Impossible Whopper boosted Burger King’s foot traffic by double digits: report
Burger King’s plan to roll out a meatless Whopper nationwide could help boost sales by double digits, new data shows.
After just 29 days of testing the plant-based Impossible Whopper in 59 eateries in the St. Louis area, the fast food giant saw foot traffic pop by 18.5%, according to inMarket Insights.
That’s compared with a 1.75% decline in traffic at the company’s other restaurants elsewhere in the US, said inMarket Insights, which analyzed location data of over 50 million Comscore-verified users.
The inMarket Insights data helps explain Burger King’s decision in April to add a veggie burger from Impossible Foods — which bleeds like a real beef burger — to its menu after just one month of testing it in the Gateway to the West.
Burger King, a unit of Restaurant Brands International, now aims to offer the vegan burgers — scientifically created to taste like real meat — on all its menus by the end of 2019.
“Given the success in St. Louis, we expect to see a positive impact on visitation as the Impossible Whopper rolls out nationally in the future,” said inMarket Insights in a statement.
Burger King promoted the Impossible Whopper in St. Louis on social media and other outlets, but its marketing was “in line” with other promotions, a spokesperson for Burger King told The Post.
Shares of Restaurant Brands International Inc. rose Tuesday 0.2% to $68.58 a share.
