Why McDonald’s vegan burger isn’t available in the US
Three years later, and they’re still isn’t a McVegan available to most McDonald’s customers — unless they want to travel to Finland like a pilgrim. One might wonder why. After all, in April of this year, Live Kindly reported that Chris Kempczinski, McDonald’s CEO, gave a vague answer of approval when asked whether vegan options would appear on McDonald’s US menu: “Although a launch date and details were not given, he notes that he ‘certainly expects to see plant-based on the McDonald’s menu.'” Maybe it’s because McDonald’s has had mixed fortunes when it comes to Finland. In 2016, Food Navigator noted that McDonald’s Finland had sustained losses of $91 million and closed 10 locations in the previous year, dropping their outlet number to 72. The McDonald’s website also boasts this number for the country. Yet, in May of 2019, Delish excitedly reported that McDonald’s had decided to sell a plant-based burger in Germany, which appears slightly different from the Finnish option. Since the McVegan’s debut in Tampere, McDonald’s has spread it across the rest of Finland and neighboring Sweden. The reason why McDonald’s Finland got a vegan burger while we’re still waiting may be down to the big difference in customer base. There are simply too many American customers for McDonald’s to meet their demand.