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McDonald's Impossible Burger may not be possible

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January 8, 2020

The possibility of the lab-developed plant-based Impossible Burger appearing in some form at McDonald's is apparently approaching nil. That’s according to Reuters, which said officials at Impossible Foods, told it they are unable to make enough of the burger substitutes to meat McDonald's ongoing system-wide demand.

In September,  McDonald's partnered with plant-based Impossible Foods competitor, Beyond Meat, to test the burger chain's so-called "PLT" plant-based sandwich in Canada. But McDonald's has not provided any further information on the success of that test or whether the brand has plans to expand the PLT or try other options. 

The founder and scientist behind Impossible Foods, CEO Pat Brown, told Reuters, "It would be stupid for us to be vying for them right now ... Having more big customers right now doesn't do us any good until we scale up production."

The comment came just as Brown's company debuted the Impossible sausage "Croissan'wich" at Burger King, while also introducing a plant-based product mimicking pork Monday at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The company also partnered with Burger King last year to introduce the hugely successful Impossible Whopper, which joins the Impossible Slider at White Castle and a handful of other plant-based burgers and sausage options from Beyond Meats at Hardee's, Dunkin' and Carl's Jr.