• 

  United Airlines

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  UA/UAL

  Airline Type:

  Full Service Carrier

  Hub(s):

  Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Denver International Airport, Guam International Airport, Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport

  Year Founded:

  1931

  Alliance:

  Star Alliance

  CEO:

  Scott Kirby

  Country:

  United States

Starting this week, United Airlines is giving its customers more plant-based menu options, both onboard and in selected Polaris lounges in the US. The new options come from Impossible Foods, a Califonia, US-based company that makes meat, fish and dairy products from plants.

To provide more plant-based vegetarian and vegan options to its catering offerings, United Airlines announced on June 15 a new collaboration with Impossible Foods. United customers can exclusively sample the Impossible Meatball Bowl inflight and the Impossible Sausage in United's Polaris lounges in Chicago, Los Angeles, Newark and San Francisco. The Impossible Meatball Bowl is available to first-class passengers on all domestic flights of more than 800 miles (1,290 km) in the continental US.

Impossible Meatball Bowls travel in First only

As well as plant-based meatballs, United's first-class passengers have access to priority boarding, free bags, a premium seat, DIRECTV, IFE and restaurant-quality dining. United First is available on its Boeing 757s, 737s and Airbus A319s and A320s.

United says it wants its food offerings to evolve and change along with people's preferences. It cites a Nielsen report that more than half of US consumers are increasing their plant-based food consumption, and sales of plant-based meat continue to climb. United MD of hospitality and planning Aaron McMillan said the plant-based meat options are "the first of many updates we look forward to sharing in the months ahead.

"To many travelers, the quality of food choices at the airport and in the sky are a really important part of the customer experience, so we're invested in making sure our menu items exceed their expectations."

The impossible Meatball Bowl contains three meatballs, made from a mix of Impossible Beef made from plants and Impossible Sausage, and broccolini served on a bed of couscous and topped with an herb-infused tomato sauce. During breakfast at Chicago O'Hare, Los Angeles, Newark and San Francisco Polaris lounges, United will offer ground Impossible Sausage as an optional omelet ingredient and Impossible Sausage breakfast patties in the buffet.

Will United's customers love the plant-based dishes?

Impossible Foods is the brainchild of Stanford University Professor Dr. Patrick O. Brown, who switched careers in 2009, embarking on a mission to address climate change by making food sustainable. The Impossible Burger debuted in 2016, with the company saying "it uses a small fraction of the land, water and energy required to make meat from a cow."

Impossible Foods' SVP of sales, Dan Greene, says Impossible and United share a vision of offering the highest quality customer experience: "It's exciting to see the airline bring new options to consumers that are better tasting and better for the planet. We think United flyers are going to love having access to Impossible dishes in the air and the lounge."

According to the leading plant-based magazine VegNews, the number one airline for vegan food is Emirates, followed by Singapore Airlines, American Airlines, SWISS International, Lufthansa, Delta and Qantas. The VegNews airline assessment does not mention plant-based meat, fish or dairy but ranks airlines on the availability, quality and variety of vegan dishes the airline offers. It does say that 23% of American Airlines' customers chose to pre-order a vegan meal in 2020.

To avoid disappointment, eligible United customers can pre-order the Impossible Meatball Bowl through United.com or the United mobile app. Given a choice, would you order United's plant-based meatball dish?

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