The rise of vegan fast food is real
Have you noticed how vegetarian or vegan burgers have been more and more visible on social media and on menus in traditional fast food and fast-casual restaurants and eateries? Yes, you got this trend absolutely right. Vegan burgers and other vegan fast food items are on the rise.
The demand for vegan food has increased over the last 5 years. There has been a shift in consumers’ thinking. Now they prefer eating healthier. They question more where the food they eat comes from and under which circumstances it is produced. They consider the life and well-being of farm animals and now consumers are beginning to thinking about the food choices they make.
On the other hand, the popularity of fast food and grab-and-go food has remained high over the last two decades or so. We live fast and we lack time to cook proper or even healthy meals. Therefore, we love fast food. It is a fast and convenient way to eat plus the price is usually acceptable and decent for a food quality.
How can these two trends be combined? The answer is vegan fast food. While the vegan market has been growing significantly over the last few years, there are many new vegan fast food businesses. It seems that every fast-casual eatery has at least one vegan option – a vegan burger, fries or salads.
The idea of vegan fast food was unimaginable just a few years ago. Now it seems that vegan fast food could take over traditional meat burgers. Why? Vegan burgers are a delicious and healthier option. Plus customers get bored with the same type of food after a while and want to try something different.
The popularity of new vegan fast food concepts
Let’s start with the most popular and well-known fast food chain in the world – McDonald’s. Did you know that McDonald’s announced its first vegan burger, suitably called, McVegan? It all started as a sort of consumer experiment in November last year. McVegan was officially launched in October last year and it was available only in several places in Finland. The trial period ran for 6 weeks.
McVegan by McDonald’s
The response was unbelievable. Consumers loved the new vegan burger! They described the McVegan as being ‘so good, just a really nice burger’, ‘top notch’ or ‘considering the price, the quality was actually decent’.
They loved it so much that McDonald’s decided to add the McVegan in Sweden, too. Consumers in other countries were disappointed and asked McDonald’s to start selling McVegan elsewhere in the world. Unfortunately, McDonald’s doesn’t have any plans to serve the vegan burger in other countries.
Customers’ response for McVegan
Plant Power-Fast Food is just another example of super successful vegan burger company. They started as a small family company based in Ocean Beach in San Diego in the United States almost 3 years ago. The initial idea was to combat the impact that the consumption of animal products has on the health of millions of Americans by providing a plant-based fast-food alternative.
One of the founders, Jeffrey Harris, explains the concept:
‘Our goal has been to inspire people to begin to ask themselves some important questions about where our food comes from and perhaps to begin to think differently about their choices. But we’re not doing it in a way that’s preachy or confrontational.’
The concept of Plant Power-Fast Food has been very popular due to high sales of the company. In its first year alone, the company made over $1.1 million on sales and in its second year reached $1.8 million! The company opened the second fast food in Encinitas location last year. That was a very clever step because the newly opened location earned $2.2 million in its first year! The estimated number of customers served during the last year in both restaurants is over 1 million!
Powerful vegan fast-casual eateries
As you can guess, it is not only about vegan fast food alternatives. Vegan fast-casual eateries are becoming more popular, too. Let’s have a look in Australia first and find out some great examples.
As a first, I would like to talk about Lord of the Fries. If you are a vegan living in Australia, then you definitely know or at least heard about this successful fast-food eatery. Lord of the Fries started in 2004 as a single food van in Melbourne. One year after, the menu expanded significantly towards vegetarian and vegan options. Today the company is 100% vegetarian while most of the items on the menu are vegan and gluten-free.
Lord of the Fries just opened its 15th store in Adelaide. This store is 100% vegan which is just another exciting movement towards the exclusively vegan future of fast food! While making customers think more about their food and where it comes from, the founder of the eatery Mark Koronczyk, talks more about the ethical philosophy:
‘Our philosophy is to serve food that’s good for the people, the planet and the animals. By providing a 100% vegetarian menu that’s interesting and tasty, we’re attracting vegetarians and meat-eaters alike, helping us do our bit to reduce the carbon footprint on the world.One of the initiatives we have implemented in all stores is that we repurpose the oil used to cook our golden delicious fries to later refuel the oil delivery trucks. We also source locally where possible and steer clear from any nasty chemicals or preservatives.’
As Koronczyk added, about 80% of their customers are meat eaters and consumers-omnivores who just got bored with a traditional fast food and want to try something different.
Another success story of vegan fast-casual eatery comes from the United States. by CHLOE., the famous ‘grab and go’ eatery was established in 2015 by vegan chefs Chloe Coscarelli and Samantha Wasser of international restaurant and hospitality firm ESquared Hospitality. Its 9 strategically located restaurants are extremely popular not only among fellow vegans.
by CHLOE. is well-known not only for its delicious rich house-made burgers (guac burger is number one among customers) but also for vegan pasta, salads, fries, shakes, sides, and desserts.
Earlier this year the partnership between the two collaborating parties has ended and Chloe Coscarelli was arbitrarily suspended. Even though the popularity of the eatery has been thriving ever since and the company recently opened another 3 restaurants: in Providence, Rhode Island, in New York City and Boston. There have been also speculations whether by CHLOE. would expand internationally. It already opened a brand new restaurant in London, which will be soon followed by another one.
Due to some market research, the majority of by CHLOE. customers are not vegans, nor vegetarians. Again, most of these clients simply wish to try something new, explore new tastes or they try to reduce meat and dairy intake.
Vegan vending machines
Vegan vending machines are just another revolutionary step in the vegan fast food world. Recently, the first ever vegan vending machine popped up in Melbourne, run by a company named The Füd Revolution. The slogan of the vending machine is’24 hours vegan’.
The Füd Revolution creators unveil their first ‘vending machine’ in Melbourne
It works in much the same way as a regular vending machine, except it offers only healthier options. All items are packaged in recycled timber, and you can find everything that vegans dream of: freshly made salads – either green or fruit, yogurt, muesli, coconut water, organic chocolate, sandwiches and fresh juice. People with all different dietary requirements find what they want: the vending machine products are gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, sugar-free, paleo, and dairy free.
The turn of traditional fast food
The vegan fast food has been on the rise over the last few years and following the trends, it is not going to stop any soon. Increasing demand for vegan fast food and vegan fast-casual eateries is real. What was unimaginable five years ago, now it is easily reachable and all vegans in the world can have better sleep. The future of fast food is indeed vegan!
What about you? Do you like vegan fast food? Is there any vegan fast-casual eatery close to your place? Leave a comment below!
Klara Walterova
Klara is a professional freelance writer for hire. She offers web content, blog posting, ghostwriting and copywriting. She writes for a healthy lifestyle, wellness and travel websites. She focuses on veganism and the vegan diet. When she's not writing, she develops new tasty vegan recipes, travels the world or plays with her cats. Please contact her for her online writing services on her website writtenbyvegan.com or visit her Instagram profile @writtenbyvegan.