Pizza chain’s restaurants across the Midwest, Southeast begin offering pea-protein-based pepperoni
Sarpino’s Pizzeria added Field Roast Classic Pizzeria Plant-Based Pepperoni to its menu. Its restaurants, which span across the Midwest and Southeast, will begin using the pea-protein-based meat alternative. The product achieves a zesty profile by combining spices that include whole pieces of fennel, cracked black pepper, garlic, and paprika.
The Chicago-based pizza chain disclosed in a statement that a total of 33 of 41 franchise locations serve a full vegan menu, including specialty pizza, calzones, pasta, sandwiches, salads, and cheesy breadsticks. It has continued to invest in a full complement of vegan menu options over the past 14 months.
Sarpino’s added plant-based Beyond ChickenTenders in July.
[Related article: Sarpino’s adds Beyond Chicken Tenders to menu]
“Menuing Field Roast Plant-Based Pepperoni was a no-brainer for us. It has the flavor and texture we were looking for in a vegan pepperoni,” says Rebecca Kroupa, director of R&D for Sarpino’s USA. “Before we launched our full vegan menu in May of 2020, we spent a lot of time researching ingredients and conducting focus group tastings to make sure our plant-based menu offerings were delicious and appealed to meat-eaters, flexitarians and vegetarians.”
A successful pilot in Sarpino’s Florida locations led the systemwide launch starting August 1. In Florida, the Field Roast Plant-Based Pepperoni became the #2 vegam menu item behind the vegan sausage calzone, said Krouopa.
The move follows other notable pizza chains that have started serving the meat-alternative pepperoni from Field Roast, including Little Caesars, in its Planteroni Pizza.
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