(Updated November 11, 2020) Pizza Hut UK has confirmed that it’s adding vegan meat toppings to the menu, but the catch is, it’s only for a limited time.
Earlier this month, Vegan_food_uk, a social media platform that posts regularly about new vegan products and rumored menu additions, shared a photo taken by a follower at Pizza Hut’s Islington, London location. The bright green window display—the signature color of California-based brand Beyond Meat—showed several new pizzas featuring plant-based meat.
The popular pizza chain has now confirmed three new vegan toppings developed by Beyond Meat and Pizza Hut: Beyond Pork Crumbles, Beyond Beef Crumbles, and Beyond Italian Style Sausage. According to a press release, each topping was developed to have the same taste and flavor profile as Pizza Hut’s animal-based meat toppings to deliver the same customer experience.
The launch includes five new menu items inspired by classic Pizza Hut menu items: the Beyond Three-Meat Supreme, the Beyond Italian Style Sausage Supreme, the Beyond Beef Sizzler, the Beyond Pork & Sweet Chilli, and the Beyond Italian Style Sausage Tear & Share Topper.
In a statement sent to LIVEKINDLY, Regina Borda, Managing Director of Pizza Hut UK & Europe explained: “We know that consumers are looking for more plant-based options for health, environmental and lifestyle considerations, and aim to ensure they have access to these new options while maintaining our great tasting pizzas!”
She added: “Beyond Meat is the perfect partner to do so, and we worked hard to create just the right flavours ensuring these Beyond Pizzas score just as highly, if not more highly in taste tests than our well-known favourites.”
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Vegan at Pizza Hut UK
The pizza chain, which operates more than 250 stores in the UK, has offered Violife’s dairy-free cheese since 2017. As of this year, customers can also order a vegan stuffed crust pizza. In late 2019, it launched meat-free chicken nuggets made by Quorn and dairy-free caramel cheesecake.
Pizza Hut UK trialed vegan pepperoni made from pea protein at the start of the year and added it to the menu due to its popularity. A spokesperson said at the time that the chain saw a “phenomenal uplift in sales” during the trial period.
This is not Pizza Hut’s first time putting Beyond Meat on the menu. The chain trialed vegan sausage crumbles in Puerto Rico and Beyond Burgers in China earlier this year.
Pizza Hut UK announced the new toppings on the same day that Pizza Hut US rolled out its own trial with Beyond Meat. While the US launched Beyond Meat nationwide, the UK trial is limited to five locations across London, Luton, and Liverpool.
