Burger King stupidity over its meat-free whopper

[Lycidas]

Why go to the effort of creating a meat-free burger only to cook it on the same grill as the others? Why limit your market to ‘people who are choosing a meatless option but don’t mind if it’s covered in meat juices?’ Seems incredibly shortsighted to me to overlook a large segment of the vegetarian/vegan markets.

www.burgerking.co.uk/menu-item/rebel-whopper

I’m a vegetarian and no I wouldn’t buy this.

Yanbu but also I agree it’s for people having a more plant based diet rather than veggies.

I also like the advert. I did laugh at ‘and why are we doing this?...woke’ funny and true.

@Oliversmumsarmy
No they’re not doing vegan properly, but I don’t think that’s the idea. Like a previous poster said they’re not going to change all aspects of life to fit around one months changes.
I also wouldn’t say potatoes roasted in goose fat were meat, I wouldn’t eat them as they’re not veggie, but they are not meat they are still a vegetable, cooked in meat fat.
Same as max n cheese with bacon, you’d just say no bacon. The bacon is the meat part not the pasta or cheese.

tbh I don't get the fuss.
I eat meat, but as family have decided to only eat meat once a week.
for us a burger like this is fine and I would have it as a long-journey-stop-gap kind of meal.

@Qasd

But there accidentally is a vegetarian group which eat meat! They are called flexitarians

No, they are idiots omnivorous.

The reality is, most fast food places, cafes and restaurants aren’t vegetarian or vegan. You’re not any less of a vegan for eating in Burger King now and again (assuming they’ve got something suitable)

Aren’t most cafés and restaurants a bit different from a fast food place like Burger King? Especially if you are claiming to be vegan for ethical/welfare reasons rather than health ones.

I'd buy it - I think a lot of people are trying to reduce their consumption of meat for both environmental and health reasons. I'm not bothered about the meat particles and I suspect a lot of folk aren't either.

Do buy a brain. Long term vegans/vegetarians were always going to be the main market for this item.

I think once they've proved that manufactured meat is as good as real mince, the long-term future is that they will only sell fake meat.

Fake meat is not going to be a fringe/minority product, it's going to replace real meat. At least in mass-market food involving mincemeat.

@Oliversmumsarmy

“Things are either meat, vegetarian or vegan“

I understand your point, but it’s a very odd (and restrictive) way of describing things. Do you seriously describe wine (with isinglass) as meat? Haribo? Parmesan?

Well obviously you may not like flexitarian the babe or indeed the people themselves but I think you will find most commercial companies will not be so fussy! There is money to be had out of people who eat meat but want more veggie Meals in their diet and bk know that and are cashing in. The fact you think they are “idiots” is rather immaterial to what will have been a commercial decision!

Hasn't the whole "cooking with the meat" problem been around for ages though? I can't believe they have not solved it yet - it really can't be difficult.

Things are either meat, vegetarian or vegan

No they aren't. That's like saying cheese is a vegetable because it's vegetarian (actually, that means you class Parmesan as meat🤔). Things can be "not suitable for vegetarians" without them being actual meat.

I understand your point, but it’s a very odd (and restrictive) way of describing things. Do you seriously describe wine (with isinglass) as meat? Haribo? Parmesan

Yes to me they fall into the meat category.

Haribos especially are made from pig gelatine so Jewish people wouldn’t eat them.

Why would it follow that some cheeses would be a vegetable?

Pasta is vegetarian chickpeas are vegetarian fruit is vegetarian

You do get that there are a multitude of different foods that are vegetarian not just vegetables

Why would it follow that some cheeses would be a vegetable?

Because you are trying to claim that something that is not vegetarian is meat. The same flawed logic would imply that something that is vegetarian is a vegetable.

You do get that there are a multitude of different foods that are vegetarian not just vegetables

Well, you clearly don't understand that food that isn't vegetarian isn't just meat.

You can't just claim something is "meat" when it is simply "not vegetarian". Language doesn't work like that.

I don’t eat meat. I wouldn’t go in burger king, macdonalds, kfc etc for even a salad. I do not want to support them in anyway.

The veggie/vegan options are like a little stroke on the head, ‘there, there hush little vegan. Sit quietly while we eat our meat’. Meh.

Burger King is so behind times. Everywhere else is providing yummy food for everyone to enjoy and they just don’t. Even the shops are scruffy and ran down and unclean. The toilets are disgusting also. I’d rather go to maccys any day of the week.

Well, you clearly don't understand that food that isn't vegetarian isn't just meat

When it contains meat it is meat

I don't think they'll be popular. They sound absolutely vile.

Just had a Greggs vegan sausage roll though - I do love those

People have different reasons for being vegetarian and vegan. Posters here are very quick to say ‘vegans wouldn’t do...’. It’s obvious from other posts that some V/Vg are fine with cross contamination while others aren’t. I personally am happy with it, but I wouldn’t assume that applies across the board.

Just let people eat what they want without putting them in little boxes!

It’s obvious from other posts that some V/Vg are fine with cross contamination

Then they are not vegetarian nor vegan.

Exactly SlowSigh. It likes like anyone can ‘identify’ into absolutely anything nowadays, just by claiming themselves to be so. 🙄

The beanburgers ARE vegetarian - I wouldn't trust due to cross contamination accidentally, that anything in BK is actually vegan, but the Beanburgers are not put on the broiler, they are fried in the same fryers as fries.

The broilers.. cost around 10K+ and the kitchens are designed to contain ONE.. they are near the full length of the kitchen, kitchens are designed around them.

No way is BK going to install a SECOND 10K broiler, into a kitchen not designed to hold two, on the off chance that some vegans will then start eating there - most won't, because theyd be supporting a chain that is responsible for the demise of a lot of cows!

However if demand IS high enough, and the only way they can test that is by offering the product, they might then invest in smaller flame grill broilers for veggie/vegan stuff, if the market can support it.

@Oliversmumsarmy Buy a dictionary and look up the definition of meat as your argument is ridiculous (and I’ve been vegetarian for over 30yrs so pretty sure I’m aware of what I can eat by now)

Something containing meat is not meat.
The meat within it is.
The food as a whole is simply not suitable for vegetarians (because it contains an animal product)

It really isn’t that difficult to understand.

The BK burgers are vegetarian/vegan (whatever it is they’re claiming to be), however they are not suitable for vegetarians because of the way they are cooked. This does not make them meat, it makes it obvious that BK are naive as to what the words vegetarian and vegan mean.