Animals

I've not eaten KFC since the 80s. Its plant-based chicken nuggets will change that | Bruce Friedrich


I have not eaten at KFC since Ronald Reagan was president, but that’s about to change, because KFC has announced plans to launch plant-based fried chicken (which is made of legumes) in southern California and real chicken grown directly from cells in Russia. Either of these announcements would have been among the top three events for alternative proteins in 2020. Combined, they are truly groundbreaking.

The California announcement is another first for Beyond Meat, the trailblazing plant-based meat company that convinced Tyson Foods in 2016 that plant-based meat is here to stay. That was the first time a major meat company had invested in the technology. Now Beyond Meat has done it again, convincing one of the most iconic fast-food brands in the world to introduce a plant-based version of its signature recipe.

KFC’s chief marketing officer effused: “Despite many imitations, the flavor of Kentucky Fried Chicken is one that has never been replicated – until Beyond Fried Chicken.”

The announcement from Russia is potentially even more groundbreaking, making KFC the first restaurant in world history to announce its plans to serve cultivated meat, which is real meat grown directly from cells, no farms or slaughterhouses required. One of my colleagues tweeted: “I did not have ‘KFC⁩ plans to bioprint cultivated chicken nuggets in Russia’ on my 2020 bingo card.”

Me neither. The idea of KFC launching cultivated chicken in Russia, and then around the world, is truly a watershed moment for the quest to grow real meat from cells in a cost-effective manner.

But all is not well among vegan purists. Some are, to put it mildly, not having it. When I posted jubilantly about these two announcements on LinkedIn, the retribution was fast and furious. How dare I promote products that were cooked in the same fryer as conventional chicken? A criminal defense attorney from Virginia accused me of conspiring to dupe unsuspecting vegans.

But these products are not for level five vegans. They are for consumers who love the taste of chicken flavored with those 11 herbs and spices, but who would prefer that their dinner were produced in a more sustainable and humane way.

In my role as executive director of the nonprofit Good Food Institute, which promotes both plant-based and cultivated meat, I often say jokingly that we don’t care what vegetarians eat. But that’s also literally true. Plant-based and cultivated meat are most impactful when meat-eaters consume them in place of conventional meat. Vegetarians and vegans aren’t the ones looking for substitute meats.

It’s worth recalling that the vast majority of plant-based meat consumers also eat animal-based meat. It’s neither reasonable nor feasible to demand that KFC dedicate separate fryers to their plant-based and cultivated chicken.

Plus, that would change the nature of the product, making it seem to KFC clientele like these are products exclusively for vegetarians. There is extensive research to indicate that labeling a product vegetarian or putting items in a vegetarian section of a restaurant’s menu will decrease sales for those items. So here again, the product would probably fail.

Perhaps most odd was those who attacked KFC for making these decisions not out of concern for the ill effects of industrial animal farming, but because the company saw dollar signs. Um, duh.

Of course KFC is expanding its menu for profit. The company knows that consumers want more options, and they have seen the resounding success of the Impossible Whopper at Burger King, Impossible Sliders at White Castle, Beyond Meat products at Carl’s Jr and Dunkin’ Donuts, and more.

And I’m sorry, but there are larger issues at stake here. Plant-based and cultivated meat will not reach their full potential until the food industry recognizes the massive revenues that will come with this transition. Profitability is a feature, not a bug. And really, it’s the most important feature.

For anyone who cares about the footprint of industrial animal agriculture, we should applaud KFC’s decision to launch a plant-based chicken entree and to grow chicken from cells without the external costs of farms and slaughterhouses.

For my part as a vegan of more than three decades, I just want to say: fire up the deep fryer. It’s good to be back.

  • Bruce Friedrich is the founder and executive director of the Good Food Institute, a nonprofit organization that works to create a sustainable, healthy, and just food system





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