McDonald’s debuting plant-based McNuggets in Germany

McDonald’s McNuggets are going fowlfree.

The Chicago-based fast food giant is introducing plant-based McNuggets next week. Germany will be the first market to get them.

McPlant Nuggets — made from peas, corn and wheat with a tempura batter — are the second product McDonald’s has co-developed with Beyond Meat, a maker of plant-based meats. McDonald’s has been selling a McPlant burger since 2021.

McDonald’s said the nationwide nugget rollout to more than 1,400 restaurants in Germany follows a limited-time test at nine restaurants in the Stuttgart area in August. McDonald’s will also start selling the McPlant burger in Germany next week.

Availability of the McPlant nuggets and burger in future markets will depend on customer demand, McDonald’s said.

European customers have generally been more receptive to McDonald’s plantbased meat products than those in the U.S., where McDonald’s ended a test of the McPlant burger last summer without announcing any future plans for its sale.

Starbucks’ Schultz won’t be at panel

Starbucks’ interim CEO Howard Schutz has declined a request to appear before the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee seeking to question him about the coffee chain’s response to a unionization campaign at the company’s U.S. stores.

“Apparently, it is easier for Mr. Schultz to fire workers who are exercising their constitutional right to form unions and to intimidate others who may be interested in joining a union than to answer questions from elected officials,” committee Chairman Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont Independent, said Wednesday in a statement.

Retail sales jump, defying inflation

WASHINGTON — America’s consumers rebounded last month from a weak holiday shopping season by boosting their spending at stores and restaurants at the fastest pace in nearly two years, underscoring the economy’s resilience. The government said Wednesday that retail sales jumped 3% in January, after having sunk the previous two months. It was the largest one-month increase since March 2021.