Del Taco and Carl’s Jr. were big Beyond Meat boosters. Now they’re giving up

When Del Taco began serving Beyond Meat in 2019 , it was the first major Mexican fast-food chain in the country to serve a plant-based beef taco option. (It also called the offering the “future of tacos.”) The company was early when it came to all restaurant chains adopting Beyond Meat, along with brands like Dunkin’ , which served a plant-based sausage, and Carl’s Jr., which offered the company’s plant-based beef burger. 



But these early adopters have since changed their involvement with the alt-meat company: Dunkin’ ended its relationship with Beyond in 2021, Del Taco took Beyond Meat off its menus last spring, and Carl’s Jr. is scaling back its Beyond offerings, with the plant-based burgers no longer offered at “most” of its restaurants as of April 2024. 



Beyond Meat began as a company in 2009 and launched its first product, plant-based chicken, in 2012. In 2014, it developed its plant-based beef crumbles, and in 2016, it launched its Beyond Burger. 



Plant-based meat sales sliding



When Beyond Meat first began launching in food service around 2017, it seemed like plant-based proteins were quickly gaining a foothold in the market. Restaurant after restaurant announced partnerships with either Beyond or its biggest competitor, Impossible Foods. In June 2018, Beyond shared that it tripled its manufacturing footprint in order to meet skyrocketing demand. Impossible Foods launched an Impossible Whopper in all 7,000-plus Burger King locations in 2019, marking a milestone for plant-based beef. 



Both brands’ distributions have continued to grow. In 2018, Beyond Meat was available in more than 30,000 restaurants and retailers; at the start of 2024, Beyond Meat products were available at 130,000 retail and food-service locations across more than 90 countries. 



In 2019, the Impossible Burger was in more than 8,000 restaurants; by 2022, that number jumped to more than 40,000 restaurants across three continents. The brand is also in 30,000-plus retail locations. 



But the meat-alternative market at large has seen some recent headwinds. A report on the state of the plant-based meat industry by the Good Food Institute noted that plant-based food sales at U.S. retail locations dropped slightly from $8.2 billion in 2022 to $8.1 billion in 2023. (To compare to non-plant-based options, U.S. meat sales totaled more than $122 billion in 2023 , a slight increase from the year prior.) 



While monetary sales dropped by just about 2%, plant-based unit sales dropped more, by 9%. (The difference may be explained in part by rising costs due to inflation.) Most Americans still haven’t tried plant-based meat options, despite their availability in nationwide chains; only 43% of U.S. adults say they have. 



Early adopters scale back on Beyond



Carl’s Jr. and Del Taco’s steps back from Beyond Meat were first reported this week by Bloomberg . In a statement, Del Taco, which launched Beyond in April 2019, said it decided to stop selling Beyond Meat products at all its locations “due to low sales,” but that the chain still has a relationship with the plant-based meat brand. Del Taco is “continuing to explore potential new and innovative plant-based menu items with them,” a spokesperson said.



Carl’s Jr., which began offering Beyond Meat in January 2019, did not completely discontinue the Beyond Burger, though it didn’t clarify how many of its 1,065 locations are still offering the plant-based beef. “As of April 24, Beyond Burgers are no longer part of our offering at most restaurants,” a spokesperson said. “At Carl’s Jr., we value the feedback from our guests, which is why we’ve recently updated our menu to align with consumer cravings.” The company added that customers looking for a vegetarian option can order a fried zucchini sandwich. 



A spokesperson for Beyond Meat did not comment directly on the news that early restaurant adopters have scaled back on its plant-based meat, but did note that its “newly renovated” burger, called Beyond IV, will be available in supermarkets starting this month. The spokesperson also noted that demand for Beyond products is strong overseas: McDonalds, for example, sells a popular “McPlant” burger across the U.K., Netherlands, Germany, and other European countries.



A&W was also an early adopter of Beyond Meat products, in both Canada in 2018 and across the U.S. in 2020. A spokesperson noted that Beyond Meat is available to all A&W franchise partners, but that participation varies by region and owner. “Overall we find the most usage and interest on the West Coast and more densely populated areas,” the spokesperson added. 



A handful of other restaurant chains have experimented with limited-run Beyond Meat trials, including Pizza Hut, Panda Express, and KFC. None of those restaurants are currently serving Beyond Meat. Some of the trials received mixed reactions, though the Panda Express Beyond Orange Chicken was particularly popular, even inspiring a Change.org petition to bring back the menu item after it was discontinued.



Impossible meat is still offered at Burger King, where it first became available in 2019, as well as at White Castle, where it launched in 2018. National chains IHOP and Ruby Tuesday began offering Impossible Burgers in 2023. 



Both brands are continuing to innovate. Impossible launched its “Indulgent Burger” in 2023. Beyond Meat recently debuted the fourth generation of its plant-based beef and burger, called Beyond IV , which the company describes as its “meatiest, juiciest products yet.” Beyond Meat announced this week that the new burger is now available for restaurants, as well as retail.