The fast food chain backed by Leonardo DiCaprio and Formula One champion driver Sir Lewis Hamilton, that was solely devoted to serving vegan burgers, is no more.
Neat Burger been forced to close all its outlets in the UK after six troubled years in business since it was thrust into the public domain by the pair back in 2019, the Sun reports.
The outlet notes the chain has confirmed its British stores are now shutting down with the potential loss of around 150 jobs after Sir Lewis, 40, who turned vegan in 2017, argued meat is not only cruel to animals but also contributes to global warming.
The Sun report details what happened next as consumers quickly came to reject its hyper-processed, plant-based offerings:
He set up a string of Neat Burger eateries in London as well as a branch in Milan and New York. The latter closed last summer.
But despite its food receiving praise after its launch, in 2023 the company posted substantial losses and confirmed half of its eight outlets in the capital would close.
At the time, a company spokesman said: “We are concentrating our efforts on our best performing restaurants — we believe that sometimes taking a step back is necessary to make a bigger leap forward.”
A spokesperson for the business since added: “We have no further comment at this time, other than to confirm that the business has taken the difficult decision to close its UK restaurants. ”
File/A Cheers Burger sits on display during the launch of the meat-free Neat Burger fast-food joint in London, U.K., on Monday, Sept. 2, 2019. (Jason Alden/Bloomberg via Getty)
Despite raising over $25 million and being valued at $100 million in 2023, Neat Burger’s rapid international expansion was short-lived and ultimately failed for one reason.
Nobody was buying what they were selling.
