Domino’s Is About to Add Vegan Beef, Ham, and Pepperoni to Menus Across Australia

Vegan options at Domino’s locations across Australia are about to grow substantially, according to Don Meij, CEO of Domino’s Pizza Enterprises—the largest franchisee of the Domino’s Pizza brand. In July, the chain announced it would add vegan soy-based beef—developed for Domino’s by a Brisbane-based company over the course of nine months—to its menu in September on three pizzas: Beef & Onion, Beef Loaded Burger, and Beef Taco Fiesta. In a recent interview with CNBC, Meij explained that Domino’s is working to add even more vegan options. “We’re about to roll out in Australia a plant-based beef, a plant-based ham, and a plant-based pepperoni. Now these are proprietary products we’ve developed here in Australia for the Australian audience,” Meij said, explaining that interest in plant-based options is booming at the chain’s locations in Australia, Germany, and the Netherlands. Last year, Domino’s Australia partnered with United States-based vegan brand Follow Your Heart to add its vegan cheese to menus nationwide and has since launched a variety of plant-based pizzas to promote it, and, according to Meij, most customers who order these options are not vegan. “The interesting insight is that we’re not just really targeting vegan customers, 93 percent of the Domino’s customers we talk to who are going to buy a plant-based product are actually meat-eaters who want that style of a high-protein menu but they’d like to have more of the benefits that come from vegetables,” Meij said. “There’s clearly a shift about the environment [and] about the use of animals in the environment versus plants. We can see it as a fast-emerging trend and we’re going to make sure we’re looking after our customers in the [plant-based] space, as well.”