Vegan pizza chain Purezza to expand into retail and overseas

The UK’s first vegan pizza chain Purezza is now set to take on the world, with plans to expand into the overseas market as well as launching their signature vegan mozzarella in the retail sector. Along with the help of investors from across the globe, the chain has raised enough funding to take it mainstream.

With four locations across the south: Bristol, London, Brighton, and Hove, Purezza has certainly made a name for itself. The chain even won National Pizza of the Year award in 2018, beating 14 dairy-cheese pizzas to the top spot.

Vegan mozzarella

Purezza will be opening an 8,000 square foot factory to mass-produce their Italian brown rice milk mozzarella onto shelves across the country.

“This is an opportunity to enjoy the Purezza experience from home,” Purezza Co-Founder Tim Barclay said. “Our plant-based mozzarella is designed to rival premium Italian buffalo mozzarella. [It gives] the same quality and flavor that people expect from a classic food, but with modern and sustainable methods of production.

“We can’t wait for people to be able to cook with it themselves.”

• Google searches for ‘vegan food near me’ skyrockets by over 2000%
• Vegan pizzeria Purezza to open Bristol branch on the site of a former butchers
• EU Parliament votes to keep ‘veggie burgers’ but bans ‘vegan cheese’

‘People find giving up cheese more difficult than meat’

Vegan investment firm Veg Capital also took part in the funding, with the aim to focus specifically on bringing Purezza’s cheese to the retail sector.

Managing Director Matthew Glover explained: “Over the years of promoting Veganuary and surveying participants, it became clear to me that people find giving up cheese more difficult than meat.

“Creating alternatives to dairy cheese is a hugely important element to helping shift society to plant-based diets.”

Purezza’s huge success across the South is an indicator of changing attitudes towards vegan alternatives, and we hope that when their mozzarella hits the supermarket shelves it will inspire even more consumers to give up dairy cheese.

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