General Assembly Holdings Ltd., Toronto, has introduced its first co-branded pizza, a collaboration with Redwood City, CA-based Impossible Foods. The New York Sicilian, reportedly the first frozen pizza to be made with the plant-based meat, will be sold at 118 Metro grocery stores across Ontario, Canada. 

GA Pizza debuted its better-for-you frozen pizza in 2020, with the launch of its world-first pizza subscription service. The company’s CPG frozen pizza offering now is available in more than 650 retail locations across Canada. 

“It was a natural fit to choose Impossible Beef as our plant-based topping—I’ve been a fan of the brand since it first arrived in Canada,” says Ali Khan Lalani, founder and president, GA Pizza. “We love providing consumers with easy, craveable options that don’t compromise on quality or taste. Our team strongly values culinary innovation and Impossible Foods felt like a like-minded brand to expand our product offering.”

The vegetarian New York Sicilian was jointly crafted by General Assembly’s Corporate Executive Chef Curt Martin, and Impossible Foods’ in-house team of culinary experts. The two chefs teamed up to develop the co-branded product using General Assembly’s signature 100% naturally leavened dough as a canvas. The Impossible Beef is seasoned with a blend of fennel seed, cayenne pepper, and garlic blend, along with red onions and sweet-yet-subtle Lombardi peppers, then topped with mozzarella. The pies are par-baked and freshly frozen.

“Our mission at Impossible Foods is to make our plant-based meat just as available and accessible as conventional meat from animals,” says Dan Greene, senior vice president of North American sales at Impossible Foods. “That includes frozen pizza, which is a huge category that we’ve yet to penetrate. General Assembly is such an innovator in the space and like Impossible, they’re dedicated to making delicious, craveable consumer products that don’t sacrifice quality for convenience.”

The New York Sicilian pizza is available exclusively at Metro’s Ontario stores. The co-branded offering is supported by GA Pizza's distribution partners, UNFI and Horizon, and is expected to roll out to additional retail partners beginning in November. The New York Sicilian pizza will launch to GA Pizza’s subscriber base (Ontario and BC) through gapizza.com in November.