Burger King Expands To India With Beef-Less Burgers

Burger King, the second-largest fast food chain in the world, is finally coming to India. This might sound odd, considering the fact that Burger King is world-famous for its all-beef burger, but the burger chain has announced that the dozen-plus Burger King franchises in Bangalore, Pune, and Chennai will actually be selling chicken, vegetable, and mutton whoppers instead of beef, in deference to the religious practices of the Hindu and Muslim majority population, whose diets eschew beef.

But many of the country's younger and less spiritual burger fans are none too happy with the change. One Facebook commenter wrote: "Wtf [sic] is a chicken, mutton and veggie whopper......? Unbelievable that they don't have beef," and another said "We want beef!!" with a sad face emoticon. It's true: in recent years, beef-burger joints have been popping up in India to satisfy the meaty appetites of younger populations, especially in Delhi.

Burger King comes to India months after FatBurger, and almost two decades after BK's rival McDonald's. According to the Wall Street Journal, India's fast food market is rapidly growing and is expected to grow to $78 billion by 2018 — beef burgers or not.

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Joanna Fantozzi is an Associate Editor with The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @JoannaFantozzi