Meat-free pizza is coming to Pizza Hut locations across the United States and United Kingdom, the company announced Tuesday, unveiling a partnership with Beyond Meat.
Customers of the Yum Brands pizza chain can now order the Beyond Italian Sausage Pizza or the Great Beyond Pizza, both featuring the Beyond Meat’s plant-based Italian sausage crumbles, USA Today reported.
"@PizzaHut ($YUM), in a partnership with @BeyondMeat ($BYND), became the first national pizza chain to introduce plant-based meat pizzas across the United States."
— Jacy Reese Anthis (@jacyanthis) November 10, 2020
The announcement comes "as plant-based meat sales are surging." #Vegan #Climate https://t.co/5vnfaUmfJ5
The main source of protein in the meatless sausage is from peas rather than animals, and the new Pizza Hut offerings come one day after McDonald’s unveiled its pending McPlant line, featuring meatless patties co-created with Beyond Meat, CNBC reported.
Benefitting largely from self-isolating masses amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, Pizza Hut’s same-store sales in the United States increased by 6% in the third quarter, with its “off-premise business reporting 17% same-store sales growth,” the network reported.
Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown told CNBC that Pizza Hut pressed for an indistinguishable plant-based alternative.
“We really wanted to build something that was unique in the market,” Brown said. “A lot of people can make a crumble out of protein these days, but this is something special because we took the time with Pizza Hut to get it right.”
Other chains adding plant-based items to their menus within the past two years include Burger King’s Impossible Whopper, developed in partnership with Beyond Meat rival Impossible Foods in 2019. Starbucks also unveiled its plant-based Impossible Breakfast Sandwich in June, while Little Caesars tested a meatless sausage pizza, also developed in partnership with Impossible Foods, USA Today reported.
Cox Media Group
