“Burger King wants to start selling veggie burgers worldwide. The fast-food chain introduced a special line of six meatless burgers last year in India, including a Veggie Whopper, a Spicy Bean Royale, and a vegetarian chili cheese melt. The sandwiches have been so successful that the chain is now considering launching them in other vegetarian-friendly markets, according to Burger King India CEO Raj Varman. “Looking at the response here, the global management is evaluating introducing some of these options going forward to other vegetarian-friendly markets like the UK,” Varman told the India news agency PTI, according to the Economic Times.

“Despite the failures of McDonald’s, adding a meatless menu in markets such as the U.K. and the U.S. could be a smart move for Burger King. Vegetarianism is on the rise, and a growing number of people are defining themselves as “flexitarians,” which means they eat a primarily plant-based diet supplemented by occasional meat consumption.Sales of meat alternatives in the U.S. rose to $553 million in 2012, up from $513 million two years earlier, according to the market-research firm Mintel. Meanwhile, Americans’ per capita consumption of meat and poultry has declined by more than 9 percent since 2007, to an estimated 200.8 pounds in 2014 from 221.6 pounds in 2007, according to the USDA.”

Text: Hayley Peterson, Burger King Wants to Make the Veggie Burger a Global Hit, Slate.com

Pic: Andy Warhol, Hamburger, 1985-6.