Growing demand for vegan meat led Del Taco to launch Beyond Meat offerings

If you had reservations about the future of vegan options at fast food restaurants, you can let them go. With the recent addition of Beyond Meat at Del Taco restaurants nationwide, plus the Beyond burger at Carl’s Jr., Impossible Burger at White Castle and the upcoming launches of Impossible Burgers at Burger King and Impossible meat at Qdoba, the future is definitely skewing vegan.

Who’s to credit for this sudden boom in vegan options at fast food restaurants?

The people going in and asking.

“With a growing demand for vegan and vegetarian options among our guests, we saw an opportunity within the space to partner with Beyond Meat to develop a proprietary blend of seasoned, 100 percent plant-based meat,” Liz Edmunds, Associate Brand Manager of Del Taco, told Vegans, Baby.

The restaurant, which now offers Beyond Avocado Tacos, plus the option to replace meat with the Beyond product, has put the Mexican fast food chain’s release of the crumbles on track to become one of the chains’ most successful new menu item launches … ever, according to Business Insider.

“We are constantly innovating, and are exploring more vegan and vegetarian-friendly options for all of our guests to enjoy,” Edmunds says. “We are always looking for new and innovative ways to elevate our menu, and are excited to offer this plant-based alternative to our fans – whether they are vegan, vegetarian or just looking to switch things up – without sacrificing quality and taste.”

Is there cross-contamination at Del Taco?

 

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There have been a lot of rumors regarding cross-contamination at Del Taco, and Edmunds sets the record straight with this statement:

“We do everything we can to avoid cross contact of Beyond Meat® and animal products in our restaurants. While Beyond Meat® is not cooked in our restaurants in the same place as animal protein, we do prepare all of our tacos in the same prep area that does contain animal protein and dairy. Each taco is placed in a sleeve to avoid contact in the prep area. We also use a dedicated and color-coded tool to serve Beyond Meat®.”

Del Taco’s new Beyond Avocado tacos are now available at all Las Vegas locations and nationwide.

Are you looking for more restaurants carrying Impossible and Beyond Burgers? We’ve put together a guide to help you find many of the restaurants in Las Vegas serving the Beyond and Impossible Burgers.

Editor’s Note: Some vegans view cross-contamination as not vegan. At Vegans, Baby, we adhere to the Vegan Society’s definition to define vegan dining and do include restaurants where cross-contamination may occur: “A philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of humans, animals and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals.”