Food & Beverage

Chicago pizzeria hops onto plant-based topping wagon

August 6, 2021

Sarpino's Pizzeria, a Chicago-based pizza chain, is partnering with Field Road to offer customers plant-based pepperoni at its restaurants located throughout the Southeast and Midwest.

The Field Roast plant-based pepperoni features pea protein, not soy, and has the same protein per serving as traditional pepperoni, according to an announcement.

Most recently Field Roast teamed up with Little Caesars on the pizza brand's Planteroni Pizza featuring the topping.

"Menuing Field Roast plant-based pepperoni was a no-brainer for us. It has the flavor and texture we were looking for in a vegan pepperoni," Rebecca Kroupa, director of research and development for Sarpino's USA, said in the announcement. "Before we launched our full vegan menu in May 2020, we spent a lot of time researching ingredients and conducting focus group tastings to make sure our plant-based menu offerings were delicious and appealed to meat eaters, flexitarians and vegans."

Of Sarpino's 41 franchised locations, 33 serve a full vegan menu.

The plant-based pepperoni has launched in Florida locations, where it is already the second top selling vegan menu item behind the vegan sausage calzone. It will roll out in all Sarpino's Pizzeria locations that serve a vegan menu this month.