Burger King locations offering Impossible Whopper see higher foot traffic, report says

Burger King locations offering the Impossible Whopper experienced higher foot traffic in the month of April than the fast foot giant's national average.

In April, the fast-food giant announced it was rolling out its plant-based Impossible Whopper for those seeking a vegan or vegetarian alternative to its iconic burger. The patty -- made of soy protein, coconut oil and heme derived from plants -- was tested at 59 joints around the St. Louis area. The Restaurant Brands International subsidiary announced that by the end of 2019, the Impossible Whopper would be an option at all of its restaurants nationwide.

A report from inMarket inSights found during the month of the plant-based burger’s release, restaurants in St. Louis had a 16.75 percent higher foot traffic compared to March. The report stated, overall, Burger King restaurants offering the Impossible Whopper “outperformed the chain’s U.S. foot traffic average by 18.5 percent during the test period.”

“It’s likely that this massive boost in foot traffic is due in large part to the fast food chain’s new meatless option,” the report stated.

U.S. locations of Burger King not in the St. Louis area saw its foot traffic decrease by 1.75 percent while the Impossible Whopper was being tested, the report stated.

The firm gathered its location data from mobile apps for March and April.

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A number of chains have taken the plant-based meat approach. Tim Hortons announced it was testing Beyond Meat plant-based sausage on its breakfast sandwiches. Little Caesars announced last week it was going to test out Impossible Foods’ meatless sausage crumbles on its pizzas.

Fox Business’ Jennifer Earl contributed to this report.

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