A&W's new plant-based Beyond Meat burger came in sizzling hot, but left many fans and would-be enthusiasts out in the cold when the supply couldn't meet demand this summer and the stores ran out.
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But the wait is soon to be over: As of October 1, Canadian customers ordering the Beyond Meat can anticipate a mouth-watering veggie burger instead of a sorry shake of the head from an A&W Canada employee.
Launched in early July, A&W locations in Metro Vancouver and elsewhere across Canada, ran out of stock by mid-August.
The Beyond Meat burger is a beautiful mystery. Everyone is sold out in Vancouver! Am I wrong? If so, where?
— jcpy (@jamiecoupy) September 10, 2018
The North Vancouver-based fast food chain was taken aback by the widespread interest.
"The demand for our new burger has exceeded our expectations and we’re temporarily out of stock (in some locations)!," A&W CEO Susan Senecal said in an email this summer to the Vancouver Courier, urging fans to sign up for an email notification list. Cynics, however, think perhaps this was by design to prolong the hype. We may never know.
What we do know is that A&W has now sent an email to those who had signed up for the Beyond Meat waiting list thanking burger-lovers for being “beyond patient.”
Developed in Los Angeles and available to home consumers in a frozen ready-to-cook format, the Beyond Meat burger includes beets in its ingredient list to help mimic the colour of meat, however it does not “bleed”–a claim to fame held by other items on the market.
A&W Canada emphasizes that the patty is plant-based, but the burger is not fully vegan; the patty is cooked on a shared grill, and customers need to opt out of the sauces and cheese to avoid dairy and animal products. The bun's status as vegan is ambiguous at best; the food additive monoglycerides is used, and it could be animal-derived.
Those who have been "beyond patient" to try or re-experience this revolutionary fast food product that omnivores, vegetarians, and vegans alike have embraced so swiftly can get their hands on a Beyond Meat Burger from A&W soon.
With files from the Vancouver Courier and the Richmond News.
