NYC Chain Golden Crust to Debut Vegan ‘Beyond Beef’ Jamaican Patties

By Mandy Froelich / Truth Theory

It’s a great time for plant-based foodies to be alive. Following the debut of the ‘Beyond Burger’ in 2014, several fast-food restaurants added the faux meat option to their menus. In recent weeks, the NYC-based restaurant chain and food brand Golden Krust launched a vegan version of its iconic Jamaican-style beef patties.

The plant-based patties are available at select locations in Boston, MA, Hartford, OH, New York City, NY, and Toronto, Canada. As Veg News reports, the meat-free Jamaican patties are made with Beyond Meat’s vegan Beyond Beef and are available in two flavors: spicy and mild. Although they do contain wheat, the food is dairy-free and, therefore, vegan.

The new options were made using the chain’s 30-year-old family recipe. Reportedly, the company has plans to expand the plant-based patties to its 125 restaurant locations and potentially to its 25,000 retail points of sale across North America.

 “Beyond Beef was the perfect choice for our new patties since it is designed to look, cook, and taste like ground beef, with all the benefits of plant-based protein,” said Golden Krust CEO, Chairman, and President Alfred R. Novas.

“We are excited to commence this test of Spicy and Mild plant-based patties at our company restaurants today, and to make the products available to our entire franchise system in the first part of 2020. We challenge you to tell the difference between our traditional beef patties and our new plant-based protein patties.”

The vegan meat substitute is made from mixtures of pea protein isolates, rice protein, mung bean protein, canola oil, coconut oil, and other ingredients like potato starch, apple extract, sunflower lecithin, and pomegranate powder with a range of vitamins and minerals. One “beef” patty contains 270 calories and 5 grams of saturated fat. The nutrition varies according to the restaurant chain.

Beyond Beef was founded in 2009 and debuted its first faux chicken product in 2013. In 2014, the simulated beef product that “bleeds” (achieved using beet juice) was introduced to the market and rapidly embraced by health-conscious folks and animal rights activists. Bill Gates, Biz Stone, the Humane Society, and GreatPoint Ventures have since invested in the venture, which aims to offer a variety of meat-free products to the public.

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