Food & Beverage

Canada's Pizza Nova puts plant-based pepperoni pies on permanent menu

Pizza Nova's pies contain plant-based pepperoni that even have the sausage's characteristic marbling. (Photo provided)

January 12, 2021

Pepperoni and pizza go together, well, like pepperoni and pizza, but that can be a tough combo to nail down if a customer is trying to go meatless. But Canadian chain Pizza Nova has apparently fallen for a plant-based pepperoni so hard that it's adding a new plant-based pepperoni pie to its permanent menu, according to a news release.

The 140-unit Toronto-based chain has partnered with Field Roast Grain Meat Co to offer the plant-based pepperoni at all Pizza Nova locations. The little rounds of plant-based pork-esque-tasting product are actually created with pea protein, as opposed to the soy used in most other plant-based pepperoni products. As a result, the Field Roast product has the same amount of protein per serving as the pork-derived version of the sausage.

"The addition of Field Roast Plant-Based Pepperoni to our menu will allow us to expand our offerings and better serve flexitarians, vegetarians and vegans alike—always in the same careful and loving manner," Domenic Primucci, Pizza Nova president, said in the release.

In fact, the Field Roast products actually has the characteristic fat marbling so essential to animal-derived pepperoni, achieved through the addition of fat phases, derived from citrus fiber, alginate, water and canola oil, a brand spokeswoman told Pizza Marketplace. The company said that the sausage mimics that "bold pepperoni taste" through the use of fresh spices including fennel, pepper, garlic and paprika.

At Pizza Nova, the plant-based version of pepperoni can be ordered as a topping for pizzas and panzerottis, and as part of six new plant-based creations at the chain.

"Pizza Nova is the first major Canadian pizza operator to offer the groundbreaking Field Roast Plant-Based Pepperoni," Adam Grogan, COO of Field Roast Grain Co parent, Greenleaf Foods, said in the release. "We're excited to partner with them because of their commitment to crafting flavorful, quality foods, just like Field Roast."

Pizza Nova, which has stores across Southern Ontario, was voted the 'Best Pizza of 2020' by the Toronto Star. The chain was founded in 1963. Field Roast also said that the plant-based pepperoni will be headed to U.S. groceries next quarter but is available for restaurant use in the U.S. now.