item will be available for limited testing at participating stores in Savannah, GA, Albuquerque, NM, Montgomery, AL, Lansing, MI, and Springfield, IL. The Impossible Croissan’wich will feature the same ingredients as the original such as toasted croissant, egg and cheese but will include the Impossible Foods plant-based sausage patty.
Impossible Croissan’wich comes after the blowout nationwide release of the Impossible Whopper on Aug. 8. Burger King parent company Restaurant Brands International (QSR) reported nearly 5% same-store sales growth at Burger King stores following the rollout.
The nationwide rollout of the Impossible Whopper boosted food traffic significantly for the burger chain, with Restaurant Brands CEO Jose Cil boasting 15% international sales growth and 5% comp sales domestically — the company’s best since 2015.
Meanwhile, competition in the fast-food space has been running hot with chains looking to boost profits with bigger bets on breakfast. In yet another attempt to jump into breakfast, Burger King rival Wendy’s (WEN) is planning to launch a new breakfast menu in early 2020. Wendy’s announced in September that it is planning to hire an additional 20,000 employees and spend $20 million on the initiative.
In addition, Burger King’s new Impossible Croissan’wich faces tough competition from Dunkin’ Brands (DNKN). Dunkin’ rolled out its Beyond Meat breakfast sandwich nationwide in early November, and the company said at the time that it was one of the top-selling sandwiches. At the time, it was Beyond Meat’s first nationwide fast-food launch.
Shares of Restaurant Brands rose 20% over the past year, while the broader market surged 30% in the same time period.
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Heidi Chung is a reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter: @heidi_chung.
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