New York-based restaurant chain Just Salad is ditching beef from its entire menu and replacing it with plant-based Beyond Meat as the company promises to put ‘planet over profit’.

The restaurant chain has announced that its top-selling smokehouse steak salad will no longer be an option at any of its 40 locations.

Instead, it has replaced the grilled steak with Beyond Beef Meatballs in its Keto Zoodle Bowl. Customers can also choose the meatballs as an add-on to any salad, wrap, or warm bowl at $4.99 for three. 

“The future of food is plant-based,” said Janani Lee, Just Salad’s Chief Sustainability Officer in a statement.

“We’re thrilled to offer our guests an alternative to beef that’s just as delicious yet significantly more eco-friendly.

“We know red meat’s incredibly wasteful and has a huge carbon footprint, so we decided to remove grass-fed steak from our menu and replace that with Beyond Meat,” she added.

 Choosing Sustainability Over Profit

Just Salad is a strong advocate of sustainability-focused efforts. It was one of the first food- chains to introduce reusable bowls.

Earlier this year the company announced its Green Standard sustainability initiative – which includes transitioning from plastic bowls to biodegradable fiber bowls by the end of the year, sending zero waste to landfills by 2025, developing a composting program and participating in the NYC Carbon Challenge.

Following the announcement to ditch beef, Janani Lee told Forbes: “This move isn’t about winning guests, it’s about doing what we think is right as a company.”

“We know that some of our steak-loving guests might be disappointed, but we hope they can appreciate our concerns around beef’s environmental impact and are willing to explore our alternative protein options.”

She added: “We also believe this (offering plant-based meat options) is part of a new movement in environmental responsibility,” 

“We serve over 30,000 people a day, so we have the potential to make a real difference in people’s lives and their overall carbon footprint.” 

Partnering with Beyond Meat

Just Salad chose Beyond Meat over a growing number of plant-based players for its clean ingredients and consistent supply.

 “We spent a lot of time weighing different plant-based options for our menu, and Beyond simply offers the most versatile and best tasting product out there,” Lee explained.

“Our R&D team made a number of recipes using ground Beyond Beef and conducted company-wide taste tests and small consumer focus groups.

“We all loved the Beyond Beef Meatball recipe and were excited by the endless culinary opportunities with Beyond Beef,” she concluded.

• Read: Vegan restaurants are taking over New York City

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