---
title: "Pizza Marketplace: Toppers Commits To Plant-Based Eating in a Big Way"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/18511028-54b1-45e4-ab20-a683be4f5c24
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/pizza-marketplace-toppers-commits-to-plant-based-eating-in-a-big-way-2716288
category: "Pizza"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Pizza"
published: 2021-07-27T17:12:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:15:27.500Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/cbb4ac28ab4f37a072280b06270687fd4875.jpg
---

# Pizza Marketplace: Toppers Commits To Plant-Based Eating in a Big Way

**TL;DR:** Toppers Pizza has added vegan menu items, including a plant-based, gluten-free crust, to its menu. The brand partnered with vegan culinary chef Melanie Manuel to develop the new recipes.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2021-07-27. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/pizza-marketplace-toppers-commits-to-plant-based-eating-in-a-big-way-2716288).*

## Story

In a recent interview with Pizza Marketplace, Mac Malchow, Toppers Pizza director of national marketing and menu innovation, discussed the new menu items that Toppers is adding to reach vegan diners.

Malchow started off the interview by saying, “Our system-wide AUV is over $1 million, and we just had our first restaurant cross the $2 million-dollar mark. The brand is on fire right now.”

With the brand doing so well, what made them decide to add on to the menu? Toppers partnered with vegan culinary chef Melanie Manuel, who helped develop vegan recipes for that customer base. There are several vegan items on the menu, including plant-based, gluten-free crust from Caulipower and a plant-based chicken option. And while Malchow made it clear that it was not easy to replicate meat and cheese flavors using plants, after a lot of hard work and dedication the team came together and created something they were proud to serve to their customers.

We will definitely be continuing to innovate in this area,” Malchow said. “It’s a part of our routine now and will continue to be, moving forward. We've got some ideas in the hopper now, but we're not ready to tell anyone about them — not yet, anyways.”

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- menu pricing (topic)
- menu innovation (topic)
- Toppers Pizza (company)
- vegan options (topic)
- Mac Malchow (person)
- plant-based eating (topic)

---
Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/pizza-marketplace-toppers-commits-to-plant-based-eating-in-a-big-way-2716288). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/18511028-54b1-45e4-ab20-a683be4f5c24).