Disney Expands Plant-Based Food Selections For Parkgoers

With an expansion of plant-based food selections at its U.S. parks, Florida’s Walt Disney World Resort will offer over 400 food items that don’t contain meat, eggs, honey or dairy beginning on Oct. 1 at the park’s quick-service restaurants. Table service locations will incorporate the new options two days later, CNBC reported.

Visitors who see the planet of Batuu at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will have already had an opportunity to taste some of the plant-based offerings. The Felucian Garden Spread, for instance, comes with a vegetarian kefta containing soybeans and potato proteins along with a tomato-cucumber relish and herb hummus. The Ithorian Garden Loaf – also at Galaxy’s Edge – also contains soybeans and potato proteins, but is sculpted into a form that looks like meatloaf. Served with it are seasonal veggies, roasted vegetable mash and mushroom sauce.

Disney currently offers plant-based foods like the dairy-free Dole Whip dessert and veggie burgers. The new menu items will encompass a maple-chipotle barbecue-braised jackfruit dip, a hot link smokehouse sandwich and eggless Florentine. Plant-based foods will be indicated on the menus with a leaf icon.

The report noted that an increasing number of consumers see themselves as “flexitarians” – people who are looking to cut their intake of meat for environmental or health reasons.

In separate plant-based food news, The Impossible Burger will soon be available for purchase in grocery stores. Shoppers will be able to buy the meat-free burger at 27 Gelson’s Markets locations in California, and Impossible Foods reportedly plans to bring the product to additional grocery stores later in the month.

In other Disney news, Target has revealed it will launch its new Disney shop locations in 25 select Target stores in October. Target CEO Brian Cornell and Bob Chapek, chairman of Disney parks, experiences and products, made the official announcement onstage at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California.