KFC is one of the most recognisable fast-food restaurants in Australia but it’s lagging behind its competitors by not offering any plant-based meal items on their menu.
In our Protein Switch report, we evaluated nine major fast-food restaurants in Australia and the plant-based meal options they provide.
Seven of these chains offer a main plant protein option, and we’d like to applaud them for this commitment.
However, one of Australia’s most popular brands fell behind. KFC has over 700 stores across Australia and no plant protein option on their menu. By not offering an ethical option, KFC is denying its customers the choice to opt for a less cruel, healthier and more environmentally friendly alternative.
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KFC is failing its clients and falling behind its competitors
While seven of the nine fast-food outlets evaluated in our Protein Switch report have introduced plant-based options, one of Australia’s most popular brands fell behind. KFC has over 700 stores across Australia and no plant protein option on their menu. By not offering an ethical option, KFC is denying its customers the choice to opt for a less cruel, healthier and more environmentally friendly alternative.
Australians deserve better access to ethical eating and that starts with big brands like KFC. By providing its customers with a kinder plant-based option, KFC would actively contribute to helping the country diversify its protein supply – lowering our reliance on factory farms and preventing cruelty.
With no permanent plant-based main meal menu items, KFC is failing its customers. And ultimately, it risks falling behind its competitors. Call on KFC to add plant-based meal options to their menu today.
How does KFC rank against competitors?
KFC can reduce embedded carbon emissions
Increasing plant based offerings will extensively reduce embedded carbon emissions from fast food outlets
A recent study by UTS for World Animal Protection shows that by shifting just 50% of their beef sales to plant based offerings, fast food restaurants would reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions equivalent to taking 300,000 cars off the road, save water equivalent to 10,400 Olympic swimming pools and land equal to the size of 70,000 Melbourne Cricket Grounds.
And replacing a chicken patty with plant based chicken will reduce emissions in your personal meal by 60%.
To operate in a sustainable manner, fast food restaurants must urgently consider the environmental impact of meat and dairy menu items and make more plant based meal options available.
Including more plant based offerings will not only reduce their climate and environmental footprints significantly but will also help reduce the needless suffering of farmed animals.
The fast food sector plays a critical role in the transition to a low emission, sustainable and cruelty-free food system, and consumers’ food choices have a significant impact on achieving this transition for the planet we call home. Giving consumers more plant based options to choose from will help them make more environment-friendly choices and reduce GHG emissions.
Smoking power plant and crops. Credit: Jplenio / Pixabay
KFC must make responsible eating more accessible
75% of Australians regularly eat fast-food. A recent survey by World Animal Protection found that more than 60% of those surveyed felt it was important for fast-food outlets to offer plant-based menu items. We also know from recent government studies that a growing number of people, particularly younger generations, are concerned about the consumption of meat products. So why is KFC Australia failing to give people plant-based options on their menu?
Many of the meat products in fast-food supply chains come from intensive factory farming systems. Factory farms threaten the health of animals, people and the environment. They are notorious for raising animals in incredibly low welfare conditions. Chickens are tightly packed with up to 60 thousand birds being housed in a single shed. As the chickens grow larger, they face restrictions on their ability to express natural behaviours such as roaming around and flapping their wings.
Plant-based chicken burger. Credit: Sockagphoto/Shutterstock
By adding plant-based meals to its menu, KFC could broaden its options and make it easier for plant-based eaters and flexitarians to dine at its restaurants. It would also make responsible eating more accessible – and expose more people to delicious yet kinder meal options.
Read 'The Protein Switch' Report
Our current food system is unsustainable, cruel and dangerous. A transition from animal protein to plant protein must occur rapidly.
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Chicken facts
Did you know chickens have been living with humans for more than 5,000 years and their closest living relatives to the Tyrannosaurus Rex?