The fast-food restaurant chain Burger King is probably best known among meat eaters, and now it also wants to become a pioneer in vegetarian food: In its 750 German branches, the company has been offering a vegetarian alternative for all beef burgers and almost every other meat dish since this week.

This is to give the guests a choice, according to the restaurant.

Michael Seiser

Business correspondent for Austria and Hungary based in Vienna.

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Stefanie Diemand

Editor in Business.

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Although there were already vegetarian and vegan alternatives in the fast food restaurant, Burger King wants to go one step further with the strong expansion of these offers.

This makes them the first in fast food service.

In recent years, more and more fast-food restaurants have embraced the meatless trend, and competitor McDonald's also has a few vegetarian and vegan alternatives in its range.

Future without meat?

The company recently showed what a future without meat could look like for Burger King in Austria: After London, the company wants to bring vegan food closer to the public at Vienna's Westbahnhof.

For the first time, the American chain's popular quick meals are made exclusively from plant-based products, which means there are new options for vegans and vegetarians.

This is made possible by the vegan products of the brand The Vegetarian Butcher.

“Serving the same quality based on entirely vegan products is a milestone in the development of our meatless offering for people with a conscious lifestyle.

Enjoying pleasure instead of doing without is the focus of this groundbreaking innovation, with which we are also opening up our range to vegans in full,” said Jan-Christoph Küster, Marketing Manager of the TQSR Group, the Austrian master franchise of the brand, on the occasion of the opening Week.

In the newly opened restaurant, the same variety of products is served as at all other locations - just vegan.

Meat-free products have become an integral part of the range offered by the fast food giants, although vegetarian dishes are in the foreground and not the general renunciation of animal food components.

The fact that Burger King now wants to score points in Austria with a vegan offer after its launch in the United Kingdom fits in with the increased focus on healthy food in the wake of the corona pandemic.

According to surveys, almost two-thirds of consumers have been increasingly turning to organic products on the shelves since the outbreak of the pandemic.

The majority of the population would be willing to pay higher prices for meat if this would ensure better production conditions and animal welfare.

As far as eating habits are concerned, a clear trend can also be seen: the younger generation in particular is reducing their meat consumption, while vegetarian nutrition is flourishing.

Even if schnitzel is still popular between Bregenz and Eisenstadt: every third Austrian now classifies himself as flexitarian, pescetarian, vegetarian or vegan.