“We’re not a fast-casual concept,” Mendelsohn told VegNews. In fact, all of the advancements made in the plant-based meat, dairy-free cheese, and fish-free seafood spaces inspired the chef to open PLNT Burger, an unabashedly fast-food restaurant that serves a “deliciously greasy” menu that happens to be 100-percent plant-based. While Mendelsohn owns a number of popular (and not vegan) concepts, he first got the idea to open a plant-based chain after tasting a Beyond Burger, which he sees as a viable replacement for meat that browns just like the real thing. Since then (and in the midst of a global pandemic), PLNT Burger has expanded to nine in-store locations in the mid-Atlantic region. On the other coast, celebrity chef Spike Mendelsohn-an alum of Bravo’s Top Chef-is getting ready for his own aggressive expansion of his plant-based burger shop PLNT Burger, the first location of which he opened inside of Whole Foods Market in Silver Springs, MD in 2019. You can’t just bite back into that Mikey Dee’s (McDonald’s) like you don’t know.” East Coast chain PLNT Burger is growing, too “Ignorance is only bliss until it kills you,” he said. Growing climate anxiety combined with mounting research that consuming animal products is linked to a variety of health issues, is pushing more people to choose plant-based fast-food and Matt de Gruyter thinks this shift is reaching a point of no return. In a 2021 study published in scientific journal Nature Food, raising cows, pigs, chickens, and other animals for food, as well as growing plants used to feed farmed animals bound for slaughter, is responsible for the vast majority (59 percent) of all food production emissions. All climate research points to animal agriculture, specifically beef production, as the most environmentally destructive sector of the global food industry. Matt de Grutyer’s ultimate goal is to open 1,000 or more NLB outposts in the coming years to “craft a future that we can all thrive in.”Īnd that future has to be much less reliant on animal products. After weathering the pandemic without closing a single location, NLB is striking out on an aggressive national expansion-with the aim of quadrupling its footprint by 2025-starting with a stand-alone location slated to open in the coming months. In 2017, the chain struck an expansion deal with Whole Foods Market and has since opened locations inside the grocery store in California, Washington, New York, and Texas. “But we knew that couldn’t keep eating factory-farmed animals forever.” “‘Vegan’ used to be a word that broke up a dinner party,” Matt de Gruyter told VegNews. The only thing missing here is animal products. The menu also features all the other classic aspects of American fast-food, including fries, shakes, and kids meals. NLB’s plant-based burgers can be made with either Beyond Burger or house-made vegan beef patties, slices of gooey vegan cheese, tempeh bacon, and all the fixin’s. The couple opened the first location of NLB in Bend, OR to share the benefits of eating organic, plant-based, and health-promoting foods with their community all the while appending the model of what a fast-food restaurant could be. In 2014, when Matthew and Cierra de Gruyter had the idea of starting a plant-based and organic fast-food business, competition was nearly non-existent. Next Level Burger Next Level Burger: a new kind of fast-food chain This year, both NLB and PLNT Burger are opening locations outside of their respective Whole Foods partnerships, ushering in an era when vegan fast-food chains lose their training wheels. This month, two such competitors, Next Level Burger (NLB) and PLNT Burger, have announced aggressive expansion plans supported by ever-growing demand for plant-based fast food.īoth concepts coincidentally operate their locations inside Whole Foods Markets, with Oregon-based NLB on the West Coast and celebrity chef-owned PLNT Burger on the East Coast. Now, the chain’s competition is growing every day with new entrants from coast-to-coast. Vegan fast-food chains have been around as niche concepts for some time in the US, with California-based Veggie Grill being one of the first to pioneer the way in 2006 with its flagship location in Irvine, CA. Now, with concerns mounting around public health and a growing awareness of the large role of animal agriculture in the climate crisis, many consumers are turning to a new crop of fast-food chains. Led primarily by McDonald’s, the proliferation of fast-food in the 1950’s set a standard for how most Americans have eaten ever since: fast and cheap. America’s fast-food industry is undergoing a plant-based transformation and only those who adapt will survive.
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