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Impossible Foods has now infiltrated Whoppers in the Bay Area, bringing its plant-based patties to 111 locations of Burger King in San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, and beyond.
This is the company’s biggest push to a large-scale audience so far, ahead of its release into grocery stores. The bulk of the plant-based product, which is designed to closely resemble meat, is produced in its Oakland factory; it’s lately been in short supply as the company scales up operations with Burger King and other operators. The meatless meat can be found in over 9,000 restaurants around the country, according tot he company.
Since it launched, Bay Area restaurants like Cockscomb, Gott’s Roadside, and the Melt have been serving versions of the burger, known for its very realistic ability to “bleed,” just like a real beef burger.
For those interested in sampling a Burger King version of this, the Impossible Whopper is touted as “All WHOPPER®. No beef.” There’s a flame-grilled patty topped with tomatoes, onions, lettuce, mayo, ketchup, and pickles — just like the original, sans beef .
So far the Bay Area and a select few test markets throughout the country (including Montgomery, Alabama and Columbus, Georgia) have been the only places to find a Burger King Impossible Whopper. Last week, however, Eater NY uncovered a Whopper scandal in which a Brooklyn Burger King had reportedly been delivering beef burgers in Impossible Burger wrappers (the Impossible Burger had not yet been released to that market; a Burger King spokesperson said it was the result of a “technology error” from a franchisee.)
The goal is to take the Impossible Whopper nationwide in all 7,200 U.S. Burger King locations by the end of 2019, assuming that production can ramp up alongside demand.
