Burger King will introduce its vegan version of its Whopper burger, the Impossible Whopper, this Monday to 100 locations around San Francisco. Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, the fast food chain has reportedly been sending out Seamless deliveries of regular meat Whoppers, when customers had in fact ordered the vegan version.
According to cnet.com, the Impossible Whopper’s eagerly anticipated arrival to Californian Burger King locations will take place on Monday, across more than 100 different outlets. It is reported that Impossible Food “now has 110 scientists working in its labs at its Redwood City, California, headquarters,” and that this number is set to increase by around 50% in the next 12 to 18 months.
Image: Impossible Foods
It is yet to be seen what kind of impact will be had upon the Impossible / BK success story by the news coming from the other side of the United States. The Eater reports that a Burger King location in Brooklyn has admitted to serving beef burgers to customers who had ordered vegan Impossible Whoppers. “For at least the last few weeks, the 736 Broadway franchise of the burger chain featured the Impossible Whopper — “100% WHOPPER, 0% Beef” — on its menu, at one point listing it as its most popular item. But serving the burger here is actually impossible, since it’s only available in select cities.
“A manager at the Burger King tells Eater that when a customer orders it, they’ve been sending a classic beef Whopper in its place, asking the driver to inform people of the swap. But drivers have not told multiple customers who ordered the Impossible Whopper that it actually contained real meat.”
A Burger King spokesperson released a comment to The Takeout: “We have recently become aware that due to a technology error, one of our franchisees incorrectly listed the Impossible Whopper as a menu item available at some New York-area restaurants through two third-party delivery platforms […] The issue has been corrected and the item is no longer listed as an option until we officially bring the Impossible Whopper to New York. We apologize for any confusion this has caused. Any guests who ordered an Impossible Whopper through delivery in the New York area and have any questions may call 866-394-2493.”
