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One Planet Pizza launches Tex Mex pizza at Morrisons

One Planet Pizza Launches Vegan Tex Mex Pizza at Morrisons Stores UK-Wide

October 8, 2024

Plant-based brand One Planet Pizza has announced that its Tex Mex pizza, said to be a frozen category first, is launching at Morrisons stores across the UK. The pizza consists of a wood-fired sourdough base topped with tomato sauce, Willicroft’s plant-based cheese made from white beans, marinated vegetables, and jalapeños. According to One Planet Pizza, it contains around 35% less fat than conventional pizzas topped with dairy cheese. This is One Planet Pizza’s second major UK supermarket launch; the brand previously gained a permanent listing at 400 Asda stores following a successful trial as part of the retailer’s incubator program. Performance has reportedly been strong, with +41% year-on-year growth. One Planet Pizza is also available from Booths, Mighty Plants, and The Vegan Kind, along with …

Organisations and brands:

Morrisons

One Planet Pizza

Company News

Daiya’s Improved Pizzas with New Fermented Oat Cheese Are Huge Hit with Consumers

October 4, 2024

Coinciding with National Pizza Month, Daiya, a leading North American product of plant-based dairy alternatives, has introduced a significantly updated version of its plant-based pizza line. The company recently completed a multi-million-dollar upgrade to its bakery facility, allowing for significant improvements in both production capacity and product quality. The reformulated pizzas are now available at major retailers throughout the United States and Canada. The new pizzas feature a gluten-free crust that is lighter, crispier, and fluffier than previous versions, paired with a tomato sauce that has been refined for a richer flavor. However, the most notable difference is the new cheese blend, made with Daiya’s proprietary Daiya Oat Cream™ blend, which was developed and introduced earlier this year. Created through fermentation using plant-based cultures, the …

Organisations and brands:

Daiya

Food Service

Spain’s Väcka Cheese and and Ditaly Pizzerias Collaborate to Launch ‘La Gazpacha’ Vegan Pizza

July 5, 2024

Väcka, Spain’s leading vegan cheese producer, has partnered with Ditaly pizzerias to launch a new 100% vegan pizza called “La Gazpacha”. This innovative creation features two of Väcka’s most popular vegan cheeses: Mözza, a fermented cheese made from melon seeds, and Fraïs with Basil, made with almonds, cashews and fresh basil. Made with a pizza dough fermented for 48 hours and coated in sunflower seeds, golden flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, golden sesame seeds,and poppy seeds for a crunchy texture, the new pizza is characterised by its fresh and aromatic taste. The Gazpacha also includes ingredients such as San Marzano D.O.P. tomato, pickled gherkin slices for sweet and sour nuances, nera di Gaeta olive, semi-dried tomato, salt and freshly ground pepper. Estrella Hernández, head of R&D&I …

Food Service

Before the Butcher Partners with Rosati’s Pizza and DOT Foods to Expand Plant-Based Pepperoni Distribution

March 5, 2024

Before the Butcher, a producer of plant-based proteins for foodservice, has announced strategic expansions in its distribution network to increase the availability of its plant-based pepperoni. The expansion includes enhanced partnerships with DOT Foods, one of North America’s largest food industry redistributors, and a collaboration with Rosati’s Pizza for a national product test. The partnership with DOT Foods, a major distributor that handles over 125,000 products from more than 1,000 manufacturers, will significantly extend Before the Butcher’s reach within the foodservice industry. This collaboration marks a notable development since the introduction of the company’s plant-based pepperoni to the foodservice sector last year, initially aimed at retailers enhancing their private label selections. Danny O’Malley, founder and president of Before the Butcher, stated, “Our plant-based pepperoni has …

Organisations and brands:

Before The Butcher

DOT Foods

One Planet Pizza and Ben and Jerry's offer Veganuary meal deal

Company News

One Planet Pizza and Ben & Jerry’s Partner to Offer Exclusive Veganuary Meal Deal at Asda

January 10, 2024

UK-based vegan pizza brand One Planet Pizza has joined forces with ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s to offer a Veganuary meal deal at Asda. Available online only, it is the retailer’s first ever frozen vegan meal deal, allowing shoppers to order One Planet’s Peppernomi Pizza and Ben & Jerry’s new Oat of this Swirled sundae for a total of £5. Ordinarily, the pizza costs £4 and the ice cream costs £5.50. The Peppernomi Pizza consists of a wood-fired sourdough base topped with Italian tomato sauce, plant-based cheese, and hyperrealistic plant-based pepperoni. It is One Planet Pizza’s bestselling product, and was made permanently available at 400 Asda stores a year ago following a successful trial. “Veganuary is undoubtedly the best time of the year to …

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Papa John’s UK Introduces New Vegan BBQ “Chicken” Pizza for Veganuary

December 21, 2023

Papa John’s announces its latest plant-based offering: the Vegan BBQ “Chicken” pizza, just in time for Veganuary. This new limited-time offering will be available from January 2nd at Papa John’s locations in the United Kingdom. Papa John’s also offered a plant-based pizza during Veganuary last year with its Ve-Du-Ya and Hot Pepper pizza, featuring plant-based ‘nduja, a spicy spreadable sausage, topped with green peppers and jalapenos. Additionally, Papa John’s launched the Vegan BBQ Shot pizza in its Chilean locations last year, featuring NotCo’s NotChicken. The Vegan BBQ “Chicken” pizza 2024 builds on these previous successes after the pizza chain reported an 81% increase in plant-based pizza orders. The pizza includes a combination of Papa John’s vegan ‘Sheese,’ new plant-based “Chicken” slices, mushrooms, onions, and a BBQ …

Organisations and brands:

Papa John's

Food Service

Pizza Hut and Beyond Meat Unveil Beyond Pepperoni Range Across the UK

November 20, 2023

Pizza Hut UK and Beyond Meat announce the introduction of the Beyond Pepperoni pizza range at Pizza Hut delivery locations across the UK. Beginning January 2024, the plant-based pepperoni will also be available at Pizza Hut dine-in establishments for a limited time, aiming to cater to the evolving dietary preferences of pizza consumers. The Beyond Pepperoni range features the Big New Yorker, a 16” pepperoni and cheese pizza, Beyond Pepperoni Feast with mixed peppers, and Beyond Pepperoni Melt pizza. By default, these pizzas come with regular mozzarella cheese, but Violife’s vegan cheese is available on request (at no extra cost) to make them 100% vegan. Hazell White, Head of Brand & Innovation at Pizza Hut UK & Europe, expressed pride in the partnership with Beyond …

Organisations and brands:

Beyond Meat

Pizza Hut

Image courtesy of Blackbird Foods

Products & Launches

Blackbird Foods Launches “Meatier” Plant-Based Pepperoni Pizza with Beyond Meat

November 15, 2023

New York’s Blackbird Foods announces the launch of a new plant-based pizza topped with Beyond Meat’s plant-based pepperoni and vegan cheese. The brand’s Pepperoni Pizza, debuting in a new magenta packaging, is already available in the frozen aisle at The Fresh Market, Central Market, Earthfare, nationwide, and at select regions of Whole Foods across the USA. Blackbird Foods, which manufactures most of its own pizza toppings, launched a pepperoni pizza in 2022. However, the brand decided to “refresh” its recipe to satisfy pepperoni pizza enthusiasts. The company argues that Beyond Pepperoni is “meatier,” offering a “delectable” taste and crispy edges. “Pepperoni is one of the most popular pizza toppings, and we’re proud to provide Blackbird with a delicious, plant-based version that delivers the taste and …

Organisations and brands:

Blackbird Foods

Image: Melt Pizzas/NotCo

Food Service

NotCo Partners With Chile’s Melt Pizzas to Launch Two Vegan Pizzas Topped With NotCheese

November 6, 2023

Chilean food tech company NotCo has partnered with Melt Pizzas, a popular Chilean restaurant chain, to develop two plant-based pizzas. Both pizzas — The Vegan Pesto Margarita and the Vegan Veggie — are topped with NotCo’s mozzarella-style plant-based NotCheese. The Vegan Pesto Margarita also features cherry tomatoes and vegan pesto, while the Vegan Veggie is topped with red onion, green pepper, mushroom, black olives, corn, and tomato. Melt Pizzas said it chose NotCheese because the product’s melting properties are superior to other vegan cheeses, hinting that it may also roll out more options using the cheese alternative in future. The chain added that it has previously offered four vegan pizzas, which have all been a “complete success”, as the trend towards plant-based foods continues to …

Organisations and brands:

Melt Pizzas

NotCo

©Pizza Pilgrims

Food Service

Julienne Bruno Partners with Pizza Pilgrims to Bring Artisan Vegan Cheese to Pizzas UK-Wide

August 17, 2023August 16, 2023

Vegan cheese producer Julienne Bruno announces it has partnered with UK pizza chain Pizza Pilgrims, which operates 20 pizzerias across the UK, to add its SUPERSTRACCIA® as a topping for the Marg Extra-Extra and as a plant-based substitute to dairy on all pizzas. Julienne Bruno, whose portfolio currently consists of Collection 01 — Burrella, Crematta, and Superstraccia — has seen consistent success since raising £5 million last year, reporting a huge quarterly growth rate of over 300% this January then expanding into Ocado and Gail’s bakeries in the UK. Its produce was developed by an international team of chefs: Albert Adria (with multiple Michelin Star awards, previously Head of Creativity at El Bulli) is Head of Product Development; Chi San (previously Head of Food for …

Organisations and brands:

JULIENNE BRUNO

Marketing & Media

Nobell Foods Launches Campaign Exploring Impact of Climate Change on the Future of Pizza

August 2, 2023

Nobell Foods, a US-based producer of cheeses made with animal-free dairy proteins, has launched a new campaign exploring how climate change could affect the production of pizza. Called Pizza Futures, it consists of a report, limited-run magazine, and public service campaign designed to create change by using pizza as a symbol of how current lifestyles could be threatened by issues such as crop failure. The campaign explores 30 data-driven scenarios of how the future of pizza could look, some where the challenges of climate change have been responded to and others where they have not. The scenarios include solutions such as cultivated ingredients and pizza vending machines that recycle food waste, but these are contrasted with a future where pizza is an expensive luxury item …

Organisations and brands:

Nobell Foods

Interviews

One Planet Pizza: “Committing Ourselves to Being the Planet’s Most Sustainable Pizza Brand”

July 31, 2023

One Planet Pizza (OPP) is a plant-based pizza brand from the UK that has gone from strength to strength since its launch in 2016. The company’s growth has been particularly rapid over the past eighteen months, including a successful crowdfunding campaign in February 2022 where 76% of the target sum was raised on the first day. Two months later, OPP secured its first major supermarket listing at Asda as part of the chain’s incubator program. The trial was so successful that the brand’s pizza is now available at 400 Asda stores UK-wide. OPP has also begun expanding internationally; the brand launched in Sweden in June 2022 and has also entered several other European markets, such as France, Greece, and Denmark. We caught up with founders …

Organisations and brands:

One Planet Pizza

Vegan cheese launches at Everyman Cinemas

Cheese Alternatives

Vegan Cheese by Purezza Launches at Everyman Cinemas UK-Wide

July 28, 2023

UK-based vegan pizzeria and cheese producer Purezza has announced that its plant-based ‘Stracciazza’ cheese is set to launch at Everyman Cinemas. The cheese, which is an alternative to stracciatella, will be available at all 38 of the cinema chain’s locations across the UK, served on hand-stretched vegan pizzas. “If you’re a fan of burrata, stracciatella is the stringy cheese inside,” said Mitch Lee, head of sales at Purezza. “Our vegan Stracciazza is equally as creamy, moreish, and delicious, so order up a slice and enjoy your movie!” Aquafaba-based cheeses When Purezza opened its first location in 2015, it claimed to be Europe’s first fully vegan pizzeria. The founders quickly discovered that existing vegan cheeses didn’t live up to their expectations, and began developing their own …

Organisations and brands:

Everyman Cinemas

Purezza

©Udderless

Products & Launches

Meet Udderless: A Virginia Startup Making the World’s “Best Bake-at-Home” Vegan Pizza

July 22, 2023July 21, 2023

As the selection of frozen plant-based pizzas in US supermarkets steadily grows, one company is thrilling fans with its brand of locally-made, handcrafted pies produced in the city of Richmond, Virginia. Newly developed cheese Launched in 2023, Udderless is a homegrown brand that specializes in gourmet vegan frozen pizzas made with its own recipe of dairy-free cashew-based cheese. But the brand’s owners didn’t originally set out to start a frozen pizza company. After opening his own restaurant, The Hop Craft Pizza & Beer in 2018, founder Evan Byrne began offering plant-based pizza options made with vegan cheese from a local startup called Unmoofoods. However, as the demand for the pizzas grew, Unmoofoods unexpectedly shuttered its doors, leaving Byrne to seek out another suitable cheese alternative. …

Organisations and brands:

Udderless

©Panago Pizza

Food Service

Wamame Foods Launches Plant-Based Waygu Beef at Canada’s Panago Pizza

June 20, 2023

Wamame Foods announces its Waygu™ teriyaki beef strips are launching at Panago Pizza locations in Ottawa, Ontario. Wamame’s plant-based “Sukiyaki Style” strips are now available on two innovative pizzas — the Kansas BBQ and Korean-Style BBQ — and mark the brand’s first major market test with a pizza chain. Panago, one of the largest pizza chains in Canada, has long supported sustainable ingredients, introducing plant-based options in 2008 and dairy-free cheese in 2014. Panago also offers a large plant-based menu of specialty pizzas and appetizers. The new Waygu pizzas can be made fully vegan by substituting mozzarella and cheddar with Daiya cheese. They include: Kansas BBQ – Plant-based Waygu® beef alternative, Kansas BBQ sauce, jalapeños, caramelized onions, fire-roasted corn, mozzarella + cheddar. Korean-Style BBQ – …

Organisations and brands:

Panago Pizza

Wamame Foods

Products & Launches

Chicago Town Launches Deep Dish BBQ Chick’n Pizza in Partnership With Squeaky Bean

May 22, 2023

UK frozen pizza brand Chicago Town has partnered with alt meat producer Squeaky Bean to launch deep dish vegan BBQ chick’n pizzas. The pizzas feature a crusty base topped with Squeaky Bean plant-based chicken pieces, sweetcorn, red pepper, and BBQ sauce, along with two types of vegan cheese — mozzarella and gouda. Sold in a pack of two mini pizzas, the product is now available at Tesco and Farmfoods. The BBQ chick’n pizzas are the fourth vegan option in the Chicago Town range. The first to launch was the Sticky BBQ Jackfruit pizza in 2020, followed by the Smokey Bac’n & Mushroom and Deep Dish Vegan Cheezeburger pizzas in 2021. All proved hugely popular; the jackfruit option was the UK’s bestselling vegan pizza of 2020, …

Organisations and brands:

Chicago Town

Squeaky Bean

Products & Launches

Dr. Oetker Ristorante Launches Vegan Pepperoni Pizza in the UK

May 11, 2023

German-French multinational Dr. Oetker has added a new pizza, the Vegan Pepperoni-Salame, to its Ristorante range in the UK. Sold frozen, the pizza features a thin crust and the brand’s signature passata, topped with dairy-free mozzarella and vegan pepperoni. The launch follows the success of Dr. Oetker’s first plant-based Ristorante pizza, the Vegan Margherita Pomodori, which was introduced in 2021 and is now the most valuable vegan frozen pizza in the category. The product is widely cited to have had a value of over £2 million in February 2023. Dr. Oetker has also launched vegan pizzas as part of its offshoot brand Chicago Town, which offers deep-crust Chicago-style pizzas. The first option, Vegan Tomato Stuffed Crust Sticky BBQ Jackfruit, launched in 2020, followed by Tomato …

Organisations and brands:

Dr. Oetker

Products & Launches

Blackbird Foods Partners with Daring to Launch Buffalo Plant Chicken Pizza

April 18, 2023April 14, 2023

New York City’s Blackbird Foods announces it is partnering with plant chicken leader Daring Foods on its latest pizza offering – Blackbird Buffalo Pizza. Launching exclusively at US Sprouts Farmers Markets, the new frozen pizza will feature Daring’s Breaded Plant Chicken Pieces. The Buffalo Pizza is described as “pizzeria” quality, and includes a New York-style hand-tossed crust topped with spicy buffalo sauce, vegan cheese, fresh onions and Daring’s Breaded Plant Chicken. According to Blackbird, the pizza makes a quick and convenient meal with a baking time of just eight minutes. “We are thrilled to partner with Blackbird to create our new exclusive Buffalo Plant Chicken Pizza,” says Founder and CEO of Daring, Ross Mackay. “It’s exciting to see two beloved plant-based brands with a similar …

Organisations and brands:

Blackbird Foods

Daring Foods

©Daiya

Products & Launches

Daiya Rolls Out New Allergen Friendly Chick’n Shreds on Top of Pizzas and Flatbreads

March 31, 2023

Dairy alternatives leader Daiya announces its newest product innovation, Chick’n style shreds, which the brand is rolling out on new signature pizzas and flatbreads. The shreds, made from peas, oats, and rice, are said to be an allergen-friendly product that meets current demand for better plant-based chicken alternatives. When paired with Daiya’s pizzas and flatbreads, the shreds are said to offer an easy and convenient frozen meal option. Now available at Walmart, consumers can enjoy the Chick’n style shreds in the following products: Daiya BBQ Plant-Based Chick’n Style Thin Crust Pizza – Daiya’s gluten-free thin crust layered with chick’n style shreds, smoky BBQ sauce, tomatoes, red onions, and melty mozzarella shreds Daiya Plant-Based Chick’n, Smoked Bac’n & Ranch Style Flatbread – Pulled shreds, smoked bac’n …

Organisations and brands:

Daiya

Food Service

Glasgow Pizzeria Launches Extensive Menu of the “Best Vegan Pizza in the Country”

February 13, 2023

Nonna Said, a popular Napoli-style pizzeria with “toppings that you have never seen,” recently launched a vegan version of its entire menu, offering meat and dairy-free versions of its starters, sides, pizzas, and desserts. Known for its wood-fire oven pizzas with a creative twist, Nonna’s new vegan pizzas include toppings such as fried chicken, ham and pineapple, homemade vegan pepperoni, Jamaican jerk chicken, vegan mozzarella, slow-cooked beef with liquid cheese, and its popular Happy Highlander with haggis and potato smiley faces. Nonna Said opened in 2021 in Merchant City, one of Glasgow’s oldest quarters, with a menu full of fusion street food, low-gluten pizza crusts, as well as a range of cocktails and dog treats. The Glasgow vegan scene The Scottish capital is said to enjoy an …

Organisations and brands:

Nonna Said

Pizza with a twist

The vegconomist-newsletterinformation for decision-makers

The vegconomist-newsletter
information for decision-makers