7-Eleven Adds Vegan Chicken Tenders To All 600 Locations In Canada

7-Eleven, a convenience shop business with over 600 outlets throughout Canada, is now providing vegan chicken tenders. Lightlife, a vegan business, makes the tenders, which are available fresh from the oven 24 hours a day. The new vegan chicken is part of 7-Eleven’s Healthy To Go menu, which aims to provide additional alternatives for plant-based eaters in Canada.

“We wouldn’t have been able to introduce plant-based products without our partnership with Lightlife… Canadians’ tastes are changing and we’re here in the neighbourhood to provide what they want. We’re proud to partner with the Lightlife team on this first-to-market product that tastes great and checks all the boxes of plant-based eating,” said Norman Hower, Vice President and General Manager of 7-Eleven Canada.

In addition to Lightlife’s vegan chicken (which costs CAD$6.50 for three tenders), 7-Eleven is introducing new take-and-bake pizzas topped with vegan pepperoni from Field Roast, which is owned by the same parent company as Lightlife. These new products are available at 7-Eleven locations across Canada and may also be purchased through the convenience store’s 7NOW app and other delivery services like SkipTheDishes, Uber Eats, and DoorDash.

Vegan Chicken From Lightlife At 7-Eleven

Lightlife debuted their genuine Plant-Based Chick’n Tenders—made from chickpea and pea protein—at the hot bar of 500 Whole Foods Markets throughout Canada in October 2021, where they were featured in a range of chef-prepared meals.

“We’re thrilled to expand availability of our Lightlife Chick’n by partnering with 7-Eleven Canada, to carry our plant-based protein products on their menu… We continue to see strong momentum with our products in the foodservice sector throughout North America as more consumers try plant-based foods. This latest partnership with 7-Eleven Canada invites plant-based fans and plant-based curious consumers to taste our latest delicious innovation,” stated Dan Curtin, President of Greenleaf Foods.

Following numerous big launches, including an extended relationship with KFC Canada, the brand has partnered with 7-Eleven. After a successful one-day test, KFC released a vegan chicken sandwich developed in collaboration with Lightlife to its outlets across Canada in August 2020. KFC Canada just added vegan popcorn chicken manufactured by Lightlife to its menu, in addition to the vegan chicken sandwich.

Lightlife’s vegan chicken may also be found at 400 Pizza Pizza stores throughout Canada as part of a vegan sandwich or as nuggets. Lightlife’s tenders were also introduced earlier this month as the first vegan chicken option at Mary Brown’s, a typical chicken restaurant.

The Spotlight Is On Vegan Chicken

While Lightlife’s vegan chicken is gaining traction in Canada, Beyond Meat’s plant-based chicken is gaining traction in the US restaurant industry. Beyond the Original Orange Chicken, a vegan version of the brand’s Original Orange Chicken, was created in collaboration with Panda Express (BTOOC). In July 2021, Panda Express began testing the vegan orange chicken at a few locations, and after selling 1,300 pounds of BTOOC in one day, the business expanded the trial to 70 more sites in ten states in October.

KFC has recently offered vegan chicken alternatives in various countries outside of Canada, including the United Kingdom, Thailand, and China. In the United States, KFC has been working with Beyond Meat for two years to create vegan fried chicken, and the much-anticipated Beyond Fried Chicken is now available at all 4,000 KFC locations. The new vegan chicken is available as a six-piece or 12-piece a la carte item, or as part of KFC’s first plant-based combination meal, which includes fries and a medium drink.

Burger King is likewise moving in the direction of vegan chicken in several countries. Last year, the restaurant turned to its long-time partner Impossible Foods to bring plant-based chicken to a few test sites in the United States. Burger King just became the first fast-food company in the United Kingdom to sell plant-based chicken nuggets, which it created in collaboration with its long-time partner The Vegetarian Butcher.

Source: “7-ELEVEN ADDS VEGAN CHICKEN TENDERS TO HOT MENU AT ALL 600 STORES IN CANADA” by VegNews