Oscar Mayer Enters the Plant-Based Meat Game with ‘NotHotDogs’
Your summer grill just got more options.
Noah Fecks
The legacy meat brand and Kraft Heinz Not Company are bringing plant-based dogs and sausages to your grill.
Scene: You’ve invited friends over for a casual evening of hot dogs and sausages on the grill. (Yes, grill season is nearly upon us!) You figure it should be super easy — and you’re all stocked up on buns — and then you remember you don’t have any plant-based options.
What do you do?
The Kraft Heinz Not Company and Oscar Mayer are hoping to provide you with a new answer to that question with the launch of two new grill-ready products: bun-length Oscar Mayer NotHotDogs and NotSausages, in both Bratwurst and Italian sausage flavors.
Photo courtesy of OScar Mayer
The two grill-oriented offerings are Oscar Mayer’s first plant-based product and the first plant-based meat product from the Kraft Heinz/NotCo joint venture, which has previously brought us Kraft NotMac&Cheese, Kraft NotCheese Slices and NotMayo.
“Each bite offers the smoky, savory taste and thick, juicy bite fans are craving in plant-based alternatives,” the companies promise. Both the NotHotDogs and NotSausages aim to achieve the same taste and texture as Oscar Mayer’s meat products, only without the meat, and both “grill beautifully, boasting a classic meaty color and great grill marks.”
“At The Kraft Heinz Not Company, our goal is to create mouthwatering, plant-based foods that are delicious and accessible for everyone – from the devoted vegan to the plant-based curious,” Lucho Lopez-May, CEO of the Kraft Heinz Not Company, says in a news release. “We know people are hungry for plant-based meat options from brands they know and trust. In launching the joint venture’s first product in the plant-based meat category, we saw an opportunity to satisfy these consumer cravings, leveraging NotCo’s revolutionary AI technology and the power, equity and legacy of the Oscar Mayer brand.”
The products will make their debut at Expo West, in Anaheim, California, taking place March 12 to 16, and then roll out to retail stores across the country later in 2024.
We’re guessing plant-based eaters will not be NotExcited about these new options.
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