McDonald's France reveals vegan nugget first

France is McDonald's largest market outside of the US and is for the first time offering Beyond Meat vegan nuggets at the same price as its normal chicken nuggets, the business announced today. 

Over 1,500 outlets in France will offer four, six, nine or 10-piece vegan nugget servings as is the case with its conventional nuggets. 

While the chain has flirted with veggie launches in the past, the vegan nuggets will be a permanent addition to McDonald's France's menu, as the territory seeks to build on changing diets in the country. 

Veggie McPlant Nuggets launch

"We chose to innovate with a first offering based on plant proteins, directly inspired by one of our iconic products," says McDonald's France CMO Jean-Guillaume Bertola. 

"With the Veggie McPlant Nuggets, we are responding to the increasing desire of French consumers to diversify their protein intake while never compromising on taste." 

The launch of the Veggie McPlant Nuggets follows a collaboration with US alternative meat maker Beyond Meat and are made from a pea protein base with a wheat and corn flour blended coating seasoned with salt, pepper and celery. 

McDonald's France carried out consumer testing prior to the line's roll out, which yielded positive results, says Bertola. 

French eating less meat

"The response was unanimous, there was a real craze from our consumers who found a strong resemblance to the iconic nugget," Bertola says. "We are confident about the success of the product." 

Meat-free nuggets had performed well in other territories, including Germany since launching there in 2023.

McDonald's has the largest share of France's fast-food market, while recent studies showed almost half of French consumers had reduced meat consumption. 

State data has also shown the French are eating 6% less meat per capita now than 20 years ago, with 57% of citizens claiming they would back any government policies to cut real meat intake for health and planet reasons.