Free Republic

Some of fast food’s splashiest plant-based chicken rollouts have seriously impressed us in the past. First, there was the debut of Impossible Chicken Nuggets in 2021, a product that managed to capture the brothy flavor of real cooked poultry and deliver both crunch and chew without tasting springy or spongy. (Burger King tested these nuggets at various locations last fall.) Then, KFC released Beyond Fried Chicken in January 2022; these were essentially nuggets as well, and tasted “pretty spectacular,” according to our taste test. Both of these, however, were small-format chick’n products. The Impossible Original Chick’n Sandwich at Burger King...

CHICAGO - Beyond Meat said on Wednesday it will supply plant-based “fried chicken” to several KFC stores in Tennessee and North Carolina, after a test conducted last year showed strong consumer demand. Fast-food chains including McDonald’s, Burger King, and Dunkin Brands have raced to add imitation meat products to their menus as Americans cut down on animal protein consumption. While those companies have rolled out imitation pork or beef patties, Yum Brands Inc’s KFC is the first to launch plant-based “chicken.” The product is 80 calories per piece and looks a bit like a fried chicken nugget, with a sinewy...