COLUMBUS, OH — The country's first fast-food hamburger chain, will soon become one of the first fast-food hamburger chains in the U.S. to offer a dairy-free alternative to cheddar cheese. White Castle announced Tuesday that it will launch the non-dairy product on Mar. 1 in its New Jersey and New York City restaurants.
Customers will be able to order dairy-free cheddar to top any slider, including the Impossible Slider, the plant-based slider that White Castle introduced in April 2018 as a test item and then launched as a permanent menu item five months later. The protein-packed slider made from plants looks, tastes and even sizzles like real beef.
"Our Impossible Slider was an instant Craver favorite, but it's about to get a new dimension with the introduction of dairy-free cheddar," said Jamie Richardson, vice president of White Castle. "We are excited to bring this new non-dairy, vegan item to Cravers in the New York and New Jersey areas with the hope of taking it to other markets in the future."
White Castle has been growing its plant-based menu offering for years. The Slider pioneer introduced its Veggie Slider, a vegan patty made by Dr. Praeger's, in 2015. The Veggie Slider is available in restaurants and in retail outlets. White Castle's Black Bean Slider is also available in retail outlets only. White Castle updated its bun recipe to conform to vegan dietary restrictions.
With such a history in menu innovation of this type, it is no surprise that White Castle was the first fast-food hamburger chain to partner with Impossible™ Foods to offer the Impossible™ Slider, which was quickly hailed as "one of the country's best fast-food burgers, period." Now it's the first fast-food hamburger chain to partner with GoodPlanet Foods, the company that makes the non-dairy cheddar.
"We're committed to innovation, and we're always looking for ways to do things better and make things better for our loyal customers," Richardson said. "It's exciting to be the fast-food restaurant that's leading the trend in providing plant-based options for consumers."