A visit to the big fast food chains like McDonald's or Burger King is firmly associated with eating meat in most people's minds - unless you order fries. Vegans and vegetarians rarely get their money's worth at the chains.
But that has been changing for some time now, and the burger makers are also more considerate of people who do not eat meat or animal products in general.
Burger King has now opened its first completely vegan branch in Vienna. In the location at Vienna's Westbahnhof there is no more meat, milk or egg products. As the "Standard" reports, vegan burgers were given away to customers for two hours at the reopening.
Of course there was a long queue there. The patties for this come from the manufacturer "The Vegetarian Butcher". In normal operation, a vegan whopper costs 5.50 euros – the same as a burger with meat.
"Serving the same high quality based on 100 percent vegan products is a milestone in the development of our meat-free range for people with a conscious lifestyle," said Jan-Christoph Küster, Burger King's Marketing Director in Austria, in a press release. According to Küster, "enjoyment instead of doing without" should be in the foreground.
Burger King has made it its mission to become a pioneer among fast-food chains when it comes to giving up meat. In its 750 German branches, the company has recently been offering a vegetarian counterpart for all beef burgers and for almost every other meat dish. "We want to give our guests a choice and we expect that to go very well," said Marketing Director Klaus Schmäing.
According to the company, it primarily wants to appeal to flexitarians – i.e. people who eat meat in principle but also like to do without it from time to time. Be it for reasons of climate and environmental protection, animal welfare or for the sake of your own health. A first test with a meatless branch in Cologne was very well received, according to Burger King Marketing Manager Schmäing.
Competitor and market leader McDonald's is also increasingly focusing on alternative products, albeit not as consistently as Burger King. On the Burger King advertising slogan "Normal or with meat?" McDonald's reacted via Facebook with the slogan "We think: both are normal" - and showed a burger with meat and one with a plant-based alternative.
Sources: Burger King on Instagram / "Standard" / Press Release / DPA / McDonald's on Facebook
