“We have the meats,” Arby’s marketing campaign states, and it’s going to stay that way, according to the company’s president.
Atlanta-based Arby’s has no intention of jumping on the Impossible bandwagon and adding a plant-based sandwich to its menu.
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"It won't happen on my watch," Arby's president Rob Lynch told Fortune. "The only way would be if I got fired for some reason."
Earlier this month, VegNews, which states it provides "today's best vegan lifestyle content," reported Arby's was in talks with Impossible Foods, maker of the Impossible patty and Impossible sausage.
Lynch told Fortune he panicked for a moment when he saw the report, but was reassured no one at Arby’s was looking at a plant-based option.
“You have to stand for something,” Lynch told Fortune. ” We’ve turned this brand around by making big, high quality, meaty, abundant sandwiches. That’s who we are.”
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With sandwiches like the Bacon 'N Brisket Beef 'N Cheddar on the menu, Arby's sells 160 million pounds of meat every year, according to Fortune.
Calling a plant-based product "meat" is "a bit misleading," Lynch said. The U.S. Cattlemen's Association has petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture to bar companies from using the word in any form when labeling their vegetarian products.
"While Arby's has been keeping tabs on this curious new world of 100% plant-based products posing as meats, following this trend like everyone else goes against who we are as a business," a company spokesperson told Fox Business via email. "The chances Arby's will bring plant-based protein to our menu — now or in the future — are absolutely impossible."
The plant-based vegan Impossible patty — made of water, plant proteins, coconut oil and heme, a natural molecule that gives burgers their distinctive taste and is found in plants — is designed to look and taste like a traditional red meat burger, The AJC reported in 2017. California-based Impossible Foods has received more than $250 million in financial backing from Bill Gates, venture fund Temasek and several other businesses and celebrities.
Impossible products are increasing in popularity. Burger King recently announced it will offer the Impossible Whopper at all its locations by the end of the year. It's already available in Columbus, Georgia, and a few other cities.
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And Little Caesars is making the Impossible possible for pizza lovers.
The pizza chain announced last week it is launching the Impossible Supreme pizza, topped with Impossible Sausage made from plants, caramelized onions, mushrooms and green peppers.
“It would be like if I called my roast beef sandwich a broccoli sandwich,” Lynch told Fortune. “It’s just not the real thing.”
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