Bobby Flay says he’s not on board with meatless burgers just yet
Celebrity chef Bobby Flay is aware of the meatless burger craze a number of restaurants, including Burger King, have been testing but the Food Network star isn’t completely on board yet with the latest food fad.
Flay told CNBC’s “Power Lunch” that he hasn’t rolled out the plant-based meat in his restaurants. The “Beat Bobby Flay” star’s comments come after pizza chain Little Caesars announced it had teamed up with plant-based burger maker Impossible Foods to test out meatless sausage crumbles as a topping option on pizzas.
Celebrity chef Bobby Flay is aware of the meatless craze but said he wasn't ready to incorporate the plant-based meat in his restaurants. (Getty Images)
“Compared to what we serve from a beef standpoint, from a regular burger so to speak, versus something like the Impossible Burger … the Impossible Burger would be about three times the cost to us,” Flay told CNBC. “Then obviously we’d have to pass that along to our customers.”
Flay’s burger chain, Bobby’s Burger Palace, serves veggie burgers — but the chef noted the new meatless options were different. Veggie burgers at his restaurant are made with beans, grains and chickpeas while the Impossible Foods burger is meant to look and taste like the real thing.
“At this point, because they are sort of the newer or first to the market, the cost so far is a tiny bit prohibitive for my fast-casual restaurants,” Flay explained.
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A number of restaurants, including Tim Hortons and Wahlburgers, have plans to introduce plant-based meat products for vegan and vegetarian customers.
Fox Business' Katherine Lam contributed to this report.