7-Eleven Now Offers Vegan Chicken Tenders at 600 Locations

Your favorite convenience store, 7-Eleven, has always stood out from its competitors, with Slurpees, and all sorts of special ready-made food options that you could only find under the orange, red and green number sign. Now, 7-Eleven is making sure that it caters to all its loyal customers, announcing that it will begin selling vegan chicken tenders at more than 600 stores across Canada. The company teamed up with vegan brand Lightlife to bring hot-and-ready plant-based chicken directly to convenience store customers.

The Lightlife chicken tenders will be available at the 7-Eleven Canada locations 24-hours a day as a permanent menu item. The new product will fall under the convenience store’s new Healthy To Go campaign, aiming to provide cheaper and healthier foods to people all over Canada. The plant-based initiative intends to make plant-based food more accessible nationwide.

“We wouldn’t have been able to introduce plant-based products without our partnership with Lightlife,” Vice President and General Manager of 7-Eleven Canada Norman Hower said in a statement. “Canadians’ tastes are changing and we’re here in the neighborhood to provide what they want. We’re proud to partner with the Lightlife team on this first-to-market product that tastes great and checks all the boxes of plant-based eating.”

The vegan chicken tenders will join 7-Eleven’s growing plant-based selections. The convenience chain is working closely with Lightlife’s parent company Greenleaf Foods to introduce more affordable plant-based foods to the stores nationwide. The company also announced that alongside the vegan chicken, customers will be able to purchase take-and-bake pizzas topped with Field Roast’s new vegan pepperoni – a subsidiary brand of Greenleaf.

Lightlife’s vegan chicken debuted late last year, revealing the new proprietary recipe that blends chickpea and pea proteins. Whole Foods Market helped the company launch its new plant-based chicken product. The Plant-Based Chick’n Tenders aim to mirror the taste, texture, and fry-ability of typically plant-based chicken. Currently, 7-Eleven Canda is offering the new plant-based chicken for CAD$6.50 for three tenders.

“We’re thrilled to expand the availability of our Lightlife Chicken by partnering with 7-Eleven Canada, to carry our plant-based protein products on their menu,” President of Greenleaf Foods Dan Curtin,  said in a statement. “We continue to see strong momentum with our products in the foodservice sector throughout North America as more consumers try plant-based foods. This latest partnership with 7-Eleven Canada invites plant-based fans and plant-based curious consumers to taste our latest delicious innovation.”

While in-person customers can get find the tenders anywhere across Canada, the at-home admirers can order the plant-based chicken directly to their doorsteps through Uber Eats, DoorDash, or the company’s 7Now app.

Within the US, Lightlife is attempting to position itself at the forefront of the plant-based chicken industry. Extending its partnership with Whole Foods Market, the company developed a plant-based grilled chicken at more than 500 locations across North America. The new vegan grilled chicken is available at the hot bar, cold salad bars, and grab-and-go meals, providing an affordable plant-based alternative to all grocery shoppers.

“Chicken is the most popular animal protein in the U.S. because it can be used in a wide variety of different dishes,” Executive Chef of Greenleaf Foods Tommy McDonald said last October. “This product performs well in hot or cold food applications, and one of my favorite dishes is the new Whole Foods Market Classic Vegan-Chicken Salad.”

7-Eleven and Lightlife intend to capitalize on a growing plant-based chicken market. The global vegan chicken industry is expected to reach nearly $19 billion by 2028, according to Grand View Research. Beyond plant-based brands, 7-Eleven will join the growing number of massive corporations steering towards plant-based development. Most recently, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) announced that it will make Beyond Chicken Tenders a permanent menu item across all its stores in the United States.

Fast-food restaurants have finally got the memo that their customer base isn’t just coming through for a burger, fried chicken, or a beef taco. Many now have plant-based foods and are coming up with creative, delicious ways to get more greens on the menu. Here are the 6 best fast-food chains with plant-based options on the menu.

Turns out there’s a lot more to rely on than a salad if you’re eating plant-based. Burger King has the Impossible Whopper featuring a meatless patty as well as a few secretly vegan options such as the French Toast Sticks and Hashbrowns.

Known for its mini square-shaped sliders, this hamburger chain jumped on the plant-based bandwagon at some participating locations. You can find an Impossible Slider on some White Castle menus.

This was the first national Mexican fast-food chain to offer Beyond Meat at the company’s 580 restaurants across the country. Del Taco has the Beyond Avocado Taco on the menu along with the Epic Beyond Original Mex Burrito and Avocado Veggie Bowl.

Another brand synonymous with beef burgers, Carl’s Jr. offers several plant-based options for veggie and plant lover such as Beyond Famous Star Burger and Guacamole Thickburger.

This fast-food restaurant may have been one of the first you frequented while transitioning to plant-based eating. That’s because Taco Bell has eight million vegetarian combinations and sells 350 million vegetarian items a year through menu substitutions or ordering off their vegetarian menu. In fact, they were the first quick-service restaurant to offer American Vegetarian Association (AVA) certified food options.

From the time it started offering breakfast sandwiches in 2006, the coffee conglomerate became a competitor in the fast-food space. You can get your favorite hot and cold beverages made with almond, coconut or oat milk but there are also plant-based food options available such as the Baja Black Bean Veggie Wrap, bagel with vegan cream cheese and Impossible Breakfast Sandwich.