Burger King may sell plant-based burger across US this year
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/04/2019 (2663 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
TORONTO – Burger King could soon be selling plant-based burgers nationwide.
Restaurant Brands International, Burger King’s parent, said Monday that a month-long test of the Impossible Whopper at 59 restaurants in St. Louis has gone so well that it will start testing it in additional markets. The company said it may expand sales nationally by the end of this year.
The sandwich is made with a plant-based burger from Impossible Foods, a Redwood City, Calif.-based startup. Burger King is the first fast food chain to test the Impossible burger, but other chains are offering plant-based burgers from competitors like Beyond Meat.
Chris Finazzo, president of Burger King’s North American operations, said during an earnings conference call Monday that the Impossible Whopper was attracting new customers. He said the chain will sell the Impossible Whopper out nationally if reaction in other test markets “is a strong as it was in St. Louis.”
“It’s really difficult to distinguish between the Impossible Whopper and the original Whopper,” he said.
Burger King wouldn’t say which markets will get the sandwich next.
The news was a bright spot in otherwise disappointing first quarter earnings for Restaurant Brands, which said its first quarter net income fell 9% to $135 million on weaker same-store sales growth.
The Toronto-based company reported net income of 53 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs like fees to a restructuring consultant, came to 55 cents per share.
The results missed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 59 cents per share.
The company blamed poor weather in Canada for a drop in same-store sales at Tim Hortons. Burger King’s same-store sales grew 2 per cent as the company tried to revive U.S. breakfast sales with a $5 monthly coffee subscription offer. Same-store sales were flat at Popeyes.
Restaurant Brands posted revenue of $1.27 billion in the period, beating analysts’ forecasts.
Restaurant Brands shares fell 3 per cent to $63.43 in morning trading.
