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White Castle's Impossible Burger test in full swing

April 16, 2018

With its debut as a three-city test under the White Castle spires last week, the so-called "Impossible Slider" is off and running as the latest QSR world materialization of the plant-based burger that masquerades as meat. The "Impossible Slider" is available at 140 White Castle locations throughout New York, New Jersey and Chicago, according to a company press release.

The burger is made from the planted-based protein from Impossible Foods introduced to the restaurant world two years ago. The "Impossible Slider" manifestation comes with smoked cheddar cheese, pickles, onions and a signature bun for $1.99, or as part of a combo meal. White Castle has offered a plant-based burger for some time, as vegans, vegetarians and flexitarians have come to know and often love. But the entry of the scientifically developed Impossible burger is making waves with many because of the substance's similarity in taste to the actual beef in most burgers. 

Ohio-based White Castle CEO Lisa Ingram said its all part of the brand's innovative history, established with its very founding in 1921. 

"The fact that we are the first fast-food chain to offer the Impossible Burger to our loyal customers epitomizes our history of being on the 'bleeding edge' of a rapidly evolving industry," Ingram said in the release. 

Numerous other restaurant brands in the limited-service category have previously added the heme-based burger to their menus, but White Castle is the largest true fast-food chain to do so thus far. In fact, the Impossible Burger debuted in July 2016 at Chef David Chang's Momofuku Nishi in Manhattan and is now available in about 1,300 restaurants nationwide, including Fatburger, Umami Burger, Hopdoddy, The Counter, and B Spot, the Midwest burger restaurant owned by Chef Michael Symon.

The Impossible Burger also contains wheat protein, potato protein and coconut oil, along with that meaty-tasting heme that is produced from a protein found naturally in plants called soy leghemoglobin. It's identical to the heme in animal meat but uses far fewer resources.

White Castle is testing the Impossible Slider with plans to potentially expand it nationwide.