McDonald's Introduces The McPlant And A New Crispy Chicken Sandwich

Shares of plant-based food maker Beyond Meat Inc BYND tumbled after McDonald's Corp MCD announced its own plant-based burger called the McPlant.

McPlant: USA TODAY was first to report McDonald's expects to start testing its new plant-based burger in some markets next year. It's not yet known if the U.S. will be one of the testing markets,

"We are excited about the opportunity because we believe we have a proven, delicious-tasting product," USA TODAY quoted Ian Borden, McDonald's international president, as saying at an investor meeting. "When customers are ready for it, we will be ready for them."

The executive also said the McPlant is "crafted exclusively" for McDonald's and the company plans on extending plant-based products across other offerings, including chicken and breakfast sandwiches.

McDonald's was testing Beyond Meat's products in its sandwiches in 2019 and early 2020. While investors hoped for an expansion of the trial to include plant-based burgers, Monday's news from McDonald's has Beyond Meat investors more convinced this won't play out.

Editor's note: Beyond Meat confirmed Monday afternoon that it is in fact working with McDonald's on the McPlant.

Crispy Chicken Sandwich: Separately, McDonald's said a new Crispy Chicken Sandwich will hit the menu in 2021 after undergoing testing in Houston and Tennessee.

"It's a simple build relevant for our US customer base – with chicken, a potato roll, crinkle-cut pickles, and butter. It's extremely craveable. I love it," McDonald's USA President Joe Erlinger said. "More importantly, our customers loved it in test."

Beyond Meat's stock was down 8% at publication time. McDonald's was down about 1.3% following its third-quarter earnings release.