Is Boosting Burger King’s Sales an Impossible Task?

For Burger King and the fast food industry as a whole, plant-based meat alternatives like the Impossible Burger were the talk of the past year. While the Impossible Whopper was surely this year’s stand out plant-based patty, it didn’t come without its caveats. Back in November, CNBC reported that Burger King could be facing a lawsuit as a result of “contamination” of the Impossible Whoppers, which were cooked on the very same griddle as meat products. The price was another point of contention. A few weeks ago the Los Angeles Times reported that Burger King was slashing the suggested sales price of $5.59 in half as sales slowed down, temporarily adding the burger to the chain’s two-for-$6 discount menu.   

According to CNBC, Burger King’s overall sales fell way short of Wall Street’s projected growth. Coming in at just .6%, U.S. Burger King restaurants open for at least 13 months didn’t quite make it to the projected same-store sales growth of 3.1%. 

Many of Burger King’s competitors—most notably McDonald’s—have held back on the introduction of a plant-based meat alternative. Whether or not they are feeling the pressure, seeing how nationwide releases like the Impossible Whopper have helped or hindered sales surely counts as valuable intel towards anything in development. 

Read the full story on CNBC here.