Food Service Chains Bring In Better-For-You CPG Partners

While new plant-based alternatives continue to enter the market, food makers are expanding their reach beyond retail and driving product discovery through partnerships ranging from traditional fast food restaurants to fast casual dining locations. According to the Plant Based Food Association, one third of Americans are actively reducing their meat and dairy consumption and while taste and better-for-you attributes remain the top purchasing drivers in the category, food service makers are capitalizing on this as well, developing their own better-for-you takes on classic menu items.

Field Roast Brings Plant-based Pepperoni to Donatos

Family-owned pizza delivery chain Donato’s announced this week it has added Field Roast’s Plant-based Pepperoni as its newest menu item. The pizza maker said this partnership will help it support consumers with health-related New Year’s resolutions and encourage “smarter food choices” overall.

The new topping, made with pea protein and traditional Italian seasonings, contains about half the amount of sodium compared to traditional pepperoni and can be added to both the brand’s cauliflower crust and its traditional crust pizzas.

“We have a really special way of crafting our signature pizzas, and the new Field Roast Plant-Based Pepperoni on our cauliflower crust will give even more people—from vegetarians to flexitarians—a reason to taste that magic for themselves and fall in love with us as so many others have,” said Carol Pasquariello, SVP of marketing for Donatos, in a press release. “While this addition is a delicious alternative to our traditional pepperoni topping, it absolutely goes toe-to-toe in both flavor and substance, and we can’t wait for people to try it.”

This partnership marks the first collaboration between Donatos and the artisanal plant-based meat and cheese brand, which is an wholly-owned subsidiary brand of Maple Leaf Foods Inc. The new topping is available at 170 Donatos locations nationwide including stores in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Florida.

KFC Brings Back Beyond Fried Chicken

Almost two years since it was first test-launched, KFC and Beyond Meat announced this week that its co-branded Beyond Fried Chicken will be introduced at all of KFC’s 4,000+ locations nationwide. While the company noted the success and “rave reviews” from its pilot launch, it cited the pandemic as the primary reason why it had delayed the product’s full launch until now.

“The mission from day one was simple – make the world-famous Kentucky Fried Chicken from plants,” said Kevin Hochman, president, KFC U.S., in a press release. “And now over two years later we can say, ‘mission accomplished.’”

The plant-based product was developed exclusively for KFC with a proprietary process to make the wings “shred” like the muscle tissue of traditional chicken and features KFC’s signature blend of 11 herbs and spices.

“We couldn’t be prouder to partner with KFC to offer a best-in-class product that not only delivers the delicious experience consumers expect from this iconic chain, but also provides the added benefits of plant-based meat,” said Ethan Brown, founder and CEO of Beyond Meat, in a press release.

The announcement marks another notable fast food partnership for the plant-based protein maker which introduced another chicken-alternative, Beyond The Original Orange Chicken, with Panda Express in July 2021. The company has also brought plant-based alternatives to fast food giants including McDonalds, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.

Blaze Pizza Adds Primal Kitchen Ranch To Menu

Fast casual chain Blaze Pizza announced it has added a new finishing drizzle to its menu for a limited time: Primal Kitchen’s non-dairy Ranch Dressing made with Avocado Oil. The partnership between the pizza maker and the Kraft-Heinz owned brand will last through January 16 and marks the latest addition to the pizza chain’s better-for-you menu offerings.

“At Blaze Pizza, we pride ourselves on having ‘endless pizzabilities,’ offering traditional pizza with better-for-you ingredients or specialized pizzas for keto, vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, and dairy-free diets,” said Mandy Shaw, Blaze Pizza’s CEO, in a press release. “We are thrilled to offer our guests the Ranch Dressing drizzle from Primal Kitchen, a brand known for providing real ingredient staples without compromising taste.”

The new topping will be available at select Blaze Pizza locations nationwide in cities including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, New York, Los Angeles and Orlando. Both brands cited that this partnership marks another step toward their respective goals of offering better-for-you alternatives on classic foods.

“Primal Kitchen encourages our customers to ask more of their food and keep the classics with elevated, real ingredients and delicious taste,” Morgan Zanotti, Co-Founder & President of Primal Kitchen, in a press release. “That’s why Primal Kitchen is thrilled to tap into Blaze Pizza customers who demand the same experience.”