“Vegan and vegetarian meals have not been a niche trend for a long time—and we as a brand also want to and will continue to develop here.”

Fast-food giant McDonald’s has added a vegan KitKat McFlurry at its locations in Germany.

The new plant-based option consists of strawberry sorbet and a soft ice cream base. It comes topped with vegan chocolate KitKat wafer pieces.

While McFlurries have always been the fast-food giant’s signature dairy dessert in the past, McDonald’s has changed its game with these new plant-based alternatives. It first  launched a vegan McFlurry in Germany in 2020 along with pieces of vegan Oreo pieces and sweet strawberry sauce.

“Vegan and vegetarian meals have not been a niche trend for a long time—and we as a brand also want to and will continue to develop here,” Susan Schramm, Marketing Director at McDonald’s in Germany, said.

“Becoming better also means breaking new ground—for our company and our planet.

“Our new vegan chocolate soft serve combination brings even more variety to our colorful McFlurry world and thus meets the exact taste of our dessert fans.”

Vegan McDonald’s

The McFlurries aren’t the only vegan options on McDonald’s Germany menu. It also rolled out a Big Vegan TS in 2019 featuring Nestlé’s plant-based Incredible Burger, mustard, ketchup, onions, tomatoes, and greens.

McDonald’s has also launched several vegan options worldwide.

Earlier this year, the fast-food giant added its McPlant burger to 600 locations in the San Francisco Bay and Dallas-Fort Worth areas.

The plant-based burger was first introduced last November at eight US restaurants in California, Louisiana, Iowa, and Texas. Before its coming to the states, the McPlant burger was introduced overseas in Austria, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, and the UK.

Although the international fast-food giant has taken a cautious approach in dipping its toes in the plant-based market, it is now looking to become a market leader in vegan fast food  in the UK by 2025.

The goal is part of its mission to become a net-zero company in the region by 2040 and globally by 2050.

McDonald’s UK & I has already taken steps to boost its sustainability metrics, including ​​using only renewable electricity in its restaurants, recycling cooking oil as fuel for its delivery trucks, and introducing electric vehicle charging stations.

In addition, the UK arm of the fast-food behemoth will transition to completely renewable, recycled or certified packaging by 2024.

Beth Hart, a McDonald’s spokesperson has also hinted about the possibility of a more sustainable menu in the future.

She said: “I can’t speculate on what the McDonald’s menu will look like in the future, but I think it will look very different. We might see more plant-based items on the menu. It’s not so much about influencing choice but offering alternatives.”

• Read: Dunkin’, Beyond Meat sued for stealing a vegan company’s patented slogan

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