Another Two Big Fast Food Chains Are Serving Up Plant-Based Meat

Fast food franchises Carl's Jr and Hardees (both chains owned by the same parent company CKE) plan to offer consumers new breakfast options that feature plant-based meats. In an announcement on Wednesday, CKE announced that Carl's Jr has seen considerable success with its existing Beyond Famous Star burgers, which features plant-based patties, at more than 6.7 million units sold, making it the company's most successful product in two years.

Carl's Jr. and its Hardee's counterpart located on the eastern half of the United States will use Beyond Meat for new plant-based food options. These new options will collectively cover breakfast, lunch, and dinner, according to CKE, which says that Hardee's will be getting four new food products and Carl's Jr will be getting two new food products.

For Carl's Jr, the additions include a Beyond Sausage Burrito and Beyond Sausage Egg & Cheese Biscuit, both featuring the Beyond Meat 'sausage' patty. Hardee's, meanwhile, will offer its customers the same two products, as well as its new Original Beyond Thickburger and Beyond Sausage biscuit, the latter of which lacks eggs, making it more suitable for vegans who want to avoid the egg component.

These options aren't all suitable for vegans, but their arrival isn't meant to appeal to this minority of consumers. Rather, the rise of companies like Impossible Foods and its competitors has been in response to the growing demand for meat alternatives, something that itself is the result of growing concerns over the health and environmental impact of excessive animal product consumption.

Carl's Jr will be the first of the two companies to introduce these new food products — they'll arrive on December 18. Hardee's will follow its sibling company with the launch of its own new food products on December 30. CKE notes that not all locations may be participating in the sale of these products.