Like electric vehicles (EV), there’s no market demand for fake meat products.
McDonald’s recently learned the hard way trying to force the “plant-based” McPlant burger onto customers in the San Francisco and Dallas markets. They, unsurprisingly, weren’t lovin’ it. Ouch!
Speaking at WSJ’s Global Food Forum last month, McDonald’s USA President Joe Erlinger admitted this experiment was a failure: “I don’t think the U.S. consumer is coming to McDonald’s looking for the McPlant or other plant-based proteins.” How is the company pivoting to recover losses? By embracing more chicken dishes.
“The bigger trend around protein consumption is really around chicken,” Erlinger added. “We think we’re poised to serve that trend well, and that’s where we’re making investments.”
How could you blame regular McDonald's customers for avoiding this item? They’re heavily processed and loaded with saturated fat. Just read the ingredients that make up the “McPlant” meat pattie for yourself:
Water, Pea Protein*, Canola Oil, Coconut Oil, Natural Flavors, Rice Protein, Methylcellulose, Potato Starch, Apple Extract, Salt, Pomegranate Extract, Potassium Chloride, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Vinegar, Yeast Extract, Carrot Powder, Sunflower Lecithin, Beet Juice (color), Maltodextrin. *peas Are Legumes.
McDonald’s added this warning about pea protein:
People With Severe Allergies To Legumes Like Peanuts Should Be Cautious When Introducing Pea Protein Into Their Diet Because Of The Possibility Of A Pea Allergy. Contains No Peanuts Or Tree Nuts.
Beyond Meat, which co-developed these fake meat burgers, is notoriously unprofitable. It’s experienced eight-straight quarters of revenue declines since “consumer interest in plant-based meats has waned.” In Q1 2024 alone, revenue fell 18%.
Back in May, Motley Fool said the company is plagued by two problems: a “lack of revenue growth” and “sometimes negative gross margins.” The financial forecaster said the company is hoping to reduce costs yet increase prices– but conceded that “demand [is] not looking all that strong right now…” It also had this warning for investors: “Beyond Meat is struggling, and the problems seem to be getting worse, not better, right now…It only has about three years before struggling along and barely getting by just won't be enough anymore.” Barron’s added Beyond Meat “continues to struggle” yet is expected to blow $100 million this year. Yikes!
The same goes for lab-grown meat - which has been preemptively banned in states like Alabama and Florida.
“...Florida is fighting back against the global elite’s plan to force the world to eat meat grown in a petri dish or bugs to achieve their authoritarian goals,” Governor Ron DeSantis said in a statement issued on May 1st, 2024. “Our administration will continue to focus on investing in our local farmers and ranchers, and we will save our beef.”
Another report said nine states - Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wyoming - now require fake meat companies to label their products accurately to not mislead the public.
A May 2023 University of California at Davis (UCD) study found lab-grown meat is 25 times worse for the environment than beef. A related study concluded, “The results indicate that the environmental impact of near-term [animal cell-based meat] ACBM production is likely to be orders of magnitude higher than median beef production if a highly refined growth medium is utilized for ACBM production.”
Despite this, Europe - of all places - is charging forward with fake meat–especially plant-based burgers. Denmark recently became the first nation in the world to implement an animal flatulence tax to discourage meat consumption. Why? To accord itself with unsustainable net-zero goals and push Danes towards a plant-based diet. The country’s accompanying 40-page “Danish Action Plan for Plant-based Foods” acknowledges the government “wants to strengthen the Danish plant-based food sector” by implementing “a number of initiatives that support the value chain.”
“Plant-based foods are the future. If we want to reduce the climate footprint within the agricultural sector, then we all have to eat more plant-based foods…,” the action plan added.
Here at home, however, neither plant-based or lab-grown meat is popular across partisan lines.
A March 2024 survey found just a quarter (25%) of Americans, at best, would follow through with eating so-called “plant-based” meats. And despite these aggressive fake meat pushes, only 4% of Americans identify as vegetarian, and a small amount - 1% - claim to follow a vegan diet.
A May 2024 survey from Center for the Environment and Welfare revealed a majority of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents won’t incorporate lab-grown meat into their diets and support restricting the sale of these questionable items. The Hill analyzed the survey’s partisan breakdown like this:
75 percent of Republicans, 60 percent of Democrats, and 67 percent of independents say they are unwilling to include lab-grown meat in their own diets. A majority of Republicans (62 percent), Democrats (56 percent), and independents (55 percent) support federal or state legislation that restricts the sale of lab-grown meat to consumers.
Whether it’s “plant-based” or “lab-grown,” fake meat has shown to not be economically profitable nor politically viable thus far. Much to the chagrin of climate activists, this is the reality.
Be ungovernable and eat beef, chicken, pork, and wild game. Couple it with fresh,raw, or grilled vegetables. Or don’t. These foods are far better for your health and the environment than supposed “green” alternatives.