Leading Food Chains Like KFC, Dunkin’, McDonald’s Struggle With Plant-Based Options

A recent report highlights that KFC, Dunkin’, and McDonald’s struggle with plant based options in their menus. This evaluation reveals that these major chains are not keeping up with the growing demand for vegan options.

Last month, McDonald’s announced that the McPlant burger had failed in two cities and would not be returning. This underscores a broader issue: many leading chains are not making significant progress in offering plant-based choices.

World Animal Protection assessed the top 25 food and beverage chains in the US and found that most scored poorly. McDonald’s, which buys and sells large amounts of beef, has particularly struggled.

The findings stress the urgent need for these restaurants to improve their plant-based offerings to meet climate goals. The report clearly shows top fast food chains like McDonald’s are struggling with plant-based options.

Poor Performance Of Major Chains

The report shows that McDonald’s, KFC, Wendy’s, Chick-fil-A, Subway, and Taco Bell are notably underperforming.

These chains heavily rely on beef and chicken, adversely affecting their climate goals. The evaluation covered five categories: burgers, chicken, sandwiches, coffee and beverages, and Latin- or Mexican-inspired dishes. 

Among the 25 chains evaluated, only nine received a score above F, with five of these receiving a D grade. This evaluation reveals that these major chains are not keeping up with the growing demand for vegan options.

Seven chains, including McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Sonic, scored zero out of 220. Burger King performed slightly better with a C grade, largely due to their ongoing promotion of the Impossible Whopper. Carl’s Jr/Hardee’s also scored zero and received an F grade. 

In the chicken category, all five chains—Popeyes, KFC, Chick-fil-A, Wingstop, and Raising Cane’s—received an F grade, indicating minimal progress in struggle with plant-based options.

Better Performers And Notable Exceptions

Chipotle emerged as the highest-scoring company with a B grade, thanks to its extensive plant-based menu options. Peet’s Coffee and Starbucks also scored well, with Peet’s offering default vegan options on both food and drink menus.

Starbucks received a C grade, reflecting a variety of plant-based beverages but needing improvement in food offerings. Burger King’s C grade is attributed to the Impossible Whopper. Subway received a D grade, indicating some progress with limited plant-based choices.

In the Latin American cuisine category, Chipotle excelled with a B grade. Qdoba, Moe’s, and Taco Bell received D grades, showing they have some plant-based items or options that can be made vegan. The coffee sector performed best overall, with Peet’s Coffee scoring 120 and receiving a B grade. 

Starbucks followed with a score of 90 and a C grade. Tim Horton’s received a D grade, while Dunkin’ and Dutch Bros were at the bottom. Notably, leading fast food chains fail plant-based menus were consistently low in their categories.

The Path Forward

Animal agriculture is responsible for up to 20% of global emissions. Meat production emits twice as many greenhouse gasses as plant-based foods. Livestock farming uses 80% of the world’s agricultural land but supplies only 17% of its calories and 38% of its protein.

Annette Manusevich, farming campaign manager at World Animal Protection, stated, “Chain restaurants play a pivotal role in the daily food decisions of many American families. Despite the urgent need to shift to more plant-based diets and the growing consumer demand for ethical and environmentally friendly food choices, most leading chains like Taco Bell and McDonald’s are failing to make the grade”.

World Animal Protection urges food chains to integrate plant proteins into their menus to meet climate goals. They recommend reducing animal product purchases by 25% by 2030, using 2020 as a baseline. The report also advocates for incorporating alternative proteins, such as fermentation-derived ones, into supply chains. 

Manusevich emphasized, “Establishing and promoting innovative plant-based by default menus is critical for shifting our food system away from the destruction and suffering inherent in factory farming, and [to] move us towards a more sustainable future”.

Restaurants must adopt benchmarks to measure and report their progress toward sustainability commitments annually. The expanding plant-based sector offers a critical opportunity for restaurants to lead the change.

This shift is essential for a more sustainable and compassionate food industry. The performance of leading chains like KFC and McDonald’s are struggling with plant-based menus and need significant improvement to align with these goals.