“The response from customers (to our Impossible Slider) has been overwhelming,” says Jamie Richardson, Vice President at White Castle. “And with our 10,000 team members, the response has been overwhelming. We know we have got a winner. In working with Impossible, they’ve really put the study into this and have done it in a thoughtful way and have come up with something that tastes great. You put that in that White Castle original bun with one perfect pickle and you’ve got a winner.”
Jamie Richardson, Vice President at White Castle, discusses the phenomenal success of the Impossible Slider, their vegan alternative to the original Slider, in an interview on CNBC:
The Response To Our Impossible Sliders Has Been Overwhelming
We are a family owned business that’s been around for almost a hundred years. We don’t make short term decisions. We look at things over the long haul, working together, and solving our customers’ problems. The response from customers has been overwhelming. And with our 10,000 team members, the response has been overwhelming. We know we have got a winner. We’re excited about what comes next in our friendship.
It’s really interesting. One of the big things we are seeing, especially with our younger customers, our GenZ customers, and our Millennial customers, a lot these individuals have gone with a plant-based diet. So if you are in a car with three or four people you can be that veto vote. What we found is we’re getting more and more of those visits and that’s important to us. Oh, and by the way, here among friends, we don’t use the term “fake meat” because to us it’s a plant-based protein and that’s what makes it awesome.
Our Customers Tell Us They Love the Taste
I don’t know what they (Tyson Foods and Perdue) are going to be able to accomplish (with alternative meats). But here’s what we do know. In working with Impossible, they’ve really put the study into this and have done it in a thoughtful way and have come up with something that tastes great. I think that the taste quotient is so important in terms of success in the marketplace. There are no tradeoffs. For our customers what they tell us is they love the taste. You put that in that White Castle original bun with one perfect pickle and you’ve got a winner.
Customers are absolutely aware of the Impossible Slider (by brand name). That’s been the partnership that’s been able to brand it that way. It’s something we’ve known since 1921, the home of the original slider, in offering the first Impossible Slider. Absolutely, we’ve benefitted from a lot of good news coverage and people becoming more aware. A lot of people want to sample and try it. We serve omnivores. We have people who come in an order a double cheeseburger with extra bacon and have an Impossible to go along with it as well. It’s got a lot of broad appeal because candidly, the taste is what separates it from the rest of the pack.