Panda Express brings back plant-based meat, a week after McDonald’s discontinued its alternative meat burger

On Wednesday, Panda Express announced it is reintroducing plant-based chicken — which it developed with El Segundo, Calif.-based Beyond Meat — in hundreds of U.S. stores. Beyond Orange Chicken will be available for a limited time, Panda Express said.

But last week, McDonald’s announced that it would no longer sell the McPlant, the plant-based burger it developed with Beyond Meat, in the U.S. During an appearance at the Wall Street Journal’s Global Food Forum, McDonald’s U.S. president Joe Erlinger said the McPlant’s test in San Francisco and Dallas stores in 2022 had been “successful in neither market.”

“I don’t think the U.S. consumer … is looking for McPlant or other plant-based proteins from McDonald’s,” Erlinger said.

The McPlant has been more successful in Europe, where consumers are much more open to ordering plant-based products at McDonald’s. The McPlant is now a regular menu item in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and other markets, and McDonald’s introduced plant-based McNuggets – also developed in conjunction with Beyond Meat – in Europe last year.

Erlinger said McDonald’s will keep an eye on plant-based trends, but currently prefers to focus on chicken in the U.S.

Still, Panda Express is optimistic about plant-based meat. The company first tested Beyond Orange Chicken in 2021 and launched it nationwide for a limited time in 2022.

“We have never received so many social media comments asking us to bring back an entree,” a Panda Express spokesperson said. The company said fans have even started a petition urging the company to bring back the dish.

“If our fans continue to love it and demand it, there is potential to expand availability,” the Rosemead, California-based company said.