The Times Are Changing – TGI Friday’s Is Trying Out a Vegan Burger Option!

Looks like the Beyond Burger’s takeover continues! Family-friendly restaurant TGI Friday’s is adding a slightly bigger version of the juicy vegan burger to six of their greater Boston locations through October as part of their Burger Bar menu. The partnership marks the largest restaurant brand to partner with Beyond Meat to date. Whoa!

If you’ve never heard of the Beyond Burger before, this vegan burger has been widely lauded for its spot-on meaty and juicy flavor and texture profile AND it actually “bleeds” beet blood when you make it. Additionally, each Beyond Burger patty boasts an impressive 20 grams of plant-based pea protein per patty, not to mention it contains no soy, gluten, or GMOs.

While the Beyond Burger will only be served at these six Boston locations through October, there is the opportunity to expand to all TGI Friday’s locations in early 2018. Happy dance! 

And with the burger’s recent success, we think it’s safe to say the Beyond Burger will indeed expand to all TGI Friday’s. Beyond Meat’s partnership with TGI Friday’s comes on the heels of the plant-based company’s newly announced partnership with Sysco, the largest food distributor in the United States.

TGI Friday’s partnership with Beyond Meat is a smart move considering more people than ever are reducing their meat consumption and opting for plant-based options instead. A recent report by global market research firm Mintel shows that more people than ever are open to trying meatless burgers, a trend that is being driven largely by Millennials; 64 percent have tried meatless burgers versus 28 percent of Baby Boomers. When dining out, around 40 percent of Americans also choose the plant-based option, so making a vegan burger available in such a pervasive chain will likely be met with success.

We are so glad to see more plant-based options become accessible, showing yet again that the future of food is indeed plant-based. If you live in Boston or know of someone who does, be sure to enjoy the Burger Burger at TGI Friday’s!

To learn more about the environmental impact of our food choices as well as trends and developments in the plant-based food space, check out our podcast #EatForThePlanet with Nil Zacharias.

Image source: Beyond Meat