Plant-based meat options attract veggie-focused customers

Sponsored by Hormel Foodservice

Meat toppings are mainstays of the pizza segment, but according to a survey by NielsenIQ, sales of plant-based protein options made to taste like pepperoni and sausage are rising¹.

According to its survey done from July 31, 2020, to July 31, 2021, sales of plant-based meat alternatives in grocery stores increased 11% to $922 million¹. In the same period, 52% of U.S. consumers reported eating more plant-based foods because it makes them feel healthier¹.

Nick Bogacz, owner of seven-unit, Pittsburgh-based Caliente Pizza & Draft House, says longtime vegetarians have always found options at pizzerias. But as newcomers to vegetarian and vegan lifestyles eschew meat, some feel that pizza is off the menu for them.

Meat on “pizza is one of the things they miss most,” Bogacz says. Having new products like plant-based meat substitutes, however, “is something they get excited about.”

One product Bogacz says is stirring excitement with vegetarians and vegans is the HAPPY LITTLE PLANTS® Pepperoni-Style topping recently introduced at Caliente. When members of the Vegan Pittsburgh Facebook group began posting about the topping, requests for it took off.

“You launch a new pizza with HAPPY LITTLE PLANTS® Toppings on it, and they make it easy for you to sell it because they tell their Facebook group about it,” Bogacz says. “People order it and post pictures of it. And since there are 7,500 people in that group, that’s a lot of potential customer base out there.”

Melissa Rickman is seeing similar results at her restaurant, Wholly Stromboli in Fort Lupton, Colorado. But before she tested it on guests, she secretly sought her husband’s reaction to the HAPPY LITTLE PLANTS® Pepperoni-Style topping.

“I snuck it in there without telling him what it was, and he recognized it was different,” says Rickman, Wholly Stromboli’s founder and executive chef. “When he said, ‘I know this is not our pepperoni, but it’s really good,’ that was a good endorsement.”

It also supported what Rickman already liked about the plant-based topping.

“I like the color, the texture and the fact that it’s got a little cup-and-char characteristic that people want in regular pepperoni,” she says. “I have to admit that I was a little skeptical about it at first, but I’m really pleased with it, and customer feedback has been great.”

Flavorful, flexible and versatile

HAPPY LITTLE PLANTS® Toppings are seasoned like their meat equivalents allowing both plant-based eaters and meat lovers to enjoy them. Options include:

• Pepperoni-Style: a blend of red and black peppers, garlic and paprika
• Italian-Style Crumble: classic Italian flavors highlighted by garlic, fennel and pepper
• Chorizo-Style Crumble: pepper and bold spice flavors
• Meatball-Style Product: ricotta and aged Romano cheeses with notes of parsley, garlic and pepper (contains cheese)

Rickman, who is already using the Pepperoni-Style topping in stromboli and calzones, says she has “plans for these, and I think we can do a lot with them. I’ll probably put some on salads.”

Bogacz says watching customers react to the new plant-based protein options presents an interesting exercise in new product trial.

“You see people come in, a couple, for example, and they try it,” says Bogacz, who labels every vegetarian menu item with one green leaf and all vegan items with two. “Before they order their own item, people split it to see if they like it.”

Customers’ initial timidity aside, Bogacz says sales of pizzas with HAPPY LITTLE PLANTS® Pepperoni-Style topping confirm the emerging plant-based protein trend is only beginning.

“It’s not a fluke, I think it’s here to stay,” he says. “There are so many people out there who are interested in these options.”

Rickman wholeheartedly agrees.

“I think this is going to open up a whole new customer base to us—people who maybe weren’t aware of us or that we serve plant-based alternatives like this,” Rickman says.

When Rickman opened Wholly Stromboli 14 years ago, her house-made vegetarian options sold so poorly that she took them off the menu. But as the number of vegetarians and vegans has grown over the years, manufacturers have addressed that demand with plant-based proteins that truly rival their meat counterparts. That, Rickman said, inspires her to promote plant-based options vigorously. “I don’t want these foods to be a subset of my menu. They’re more important than that.”

Could plant-based protein options help drive product trial and bring new customers to your pizzeria? Visit the following website to learn more about the entire HAPPY LITTLE PLANTS® Brand Line. Try the plant-based toppings “to pie for!” https://www.hormelfoodservice.com/brand/happy-little-plants/

¹Nielsen IQ, “Growing Demands for Plant-Based Proteins,” 2021.