Cracker Barrel (NASDAQ: CBRL) customers have taken to social media to express their rage about a change to the restaurant's menu, but it's not what you might expect. Rather than being angered by some change to a popular item, customers say they've gone from loving the restaurant to hating it simply because it now offers vegan options.
The American restaurant chain first introduced the Impossible Sausage, a meatless sausage made in partnership with Impossible Foods, on a trial basis at 50 locations, and the item will now be added to Cracker Barrel's all-day breakfast menu, according to an announcement on Facebook (NASDAQ: META).
"Our new breakfast menu innovations provide a personalized experience with delicious breakfast choices to satisfy every taste bud - whether guests are nostalgic for homestyle food, hungry for a nutritious plant-based option or have a craving for a sweet treat," said Sara Breymaier, director of Menu Strategy at Cracker Barrel. "At morning, noon or night, we want guests to enjoy craveable breakfast favorites at a compelling value."
The announcement from the chain took a few days to reach everyday customers, but Cracker Barrel's Facebook page was almost immediately flooded with negative comments following the announcement. According to The Street, the commenters seemed to fall into one of three groups: first and most visibly, there were customers who were angry that the chain is now offering the vegan option.
"You just lost your customer base, congratulations on being woke and going broke," one user wrote on Facebook.
"Are you kidding me? Who do you think your customer base is? I still order the double meat breakfast and it's not even on the menu anymore," wrote another user.
Next, there were some commenters who were angry that other customers were upset about the vegan option. Within that group, there were a number of commenters questioning why this new vegan option is making customers angry when the chain's history of racial discrimination has led to very little pushback.
"Imagine canceling cracker barrel because they have plant based sausage and NOT because they're racist." one user wrote, referencing a collection of angry comments on Facebook.
Positive comments were few and far between on the company's page, but users on Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) flocked to a post mocking the outrage of Cracker Barrel customers.
"Everyone's having a normal one on the Cracker Barrel Facebook page," the post read.
"Also just funny how these are the same people who yell about businesses being able to make their own decisions, yet here they are getting mad that they are doing just that," the poster said in a later response.
It was far from groundbreaking for Cracker Barrel to decide to start offering vegan options to customers. Both Burger King (NYSE: QSR) and McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) added meatless options to their menus early this year to a positive response.
Along with the Impossible Sausage, Cracker Barrel will also be adding Stuffed Cheesecake Pancakes and Spicy Chicken Sausage to the all-day breakfast menu. Unsurprisingly, those items have received much less negative feedback.