Arby's Is Making A 'Meat Carrot' As A Middle Finger To The Plant-Based Meat Industry

The meat peddler's latest innovation is the Marrot, a "carrot" made entirely out of turkey. To get the desired shape and color, Arby's wrapped turkey breast segments in cheesecloth, cooked them sous vide for an hour, rolled them in carrot powder, then roasted them for another hour, adding sprigs of parsley to give them that full carrot look.

By doing this, Arby's claims they're "taking a hardline stance as the champion of meats," according to a press release, while showing that if plants can act as meat, meat can do just the same back to it.

Arby's claims it's healthy, too: A Marrot has 70% of the recommended daily dose of vitamin A and more than 30 grams of protein, the company says.

"Plant-based meats are the latest incarnation of making vegetables look like what Americans really want, which is great, tasty meat," Jim Taylor, Arby's chief marketing officer said on the company's blog.

Beyond Meat (BYND) and Impossible Foods have both developed plant-based meat that tastes and cooks similar to real meat.

Arby's said it's developing other "protein-packed vegetables."

"We want to continue to innovate in the space of meat craft that never existed before in ways that are surprising and delicious and exceed the expectations of what you can get through a drive-thru," Taylor said.

Arby's has publicly vowed in the past to not add fake meat to its menu. The Inspire Brands-owned company said it wasn't interested in selling Impossible Foods' products, noting the "chances we will bring plant-based menu items to our restaurants, now or in the future, are absolutely impossible."

It's bucking the trend, as interest in plant-based protein is on the rise. Meat eaters are looking to diversify their diets to be healthier and reduce their impact on the environment.

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