Live data from Hacker News

Beyond Meat and KFC partner to test fried plant-based ‘chicken’

theverge.com

81–90 of 528 posts

Re: Beyond Meat and KFC partner to test fried plant-based ‘chicken’

#81
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked at KFC for several years in Australia, the chicken was quite fresh.

All of the fastfood chains based in united states have much better quality abroad.

A&W Rootbeer is much better in Canada - I think they use sugar instead of corn syrup - something - it's really good there

Re: Beyond Meat and KFC partner to test fried plant-based ‘chicken’

#82
post #24

I think it is a rather toxic movement that we are continuing to label things that which they are not. "fried plant-based ‘chicken’" it makes no sense at all A lot of it is egged on by the vegan/vegetarians and is the definition of false advertising. I saw "vegan" mince in the meat section the other day. I feel sorry for the elderly or learning impaired who might be accidentally buying soy substitutes when their bodie…

How would you propose describing something that has the consistency and flavor of chicken, and which doesn't denigrate the non-chicken product? Quotes and asterisks are as you said not always sufficiently visible differentiators, but misspellings like "Chikken" or the like will usually be trademarked by a particular organization and not be available for widespread usage.

Chicken-flavored _X_, where _X_ is either a brand name or some generic name for the category. At the end of the day, a chicken is an animal, and chicken is the name for the meat that comes from that animal - and hence, probably shouldn't be used for products that aren't derived from that animal.

Re: Beyond Meat and KFC partner to test fried plant-based ‘chicken’

#83
post #25
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What combination of words would you like to be used to describe these new foods? Do you feel the same way about soy milk or almond milk?

The milk industrial complex feels very strongly about it, and has litigated ruthlessly to prevent non-mammal produced milk from having the word milk in it

... and that's despite the fact that non-cow milks have been around and called "milk" for many centuries. For example, almond milk has been used in Western European cooking on Fridays and during Lent.

Re: Beyond Meat and KFC partner to test fried plant-based ‘chicken’

#84
post #2

I think it's fascinating how all these fast-food chains are jumping on artificial meat. It makes perfect sense: meat is expensive and difficult to work with, so low-cost chains like these have been serving really disgustingly low-quality meat for quite some time now; in some cases it could barely even be called meat. Plant-based meat, on the other hand, can be both cheaper and less gross at the same time, and it migh…

Can you make a clearer, better-cited case for "low cost chains serve meat that could barely even be called meat"? KFC serves (primarily) whole muscle chicken†, and the general US appetite for "dark meat" chicken is so low that we've been accused of "dumping" it on other countries and messing up their markets --- KFC seems to have no trouble sourcing its inputs effectively. KFC's suppliers include all the major chicken producers; the same firms that put chicken breasts on the shelves at grocery stores. KFC's biggest competitor is going antibiotic-free this year; at least one of KFC's suppliers already has. That's a step past supermarket chicken.

I'm not saying Tyson chicken is good; it's CAFO meat, which is not great for the environment or for flavor. But it's not "barely meat"; it's meat that basically sets the standard for meat quality in one of the meat-eatingest countries in the world, and has set that standard for over 50 years.

Don't get me started on how irresponsible the public interest campaign against transglutaminase franken-meat is.

Re: Beyond Meat and KFC partner to test fried plant-based ‘chicken’

#85

I think it is a rather toxic movement that we are continuing to label things that which they are not. "fried plant-based ‘chicken’" it makes no sense at all A lot of it is egged on by the vegan/vegetarians and is the definition of false advertising. I saw "vegan" mince in the meat section the other day. I feel sorry for the elderly or learning impaired who might be accidentally buying soy substitutes when their bodie…

Don't know why you are being down voted. As a vegan, one of my biggest gripes with the recent movement is the marketing of new products and the obsession of replacing meat with vegetables. To further illustrate your point, imagine trying to replicate carrots using only veal and calling it something like "calf-rots", it absolutely makes no sense. Your issue is primarily with the false representation, my issue is that…

> my issue is that we're intentionally making it harder to sell vegan/vegetarian alternatives by trying to replicate something unachievable instead of coming up with entirely new products.

Except they are achieving it. I've eaten Beyond Meat patties and they are close enough and good enough. As a 'vegan-curious' eater, products like Beyond Meat are a halfway point which eases the transition to a vegan diet (or at least a diet more balanced towards non-meat products).

As more people become more comfortable moving from 7-days a week meat-eating to something less, that is only going to help the vegan market.

Beyond Meat will do more to shift a portion of consumers across to vegan diets (at this point in history) than making new 'pure' vegan products.

Re: Beyond Meat and KFC partner to test fried plant-based ‘chicken’

#86
post #84
post #2

I think it's fascinating how all these fast-food chains are jumping on artificial meat. It makes perfect sense: meat is expensive and difficult to work with, so low-cost chains like these have been serving really disgustingly low-quality meat for quite some time now; in some cases it could barely even be called meat. Plant-based meat, on the other hand, can be both cheaper and less gross at the same time, and it migh…

Can you make a clearer, better-cited case for "low cost chains serve meat that could barely even be called meat"? KFC serves (primarily) whole muscle chicken†, and the general US appetite for "dark meat" chicken is so low that we've been accused of "dumping" it on other countries and messing up their markets --- KFC seems to have no trouble sourcing its inputs effectively. KFC's suppliers include all the major chicke…

It's been setting the standard for shitty meat though. Try a Tyson breast and one from a local farm and you don't even need to taste it to know it's different.

Re: Beyond Meat and KFC partner to test fried plant-based ‘chicken’

#87
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny thing that I heard recently. McDonalds is the greats buyer of chicken in the US. Quite surprising, considering they don't even have that much chicken in their menu.

Pretty sure their nuggets are a huge seller

They are, but they don't contain much chicken meat. 40% of the filler is meat and the rest is "other"[0] (fat, tissue, spicule, etc). Including the breading the majority of the weight of a chicken nugget isn't chicken meat.

Contrast this with Chick-Fil-A's nuggets, which are 100% chicken breast meat (with thinner breading to boot).

[0] https://www.motherjones.com/food/2013/10/whats-chicken-nugge...

Re: Beyond Meat and KFC partner to test fried plant-based ‘chicken’

#88
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Plant-based meat, on the other hand, can be both cheaper and less gross at the same time, and it might help them cut down on calories and improve their health image. Which is “less gross” is highly objective. > I wonder what impact it'll have on climate change when McDonalds stops buying real beef. Would be a nice longbet, “ McDonald’s will stop selling beef burgers by 20XY ”. I’d be on the “no” side of that bet.

it's a matter of volume. i don't expect beef to go away but the volume sold will massively decrease. there will always be the "real deal" crowd who will pay higher prices for it.

Always? What if the other stuff is just better? It’s not like cow is some platonic ideal for a burger patty, and other ingredients can only approach but never surpass it.

Of course, some people will want to taste dead cows similarly to how exotic meats have an audience today. But McDonald’s would not be the venue for something like that.

Re: Beyond Meat and KFC partner to test fried plant-based ‘chicken’

#89
As someone who recently transitioned to a >=95% vegetarian diet (I still consume dairy and eggs), the growing number of fast food places offering plant-based options has been a godsend, but lacking for variety - you can only eat so many plant-based burgers. I'm excited to have a mainstream meat-free "chicken" option, because most "chicken"s that I've tried at more niche restaurants have been really good!

Re: Beyond Meat and KFC partner to test fried plant-based ‘chicken’

#90
post #59
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The milk industrial complex feels very strongly about it, and has litigated ruthlessly to prevent non-mammal produced milk from having the word milk in it

And yet actual real-life customers are absolutely fine with it and aren't confused.

Except they are confused; they just ignore it. I don't think many almond milk buyers have a clue as to how it is made. They chuckle at "Never seen no titties on no almond" and buy it because it is apparently healthier.
Post reply on HN