Why plant-based ‘chicken’ is the sustainable vegan meat substitute sure to rule 2020 – beginning with KFC’s Beyond fried chicken

Plant-based beef alternatives took the world by storm in 2019.

Burger King launched Impossible Whoppers across the United States, and Beyond Meat’s breakfast sausage debuted in Dunkin’s croissant sandwiches.

But the fervour for meatless “meats” isn't stopping with beef and 2020 is the year of the plant-based “chicken”.

Plant-based “chicken” is nothing new. One of Beyond Meat’s first products was a frozen “chicken” product that crashed and burned. Grocery-focused companies like Quorn and Gardein have had vegetarian “d chicken” products in frozen aisles for a while now. However, it wasn’t until this year that this flavour of protein started stealing the spotlight.

Plant-based chicken’s debut on the main stage was KFC and Beyond’s wildly successful first test of fried “chicken” in August 2019. Then, in January 2020, the companies announced an extended test of the product in two markets in February. 

The fried nugget entered the scene accompanied by a slew of other plant-based “chicken” products. On March 5, El Pollo Loco rolled out its Chickenless Pollo nationwide. UK start-up Daring Foods, which launched in the US this year, has received a US$10 million investment from Rastelli Foods Group, a meat-processing company. Fronted by former Unilever Americas president Kees Kruythoff, vegan media and plant-based “chicken company” LiveKindly has closed a US$200 million funding round, according to a press release.

Why plant-based chicken is exploding now

So why is plant-based “chicken” finally happening now? There could be several factors at play.

First, chicken alternatives with meat-like muscle texture may have been harder to develop than ground beef alternatives. Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown said in an earlier interview that developing a product that pulls apart like chicken meat needed additional research.