Beyond Meat is joining forces with Pizza Hut to create plant-based pies.
Sausage pizzas without the sausage. Is that even possible? That is a big yes, the companies say.
Pizza Hut has lifted the lid on its Beyond Italian Sausage and Great Beyond pizzas.
Pizza Hut and Beyond Meat together cooked up the new option using a mixture of garlic, fennel seeds and paprika to mimic the taste of sausage.
Smaller competitors like Blaze Pizza joined the plant-based bandwagon and Burger King made its Impossible Whopper available across the U.S. after only a month of testing last year. And as Little Caesars tried Impossible Foods' sausage in select markets, Pizza Hut's launch marks the first national offering.
According to Ethan Brown, chief executive and founder of Beyond Meat, their association with Pizza Hut is "a category first...to raise the bar on game-changing product innovations as we roll out the delicious taste of Beyond Meat products to pizza fans nationwide," CNN reported.
With sales of pizza growing during the coronavirus pandemic, Pizza Hut is in a better position compared with most of Beyond Meat's customers. Sales of the Los Angeles-based producer of plant-based meat substitutes were down by 10% in the past three months, the company says. Many food businesses outside of the fast-food industry have seen revenues decline.
The size of the world's plant-based meat market is seen to hit $35.5 billion by 2027, with the international health crisis accelerating that growth - so the launch and timing of the new pizza creations as Pizza Hut initiates a turnaround is very important.
Shares for Beyond Meat have risen 40% since the pandemic.
