It’s a known fact that meatless burgers are trending right now. When the Beyond Burger hit Whole Foods shelves, people were going crazy, buying every package off the shelves. Now, vegans will be overjoyed to know that Whole Foods has decided to expand a small vegan burger bar chain to several locations, Forbes reports.
Vegan burger bar Next Level Burger first opened in Bend, Oregon back in 2014, and has expanded to four stores, in which two are Whole Foods locations. The small chain serves the Beyond Burger, which actually looks and tastes like a beef burger, and even “bleeds” beet juice. Next Level Burger also serves a series of housemade veggie patties among other plant-based dishes including sandwiches, hot dogs and salads.
This partnership is huge for Next Level Burger and its co-owners, Matt de Gruyter and his wife, Cierra, as Whole Foods plans to expand the bar to Whole Foods locations in Northern California and possibly along the East Coast.
The expansion of this burger bar also marks a point in our history where people want to make a conscious effort to be healthy.
“Ten years ago, a third of the country said they wanted to reduce their consumption of red meat,” de Gruyter said in an interview. “Now it’s two-thirds of the country, and dairy, too.”
An investor in Next Level Burger is one of Twitter‘s founders, Alex Payne, who moved back to Oregon after leaving Twitter. He tried the food at the bar’s first location, fell in love, and became an investor.
“We are thrilled to be early partners with Next Level Burger as consumer demand increases for plant-forward alternatives,” Erika Dimmler, Whole Foods Market Regional PR Director, said.
Dimmler’s email response to a query also noted that Whole Foods “looks forward to continuing to support Matt as he guides his business to its next stage of growth.”
De Gruyter sees a great future for his chain, as he envisions 1,000 units. He may have some tough competition, though. Impossible Foods is a fierce competitor, being one of the biggest leaders in the meatless movement.
Meatless burgers are definitely the future, and with today’s amazing technology, people have been able to come up with healthier replicas of our favourite fast-food eats. It has been proven that these patties contain more iron than meat, and now you can get your meatless burger served at Whole Foods some time soon.
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