Benzinga | Apr 22, 2021 03:07AM EDT

Taco Bell Testing Own Faux Meat Ahead Of Introducing Beyond Meat Option

Yum! Brands Inc's (NYSE:YUM) subsidiary Taco Bell is testing out an in-house plant-based meat alternative for its menu in the United States in a single location until the end of this month before taking it elsewhere, CNBC reported on Wednesday.

What Happened: The Mexican-food-inspired chain that offers tacos, burritos, nachos and other options on its menu is trying out its own plant-based meat as an alternative for its health-conscious customers, the report said.

The company's in-house experiment is named the "Cravetarian Taco." It is a vegetarian variant with a meat substitute that is made from a blend of peas and chickpeas, the CNBC report said.

The chain plans to test the taco until April 29 at just one location in Tustin, California.

Taco Bell earlier this year also announced a partnership with Beyond Meat Inc (NASDAQ:BYND) to test introducing a plant-based meat alternative on its menu sometime this year.

See Also: Why Beyond Meat Doesn't Have To Worry About Competition -- Analyst Spells Out Bull Case

Why It Matters: Restaurants and fast-food chains across the world are rushing to cater to the plant-based protein trend -- considered a healthier option by some to a meat-based diet.

Major Beyond Meat rival Impossible Foods is said to be exploring options to go public either via traditional IPO or SPAC.

Fast-food chains McDonald's Corp (NYSE:MCD) and KFC, beverage and snack company PepsiCo Inc (NASDAQ:PEP), coffee chain company Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ:SBUX) are some of the major companies testing out plant-based meat options on their menus.

See Also: 12 SPACs That Could Bring Impossible Foods Public

Price Action: Shares of Yum! closed 0.43% lower at $117.45 on Wednesday and Beyond Meat shares closed 1.88% higher at $133.95.

Photo by Like_the_Grand_Canyon on Flickr