It is not McDonald’s business (unless redeemed by the pursuit of profit) to induce its customers to eat less meat.
First, McDonald’s removed the beef tallow from its fries (there are some of us who have not forgotten, or forgiven, that outrage), and now this (via Green Queen):
Earlier this month, McDonald’s added four new meatless products to its Netherlands range and, in a move to promote plant-forward food, listed them before beef on the menu. The new burgers, nuggets and salad join the Beyond Meat-based McPlant, which has been a permanent fixture on the fast-food chain’s Dutch menu since last year, after a successful trial the year before.
That’s fine, of course. More consumer choice and all that.
But:
The new products coincide with a new campaign by McDonald’s, through which it aims to promote meatless and plant-based eating among its customers. It has reallocated its campaign budgets to support meat-free products more, and positioned these new products alongside chicken options first on the menu, followed by the conventional beef options. (Beef is the highest-emitting food on the planet.)
“At McDonald’s, we are constantly developing the menu,” Dolly van den Akker, impact director at McDonald’s Netherlands, told Duurzaam Ondernemen. “We listen to the wishes of our guests and are happy to take the lead in our sector. We do this by offering responsible choices, such as fruit and vegetables in the Happy Meal, but also by adding more variety to the menu offering.
“However, we know that our guests often have fixed preferences. With this campaign and new introductions, we want to challenge them to go for that unknown, meatless option. Which is really just as tasty.”
If McDonald’s is positioning these products first and spending more on advertising them because they are nicely profitable (or could be), that’s fine. If they are doing so to “send a message,” not so much.
As for “responsible choices,” I wrote this after noticing some leaflets containing nutrition information in a McDonald’s back in, uh, 2003:
“Nutrition,” the reader is told, “is a long-standing priority at McDonalds.” So I should hope. The place is a restaurant after all.
Unfortunately, that is not what Mickey D’s means. Nutrition is not food. Food is super-sized, fatty, and fun. It’s burgers (add cheese!), fries (add salt!), hot dogs (add mustard!), and it’s a barbecue in July (add beer!). Nutrition, by contrast, is glum, not fun. It’s subtract, not add. It’s greens, not fries. Food is a chocolate shake. Nutrition is no-fat milk. Food is an all-you-can-eat buffet. Nutrition is a doctor checking your cholesterol, [and] a bureaucrat vetting your dinner plate.
Green Queen:
The Netherlands has the highest sales of alt-meat per capita of any European country, with more than 70% of its consumers supporting a shift towards a more plant-based diet. This could explain why the market share of vegan products increased from 1.4% in 2016 to 5.4% in 2021. Here, Subway leads the way in terms of the number of plant-based dishes, followed by Burger King. McDonald’s comes last – after Domino’s and KFC – given that most of its products aren’t vegan by default.
However, there are encouraging signs. McDonald’s new menu positioning follows one of the ProVeg report’s recommendations, which reads: “Integrate plant-based options with similar items and list them first, while repeating them in a separately labelled plant-based section. This will nudge consumers to choose more plant-based options while making it easier to navigate the menu.”
As for “nudging,” that is not McDonald’s business (unless redeemed by the pursuit of profit). It’s a restaurant, not a counselor, preacher, or busybody.