Concept Creation | Culinary, Brand, Experience

Designing a modern plant-based pizzeria for flexitarian and vegan consumers.

Consumption of plant-based and vegan foods is a long-term trend, which continues to accelerate as we move into the future. The demand comes not necessarily from “vegans”. Instead, an increasingly “flexitarian” approach to diet allows diners in the United States and globally to opt for vegan or plant-based meals, not as a restrictive diet in itself, but as a preferred, sometimes indulgent, addition to their wider eating habits. Whitespace exists in today’s restaurant landscape for a Vegan or Plant-based restaurant brand is approachable as traditional fast casual, and provides today’s diners the options they need to satisfy their new preferences. The Oso Capital team approached The Culinary Edge with a passion project rooted in personal experience as well as market whitespace to realize the vision for a plant-based fast casual restaurant.

The Culinary Edge began the design process by focusing on four categories of brand, offering, experience, and operations. We lead thoughtful discussions with the Oso Capital team to gain a deep understanding of their vision to establish key frameworks and hone in on key aspects of the concept. From there, we evaluated the market landscape through active experiential research of concepts, target guest interviews, and secondary research around trends and existing concepts. 

We learned that in order to achieve broad appeal, the brand should be positioned with the approachability of the offering. Through examining our target guests and their need-states, we found that a single concept cannot credibly tackle all occasions and that the concept should be strategically designed to cater to an optimal subset of occasions. Our deep understanding of the marketspace led us to believe that we should base the concept on appealing to a flexitarian consumer who prioritizes plant-based eating, but is not strictly meatless. These foundational insights allowed us to lay a framework for a unique plant-based concept.

Building from our framework, we identified three specific territories to play in as a plant-based concept, taking into account the market whitespace, F&B offering, guest & service experience, and operational model. We mapped each territory on a fast-casual spectrum, a health spectrum, by day parts and offering, and by complexity of operations. From there, we workshopped the territories with the Oso Capital team and aligned upon moving forward with “Vegan John’s | A plant-based pizza concept”. 

Developing the concept from territory involved intensive work sessions around culinary, brand, and experience rooted in market insights as well as our target flexitarian consumer. We delved deeper into the pizza landscape in the United States and found whitespace in positioning our concept as a plant-based pizzeria, and designing a vegetable-forward menu that you can feel good about putting in your body. We discovered that plant-based pizza options in the existing marketplace typically feel like a compromise to the deliciousness and joy of eating pizza. By designing a delicious plant-based pizza concept, we created a plant-based pizza eating experience without compromise. 

Through brand strategy work sessions, we ideated a persona and mission, vision, and values that aligned with our vision as well as the target flexitarian consumer. We created a bold and custom logo type to match the wild and fun nature of the brand for a modern and expressive feel. Our color palette is designed around green, yellow, and red with hues that draw from the natural and fresh ingredients we have to offer. Our name, Wild Pie, stems from our fresh take on pizza and the vision that we can make plant-based pizza wildly delicious.

Through intensive guest journey and interior design work sessions, we created a space where guests can conveniently pick up pizza on the go as well as casually dine-in in a warm atmosphere with copper hues, natural wood, and food theater of assembling and baking pizzas. The ambiance is vibrant and warm, displaying our quality ingredients and credibility as pizza experts. The FOH and BOH layout design takes into consideration an optimal guest journey and operational feasibility from a labor and financial perspective.

Through culinary work sessions and tastings, we created an offering with personality through highlighting the adventurous and vibrant nature of the brand and building credibility, while ensuring the highest level of fidelity around pantry planning (SKU-cross utilization) and pricing guardrails. Vegan ingredients are strategically menued the same as their dairy-full and meat-full counterparts to be approachable and not overtly vegan. You’ll find menu items named “Phony Pepperoni” and “Taco Bout It”, call outs such as as “housemade”, and seasonal specials. In terms of pantry, we researched and tasted over TKTK plant-based cheeses and meats to find the best-in-class ingredients.

Six months after project inception, and as a near-final step in the process, we came together in person in San Francisco to finalize the culinary, brand, and experience elements of Wild Pie through a menu tasting, schematic and design review and workshop, and visual identity and assets review and workshop (menu design, t-shirts, and advertisements).

Welcome to Wild Pie, a modern American pizzeria made 100% plant-based where you can have your favorite pizza reimagined in plant-forward deliciousness or discover a new favorite with our original toppings and sauces. With flavors this good, plant-lovers and meat-lovers alike will want to have a taste of the wild side. Wild Pie has now launched both a food truck and brick and mortar in Jacksonville, Florida.