Why all your favorite burger chains are going vegetarian

Plant-based food sector tops $3.1 billion in sales, up 8.1 percent over last year, according to new data from Nielsen.

JEANETTE SETTEMBRE: ‘Burger restaurants are beefing up their vegetarian options. As more customers go vegan or vegetarian, eateries such as Shake Shack, White Castle and Bareburger are adding more plant-based dishes to balance out their meaty menus… Some veggie options are even selling on par with their meaty counterparts… Eating animal-free is on the rise. Six percent of Americans identify as vegan, up from 1 percent in 2014, according to GlobalData’s “Top Trends in Prepared Foods in 2017” report – a 600% increase in just three years. And the plant-based food sector tops $3.1 billion in sales, up 8.1 percent over last year, according to new data from Nielsen, The Good Food Institute and the Plant Based Foods Association…

When the Impossible Burger launched on Bareburger menus in 2016, its sales equaled the beef-based burgers, the restaurant confirmed to Moneyish. It gained so much traction that they introduced Beyond Burgers, another plant-based patty variety made with non-GMO pea protein (which is 35 percent vegetarian) in February. “The addition of the Beyond and Impossible Burgers answers the rising consumer demand for healthier, plant-based restaurant options that still deliver on taste and satisfaction,” Bareburger CEO Euripides Pelekanos told Moneyish’. SOURCE…

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