Burger King Launches Whopper Made With the Impossible Burger

Burger King has announced its partnership with Impossible Foods, the company behind the plant-based burger that is designed to closely imitate the real thing. The fast-food company’s imitation sandwich will be named the “Impossible Whopper” and will remain limited to 59 restaurants during its trial run.

Developed by Impossible Foods, this California-based company boasts having cracked the code on making plant-based protein taste like real meat. The Impossible Burger is designed to “bleed” like a conventional burger, thanks to genetic modification of a particular yeast that produces heme, the protein that closely mimics the flavor of meat. Restaurants across San Diego are already starting to serve this beef-patty alternative, and Burger King could soon be added to that list. The plant-based patty can be found in 59 locations in and around St. Louis during the trial run.

While Burger King has long offered a veggie burger, the company hopes that more traditional meat-eaters will be keen on trying this option. Burger King will still put mayonnaise on the Impossible Whopper, so it won’t be a completely vegan option. The burger will cost about a dollar more than its beef alternative, due to its higher cost in producing the plant-based patty. This marks the second major fast food franchise chain carrying the Impossible Burger, with US burger chain White Castle carrying it at more than 370 restaurants across the country.

During trial runs within the company, the chains North America president Christopher Finazzo said “We’ve done sort of a blind test with our franchises, with people in the office, with my partners on the executive team, and virtually nobody can tell the difference.” According to one early review by Thrillist, the Impossible Whopper is “..very one-note in its flavor and texture, lacking the depth I’ve seen before in those other burgers. That said, it’s not bad… it’s just not exceptional either.”

The main push for the Impossible Burger is that it supports environmental sustainability, thanks to the lack of extensive amounts of animal agriculture traditional beef patties require, all of which are serious sources of greenhouse gases, water use, and pollution. Plant-based protein is quickly becoming one of the most backed industries. Researchers predict that plant-based meats could produce up to 96% less greenhouse gases than the current meat industry.