The Plano, Texas-headquartered Pizza Hut restaurant chain is currently test marketing plant-based faux pepperoni produced by Beyond Meat as a topping at 70 locations in five cities: Albany, New York; Columbus and Macon, Georgia; Houston, Texas; and Jacksonville, Florida.
The Beyond Pepperoni Pizza menu offering was co-developed by Beyond Meat and Pizza Hut’s culinary teams and is made from simple ingredients including peas and rice, with no GMOs, soy, gluten, hormones, antibiotics or cholesterol.
“Our new Beyond Pepperoni Pizza delivers the same iconic taste as our original pepperoni that fans know and love,” said Georgeanne Erickson, Pizza Hut’s chief brand officer.
“We know there is strong consumer demand for pepperoni, and we’re thrilled to unveil a game-changing plant-based pepperoni topping as the next chapter in our innovation-focused partnership with Pizza Hut,” said Dariush Ajami, chief innovation officer of El Segundo, California-based Beyond Meat. “We’re confident fans will love Beyond Pepperoni as it delivers the crisped edges and savory flavor profile of Pizza Hut’s classic pepperoni with the added benefits of plant-based meat.”
Pizza Hut, a subsidiary of Louisville, Kentucky-headquartered Yum! Brands, has more restaurant locations in the world than any other pizza company. Founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas, it operates nearly 18,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries.
