Beyond Meat teams up with Pizza Hut to trial Beyond Pepperoni Pizza in nearly 70 US locations

10-Aug-2021 - Last updated on 10-Aug-2021 at 17:03 GMT

The Beyond Pepperoni Pizza will be on trial for a limited time in five cities... Image credit: Beyond Meat

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Pizza Hut and Beyond Meat are trialing Beyond Pepperoni Pizza, a plant-based version of Pizza Hut’s #1 selling pizza topping, in nearly 70 locations across five US markets for a limited time.

“Pizza Hut’s new Beyond Pepperoni Pizza delivers the same iconic taste as our original pepperoni that fans know and love,” said Georgeanne Erickson, chief brand officer at Pizza Hut.

“We know there is strong consumer demand for pepperoni, and we’re thrilled to unveil a game-changing plant-based pepperoni topping as the next chapter in our innovation-focused partnership with Pizza Hut,” said Dariush Ajami, chief innovation officer at Beyond Meat, which announced global partnerships with McDonald’s, and Pizza Hut’s parent company Yum! Brands (KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut) in February.

The Beyond Pepperoni Pizza will be on trial for a limited time in five cities: Albany, New York; Columbus and Macon, Georgia; Houston, Texas; and Jacksonville, Florida, said Beyond Meat, which offers plant-based toppings to Pizza Hut in several other markets including the UK, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Belgium.

Q2 results: Net revenues +31.8% to $149.4m, net loss $19.7m

Beyond Meat posted a 31.8% year-over-year increase in net revenues to $149.4m in the second quarter (ended July 3) and a net loss of $19.7m, with a recovery in the foodservice business (+218.3% to $43.7m) bolstering more modest growth in retail (+6.2% to $105.7m) as the firm lapped the panic-buying period of 2020.

The company is predicting a drop in revenues in the third quarter ($120-140m) vs the second quarter ($149.4m) reflecting some recent distribution losses in foodservice, labor issues at some partners, and uncertainty as the Delta variant of COVID-19 spreads.

However, it has benefited from a general recovery in foodservice, said CEO Ethan Brown, who said that while Beyond Meat lost some distribution with Dunkin, it has also picked up several new foodservice accounts and is performing well in Peet’s and Philz Coffee.

“If you look at the universe of QSRs that we’re working with that are large and global in nature, I think … you will see some activity this year that is test in nature and things like that or market analysis …, and then the general uptick will be in 2022 from what we’re seeing.”

He added: “We are thrilled with the response to our new Beyond Chicken product and the continued accolades we are receiving for our latest iteration of the Beyond Burger (v3.0)… Early feedback has been very positive … [but] it remains too early to draw any definitive conclusions about the incrementality of Beyond Burger 3.0 versus 2.0.”