Vegan burgers is one item that McDonald’s all across Michigan have deprived the public of, but why?

The Vegan trend has been building since 2010.  This trend is a dietary plan that excludes all animal products, including the animals themselves. This trend, despite picking up momentum, still only includes three percent of Americans. That’s approximately 9,930,079 people. These people have caused a great change in mainstream society. Many vegan-specific restaurants have sprouted up; in Michigan alone there are 67 of these restaurants. Even many fast food restaurants are carrying vegetarian or vegan alternatives to common menu items. Burger King has the impossible Whopper, Wendys carries a baked potato meal, and Arby’s, home of the meats, even carries vegan alternatives. What is the deal with McDonald’s?

Well, according to Senior Tristin Baker, “At McDonald’s we are looking for what people like, the most basic and agreeables foods, holiday trends, and seasonal specials. Hence, a more specific type of food would go outside of our comfort zone. More specifically, we don’t have a grill for the vegan burger, practically everything at Mcdonald’s has its own cooking space. With the regulation on what makes something vegan, we would need to purchase another grill just for the vegan burger, an item that hardly any customer would buy anyway.” This simply means that the vegan trend isn’t “Mainstream” enough for Mcdonald’s. Apparently, this venture is too costly for this multi-billion dollar company to shell out a few clams for a grill. 

Another Senior Kaylen, manager-in-training, Collins offered a different point of view, “It simply wouldn’t fit in our menu well.” This may seem contradictory, as Mcdonald’s is a burger place. What’s the harm in adding another burger? Well these menus are an extremely complicated ordeal in the highly developed business. As McDonald’s employee Demetrius Alspaugh stated, “Changing these things isn’t so easy. While the supply chain is simple, actually getting new things on the menu requires the action to be sent up the chain, a lengthy process.” Though it isn’t clear as to why other companies can jump through these hoops, and the Golden Arches can’t. Hopefully, all the enraged vegans can sympathize with this fast food titan.