PRODUCT: Pizza Daiya Meatless Pepperoni Gluten-Free Thin Crust PRICE: package $7.68 -$11 /16.7 oz. NUTRITION PER SERVING (1/3 PIZZA): Calories 390, Total Fat 16g, Saturated Fat 8g, Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 760mg, Total Carbohydrate 56g, Protein 4g. by Anna Marie Cesario and Jennifer Vahalik, U&I Collaboration, LLC. Food product development and consumer research veterans, Anna Marie Cesario and Jennifer Vahalik, join Alt-Meat magazine as contributors to our regular “Taste Test” column. Here’s how the program works: The alternative meat item is distributed to consumers, including the core demographic, for preparation in their own homes. No instructions are provided to the consumer, other than to write their overall impressions of the product, as well as to evaluate the flavor, texture, packaging and ease of use. Cesario and Vahalik look for common threads by using Getting It!®, a system developed to listen to consumers about products. The sample of people is not intended to be a “taste test” in a controlled setting, nor is it intended to simulate a focus group. Others are doing both. Rather, the intent is to interpret the response of the people who might purchase a product like this and use it, simply based on their encounters with the product in their individual, unique home environment. That is how U&I has been developing cutting-edge product and people understanding since 1999. animal-based product. It is clearly marked with the vegan symbol as well.” the real deal. For me this pizza is considered a treat and not something I would eat on a regular basis since it is a processed food.” A mom who didn’t care for the original Daiya Pizza product told us, “This is the perfect size for my husband and me for dinner. The cheese melted better than I anticipated. We enjoyed the crunchiness of the crust, which was the perfect complement to the creamy cheese. The meat-less pepperoni was good and similar in taste to meat pepperoni, but it didn’t crisp up like meat pepperoni. We missed this texture.” A vegetarian female added, “It cooked up well and looked good. I really couldn’t tell the difference between a real cheese pepperoni pizza and this.” “I can’t get past the look of fake cheese that hasn’t melted,” explained a 49-year-old female. She continued, “The sauce is over-seasoned and orange. And forget the pepperoni! It looks processed and doesn’t taste like pepperoni.” A vegan said, “It’s odd that one portion is 1/3 of the pie. When would you ever cut a pizza into uneven slices? I cut my pie into quarters and enjoyed 1/2 of the pie. With 16g of fat in one-third of the pie, this portion had me doing some intense math. But this could be dangerous. The pizza was so delicious that if I did not have a hold on my portion control, the whole pie would be eaten in one sitting!” APPEARANCE, FEEL, TASTE AND TEXTURE “The vegan pepperoni is interesting, but the color was a little pale,” observed a mom whose family has been gluten-and dairy-free for about 10 years. She added, “The texture was good, but we wanted a bit more pepperoni on each piece. The crust is crunchy and chewy at the same time — a good thing — and the vegan cheese is ok. It’s exactly what I expected.” Our couple explained, “The crust was like a cracker; crunchy. Where’s the pepperoni? There were seven measly pieces, and they had a strong, spicy aftertaste. May have been better with plant-based pepperoni crumbles. The cheese was better than other plant-based chees-es, but not stringy.” An adventurous 30-year-old shared, “It smelled good while cooking, and it crisped up nicely. I liked the crust, sauce, pepperoni flavor-ings and even the cheese didn’t taste bad. But the consistency was weird. It was very creamy and left a ‘coating’ all throughout my mouth as I ate it. I enjoyed the taste, but the texture was too creamy. The meatless pepperoni was well done and had a good taste.” A Gen X female said, “There is an aroma of spoiled pork or chicken — I don’t taste it when I eat each component separately, but altogether it has that taste. The sauce is too tangy, and the pepperoni is unnecessarily spicy. The cheese is the closest to normal of the whole product.” A female vegan described, “This product looks way more appealing after it is cooked as the cheese melts and the ‘meat’ appears to resemble CONCLUSION A vegetarian said, “I would likely not buy this again. It’s just not something I’d keep on hand for the price point and number of calories.” A health-conscious 30-year-old male conclud-ed, “Not a product I will be buying or seeking 38 Alt-Meat February 2025
Alt-Meat February 2025: Page 38
