Has MOD Pizza Created the Ultimate Vegan Sausage Topping?

MOD Pizza is launching vegan Italian sausage.

The exclusive meat-free sausage is launching to MOD Pizza menus in more than 500 stores nationwide. The Seattle-based restaurant chain already offers original and gluten-free pizza crusts, BBQ, garlic, and red sauces, and coconut oil-based dairy-free cheese, all of which are suitable for vegans.

Made by Plantly, the new plant-based Italian sausage combines non-GMO pea protein with canola oil, tomato paste, mushroom extract, and herbs and spices such as fennel, oregano, and thyme. It also contains 12 grams of protein per serving and provides a meat-free (and gluten-free) version of the chain’s single most popular topping, Italian sausage.

MOD Pizza’s vegan Italian sausage

“We’ve spent the past two years methodically testing plant-based proteins and simply put, we found Plantly’s Italian plant-based sausage to be completely craveable and far superior in both taste and quality,” says Mark Shambura, Chief Marketing Officer of MOD.

“We’re excited to bring our customers a product that is not only delicious, but an easy swap or add, if they want to go meatless or simply have more flexible choices,” he adds.

According to the company itself, MOD is “purpose-led” and “people-first,” and was recognized on Fortune’s 2019 Change the World list for its healthy workplace culture. Fortune has also praised MOD Pizza as one of the 20 Best Workplaces in Retail, a Best Workplace for Women, a Best Workplace for Millennials, and a Best Workplace for Diversity.

Purpose-led and people-first

Plantly also aims to use business “as a force for good,” and the Revelry Group brand is a Certified B-Corp. “Revelry’s mission is to be an agent of positive change and [an] instrument of good for our customers, communities, team members, and families,” says the company.

The chef-led startup prioritizes healthy, sustainably sourced, and ethically produced ingredients, which is one of the key reasons MOD Pizza chose to collaborate with the brand.

MOD is not the only QSR chain to eschew some of the biggest names in plant-based meat when trying out new vegan-friendly menu items. Chipotle recently chose to produce its own vegan chorizo in order to avoid what the CEO has described as “heavily processed” ingredients.

The vegan Italian sausage is a permanent menu addition starting from August 31, 2021. MOD Pizza is also offering a buy-one-get-one-free offer to encourage customers to try the new plant-based topping, applicable for today only.

Pizza restaurants including Pizza Pizza, Pizza Hut, Little Caesars, Papa Johns, Domino’s, and more have all added new vegan toppings recently or expanded their plant-based menus.