Old World Italian Brand MamaMancini and Beyond Meat Partner to Launch Vegan Meatballs 

Starting this week, Italian food marketer and distributor MamaMancini Holdings will begin distributing several new products it created in partnership with vegan brand Beyond Meat. The brand—known for its meat-based meals—used the vegan company’s ground beef to create Beyond Beef Meatballs & Sauce and Spaghetti & Beyond Beef Meatball Pasta Bowls, recipes that hark back to company founder Dan Mancini’s grandmother Anna’s traditional Italian roots. “Plant-based meat is one of the fastest-growing trends in the food industry, and Beyond Meat is leading the revolution,” MamaMancini CEO Carl Wolf said. “Beyond Beef was the perfect choice for our new bowls as it offers the same juicy, meaty texture as beef, with the benefits of plant-based proteins. Our partnership will expand our current line of healthy products and enable us to penetrate new markets with customers looking to expand their protein options.” 

MamaMancini’s products are currently distributed to 45,000 outlets nationwide, including retailers Walmart, Kroger, Publix, Costco, and Albertsons, foodservice channels Sysco and United Natural Foods, and through television station QVC. “We are looking forward to the new products MamaMancini’s is creating that include our delicious plant-based proteins,” Tim Smith, Beyond Meat Vice President of Foodservice Sales, North America, said. “Their large distribution network will help deliver Beyond Meat’s product into homes across the country, allowing customers to experience the appeal and taste of iconic Italian food with a more sustainable alternative ingredient.” Beyond Meat’s MamaMancini partnership comes on the heels of its collaboration with McDonald’s, which will begin testing a new burger—the “P.L.T.” or “plant, lettuce, and tomato”—made with its vegan Beyond Burger patty on Monday at 28 locations in Canada for 12 weeks.