Trying the New “Beyond Meat” Sandwich at Dunkin

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Sarah, Class of 2021 and vegetarian of 5 years, enjoys the new sandwich

“Fake meat” is becoming mainstream following the fires in the Amazon and the encouragement of environmental activists like Greta Thunberg to eat less meat. 

Animal consumption, particularly beef, has been reported by the Yale School of Environmental Studies as one of the major causes of Amazon deforestation and a significant source of carbon emissions. Hence, animal lovers and environmentalists alike have been searching for alternatives.

Even in the fast-food realm, delicious alternatives to meat are becoming increasingly popular, appearing at giants like Burger King. Vegetarians around the world were excited, but remained cautious, suspicious that the new vegetarian sandwiches would not taste good. 

For so long, people who didn’t eat meat have suffered at the hands of soggy, green veggie burgers, and were not yet ready to trust a new alternative, but the Impossible Burger saw raging success, and vegetarians and carnivores alike were optimistic about the fake meat revolution.

The advent of a tasty, vegetarian burger improved the lives of vegetarians everywhere, and most everyone thought it didn’t get better from here. However, the new Dunkin’ Donuts “Beyond Sausage” sandwich filled a niche the world barely knew existed: A quick, filling, delicious vegetarian breakfast sandwich was finally here. 

When I heard about this sandwich, I knew that I had to try it. I took a small focus group of fellow Hall juniors to our nearest Dunkin to investigate. When we entered, we were immediately hit with a wave of advertising. The employees sported green ‘BYND DNKN’ t-shirts and posters displaying the new sandwich adorned the walls. 

At first, it seemed like they were overcompensating, but we quickly discovered that all the hype was warranted. For the focus group, the first bite was positively delightful. The vegetarians in the group were shocked and became concerned that they were actually eating real meat (not an exaggeration). 

The non-vegetarians assured them that it was indeed fake, “Not because of the taste,” they quickly added, but simply because the patty was thicker and slightly lighter in color than the “real” sausage sandwiches that they had eaten in the past. 

“It’s very accurate,” said one carnivore. “The texture is really on par with that of meat.” 

Another carnivore commented that the spices were accurate to sausage which added to the “real” taste. 

Vegetarians were impressed that “even though it’s technically made of grain, it doesn’t taste or feel grainy,” and, that the sandwich was “truly juicy and not watery or crumbly.” 

Overall, the focus group gave the sandwich a 10/10 recommendation. I will certainly be adding the Beyond sandwich to my regular Dunkin runs, and I fully expect the sandwich to see commercial success.