Saarioinen is a leading Finnish food manufacturer that produces a large selection of convenience food products, meat products, and preserved foods. Their goal was to create a delicious plant-based pizza that would appeal to omnivores and flexitarians as well as the vegan consumer base.
The challenge: how to create a tasty vegan pizza for a broad target group
A decade ago in 2016, Saarioinen launched their first plant-based pizza for vegans and those aspiring to go vegan. According to Category Manager Sari Viitala, now it was time for a different approach. Their new next generation vegan pizza is focused on plant protein and was designed to appeal to omnivores and vegans alike.
“In practical terms, this means we needed to achieve a familiar texture and flavour profile,” says Jaana Pohto, Product Developer at Saarioinen.
“The sensory experience was our top priority, as it should always be when working with food recipes. We couldn’t afford to have any distracting flavours: we wanted a bolognese sauce that looks and feels like it was made with real mincemeat – just without the meat itself.”
The solution: a classic pizza base with a delicious bolognese sauce featuring BlackGrain TVP
Sometimes all it takes is for a sample to reach the right person – in this case Pohto – at the right time. “BlackGrain textured vegetable protein (TVP) has a mincemeat-like mouthfeel and natural dark colour that turned out to be a perfect fit for our bolognese pizza sauce,” Pohto explains.
Saarioinen’s previous vegan pizza had a cauliflower base, a trend in the mid 2010s. This time, Pohto opted for the classic wheat base so that the new plant-based pizza would match its meatier counterparts in the product series of 200g heatable pizzas.
“Our new plant-based bolognese pizza was received with a storm of positive attention on social media before the product had even reached food stores,” Pohto shares with a smile. “The consumer demand for affordable, quick, and easy everyday vegan products is clear,” Viitala adds.
The benefits of BlackGrain TVP: mild taste with zero off-flavours, meat-like texture, and excellent water holding capacity
“In food products, taste always comes first,” Viitala states. BlackGrain TVP consists of BlackGrain rapeseed powder and pea protein isolate and has only a mild umami taste of its own. BlackGrain rapeseed powder effectively masks the typically dominant flavour of pea protein in BlackGrain TVP.
“This convinced me right from the start,” Pohto says. “Even a hint of musty pea taste might put off consumers who are less accustomed to legume-based proteins. With BlackGrain TVP, we have no distracting flavours or off-tastes whatsoever.”
Thanks to its great water holding capacity, BlackGrain TVP efficiently absorbs the flavour of the bolognese sauce, making it easy to season according to the desired flavour profile.
The results: Plant-based Bolognese Pizza by Saarioinen
- Flavour: tasty and consumer-friendly with a hint of cayenne pepper
- Texture: resembles a typical bolognese sauce cooked with mincemeat
- Nutrition labels: “source of protein”
- Dietary claims: vegan, lactose-free
Nutritional content per 100 g
| Energy | 940 kJ / 225 kcal |
| Total fat | 7,9 g |
| saturated fat | 2,6 g |
| Total carbohydrates | 29 g |
| sugars | 1,7 g |
| Protein | 7,7 g |
| Salt | 1 g |
| Fibre | 2,7 g |