The Plant-Based Meat Trend Is Sizzling

Be it health, diet, environmental or ethical concerns, consumers’ appetite for plant-based meat is getting bigger than ever. In yet another telling sign that it’s catching on in the mass market, fast-food giant KFC is working on a faux-chicken alternative that it hopes to test with customers later this year.

To be sure, U.S. customers are out of luck in terms of trying it for now. KFC UK and Ireland is the unit that’s working on the recipe as part of its move to reduce calories per serving by 20% by 2025. “We always look to respond to the latest changes in lifestyle and dining habits of our customers,” a KFC spokeswoman said in an emailed statement. “The development of the recipe is still in its very early stages, and so the options we’re exploring in our kitchen are still top secret.”

Once KFC’s UK and Ireland unit has “perfected” the recipe and if this year’s customer test goes well, KFC, owned by Taco Bell and Pizza Hut parent company Yum! Brands YUM +0.02%, will unveil a new vegetarian option in that market next year, the statement said.

While KFC has no plans to test or introduce the still-cooking faux-chicken recipe in the U.S. anytime soon, have no doubt that the U.S. is playing a big role in the global plant-based meat movement.

For instance, just look at Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat, the two California startups that have both grabbed headlines by coming up with plant-based products that they each claim taste just like meat. Both have won backing from Microsoft founder Bill Gates, among their respective rosters of well-known investors, and they are both expanding in the U.S. and globally. Impossible Foods, for instance, in its own fast-food play, is featured in White Castle’s $2 Impossible Sliders in New York, New Jersey and Chicago as well as on the menus of more upscale restaurants including Bareburger and Umami Burger.

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