Called’ the Imposter’, the burger comprises a bespoke Quorn fillet coated with KFC’s famous ‘original recipe’ of herbs and spices and is topped with iceberg lettuce and vegan mayo. It is initially being trialled for four weeks at its restaurants in London, Bristol and Birmingham.
In addition, the company is creating a new vegetarian option, called the Southern Fritter Stacker, which will be available as a burger, wrap and with rice from 15 July.
The move follows KFC’s announcement last year that it was to trial veggie-friendly meat alternatives in the UK in 2019. It was welcomed by animal rights campaign group PETA, which says that more than 13,000 of its supporters contacted KFC to ask the chain to add a vegan option to its menu.
The new vegan burger is also likely to be a result of KFC’s pledge to reduce the amount of calories per serving in its meals by 20% by 2025. The fried chicken chain says it is focusing on creating lighter meals with fewer than 600 calories in line with Public Health England (PHE) recommendations.
In December 2017, McDonald’s trialled its ‘McVegan’ plant-based burger in several stores in Finland before rolling it out across the entire country as well as across Sweden, but the company has yet to introduce it into the UK. In April, Burger King also jumped on the meat-free bandwagon, piloting a plant-based version of its signature Whopper in the US.
