If you're living a plant-based life, you've most likely heard of the Beyond Meat Beyond Burger. Even if you're not vegan or vegetarian, you have still probably heard of it! It has gained immense popularity in the past few months, and for good reason - it's delicious.
Beyond Meat scientifically engineers its products to smell, look, taste, and even cook like real meat. The burger is also supposed to "satisfy like beef," which I can definitely agree with. I reviewed it not too long ago here if you want to read more about the actual burger.
So what's the big news with Beyond Meat now? They have launched their famous Beyond Burger in all of A&W's Canadian locations. This is HUGE!! Having a delicious, vegan burger that is so accessible to everyone is a really big deal. This isn't some sprouty, chia-seed-tasting burger (not that there's anything wrong with those!) This is a burger that widely appeals to vegans, vegetarians, and even omnivores who are looking for a more health-conscious or environmentally-friendly alternative once in a while.
However, as great as this news is, there are some things you need to know if you are vegan or vegetarian. I hate to point out the flaws with this launch, but I want to help make ordering the burger as smooth as possible for you. Here's the rundown:
- The Grill Situation - The burger is currently being grilled on the same grill as the actual meat burgers. To some people this will be a huge deterrent, for others it won't be a deal breaker. There is a petition going around to make the A&W Beyond Burger entirely vegan, which you can sign here. Personally, I think that this complaint is valid, but I don't necessarily agree with it. The unfortunate truth is that many of our vegan food items come into contact with grills or surfaces that may contain traces of meat, dairy, etc. This doesn't take away from our beliefs or what we are trying to do for animals. It is impossible to be a "perfect vegan," and there is no point beating yourself up over something that is marginally non-vegan. It's important to look at the big picture here - a huge fast food chain has a great plant-based option and we should be dancing with joy! What do you guys think?
- The Bun Situation - The sesame seed bun and the gluten-free bun are both vegan. It automatically comes on the sesame seed bun.
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The Condiment Situation - The burger comes with mayonnaise, so you have to ask for it without if you want it to be vegan. When I ordered my burger today, I asked, "Can I have it made vegan?" only to be told "We can't make it vegan." A&W cannot claim the burger is vegan because of the grill situation, and it resulted in a whole conversation about it. So, if you don't want to have that conversation... simply ask for the burger without mayo! I thought I was speeding things along, but that wasn't the case. Also, the burger is a little plain because all that's left on it is lettuce, a tomato, and ketchup. It's still pretty tasty though. If you want to be extra, bring some Vegenaise from home.
- Is It the Same Patty We Know and Love? - The burger patty is thinner, and a little wider, than the store bought Beyond Burgers. This isn't necessarily a bad thing - just a difference that I noticed. I am sure they did this to help cut costs, but also to make it fill out the burger bun a little bit more. I found the taste of the patty to be the same.
- How Long to Expect to Wait - The timing for the burger is roughly the same as any other order. I expected to have to wait quite a while today, but the entire drive-thru process only took 6 minutes. This may vary by location and visit, though.
- It's not cheap - I got a combo, which I wouldn't do again because it ended up being too filling, and it was $12.42. I'd consider paying this occasionally, but as soon as Beyond Meat is available in Canadian grocery stores, I will most likely just cook them at home.
Overall, it's amazing for such a large company to carry a plant-based burger. While it is a little tricky for vegans to navigate, I think these issues will eventually be addressed. This is a great burger for vegetarians and meat eaters who are looking to cut down on meat consumption. It will also get rid of the stigma a lot of vegan food has attached to it. Until all of our cities get places like Globally Local, this is terrific option.
What do you guys think of this launch? Will you be trying it?
378 comments
In response to the comment posted by “HOLY SHEET”, the issue (one that with all due respect is more than a little over-the-top when it refers to the practice as “SO disturbing!!!!” ) is one of practicality and logistics. In order to offer the “Beyond Meat Burger” as a truly vegan option, the company would have to literally remodel & restructure all of it’s existing kitchen facilities which would entail the addition of an entirely separate grill utilized exclusively for this one of the dozens of A&W’s menu items that require this cooking process, an enormous undertaking that would represent an equally enormous financial commitment from the parent corporation. Furthermore, there are some inherent practical challenges that would in all likelihood either significantly delay or possibly even prevent this transition, not the least of which being kitchen space limitations within the framework of the existing restaurant design(s).
Cost considerations notwithstanding, in order to accommodate the installation of a separate ‘vegan grill’, pre-existing locations would require extensive renovations resulting in either compromised grill space for the preparation of every other burger item on the A&W menu or alternatively, the replacement of existing grills used to cook meat products with smaller ones (due again to existing and kitchen space limitations) once again resulting in a substantial reduction of cooking surface space for the preponderance of A&W’s menu items (leading to inevitable customer service delays and space-related preparation staff inefficiency). The obvious alternative would be to install a physical divider on the existing grills but this would still result in a severely compromised cooking area for again, the overwhelming majority of menu items that are non-vegan. However, I’m not sure that a divider would definitively address the cross-contamination issue as all that would need to occur would be a kitchen staff member inadvertently using the same grease-covered spatula to flip a Beyond Meat Burger and suddenly the sandwich is no longer vegan. Ergo, it’s both unrealistic, if not altogether impossible to fully guarantee an entirely authentic vegan product in an environment that is fundamentally and functionality designed for the preparation of meat-based menu items.
Finally, in defense of A&W’s practice of preparing the Beyond Meat Burger on the same grill as their conventional hamburgers, the company had to establish and subsequently evaluate the popularity of their plant-based burger alternative before investing in provisions for it’s protection from cross-contamination. In short, they needed to exhaustively test the market to determine it’s prospective popularity. It would’ve been foolhardy (not to mention fiscally irresponsible) to blindly invest in dramatic structural and functional changes in order to accommodate the unique requirements of this comparatively unique menu item without first determining if it was even going to catch on and to what extent.
While the Beyond Meat Burger is evidently here to stay and A&W will most certainly be taking measures that attempt to address the issue of cross-contamination, I don’t believe it’s realistic to expect that it will ever fully meet the criteria of “guaranteed 100% vegan”; not while it’s prepared in an environment that also provides and was originally designed for the preparation of meat-based menu items,
I’m looking forward to giving it a try!
WOW I cannnnoooottttt believe they are using the same grill to cook the regular patties!!!! SO disturbing!!!!