Neat Burger Collapse Shows the Real Future Isn’t in Restaurants

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Lewis Hamilton’s once-celebrated vegan burger chain investment, Neat Burger, is closing multiple UK outlets after racking up major losses and he’s not the only famous name feeling the heat. With Leonardo DiCaprio also backing Neat and Beyond Meat, the message is clear: celebrity investment might launch plant-based brands, but it won’t keep physical restaurants alive. In today’s market, bricks-and-mortar plant-based burger joints are faltering fast — and the smarter money is moving to FMCG and ingredients.

Source: PFN Archives - The Neat Burger and F1 Champion Lewis Hamilton

Neat Burger launched in 2019 with celebrity firepower, sustainability swagger, and the lofty claim of being the “first international, plant-based burger chain.” Now, most of its UK branches are shutting shop for good. The reason? Substantial, sustained losses.

But this isn’t just a one-off stumble. It’s a flashing neon sign for the sector - plant-based QSR (Quick Service Restaurants) may be more hype than hedgeable business model, especially in a cost-of-living crisis.

Hamilton’s Neat Burger isn’t the only casualty. Other plant-forward joints have quietly scaled back, switched models, or pivoted into retail. Why? Because making a meatless burger is one thing but selling it at scale from a leased urban property with rising energy, wage, and ingredient costs is another.

Let’s be blunt: consumers may love the idea of plant-based food, but few are willing to pay a £16 price tag for a vegan Big Mac in a paper box. Not when supermarkets are offering plant-based burgers for a fraction of the price.

Meanwhile, FMCG brands are holding their ground or at least moving faster than the restaurant space. Companies like Impossible, Beyond Meat, Redefine Meat, and even very minor Kiwi players like Wise Boys Burgers (see our story on their move into supermarkets) are getting product into homes, gyms, and meal plans. They’re not relying on foot traffic. They’re working with logistics, not lease agreements.

So what’s the real future of plant-based dining? It appears to be not on the ‘high street’. It’s probably in a freezer aisle, a gym duffel, or a delivery box. The new battleground is shelf-stability, ingredient innovation, and taste that travels.

What Neat Burger did achieve was mainstream visibility. It helped normalise the idea of plant-based fast food and gave investors something shiny to get excited about. But as the shine wears off, we’re left with a harsh truth - in the plant-based space, vibes don’t pay rent. Volume does.

As the sizzle fades on celebrity burger joints, the smart money is looking elsewhere: ingredients, not outlets. Products, not premises. In the end, being “neat” won’t cut it, being scalable will.

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