A chance connection with the CEO of a large vegan food company led the owner of a Richmond restaurant to launch a line of frozen vegan pizzas.
Evan Byrne launched The Hop Craft Pizza & Beer with a partner five years ago in a former gas station on Cary Street. The restaurant has a large beer selection and serves pizzas, sandwiches and salads.
“We have a big vegan clientele,” Byrne said. “I have been living in Richmond for 12 years, and I know Richmond has a big vegan base, and I wanted to be as inclusive as possible. I wanted everybody to have an option.”
The restaurant was originally getting its vegan cheese through Unmoofoods, a Richmond startup. Byrne said he had a good relationship with the company, and people liked the vegan pizza. But Unmoofoods started to have problems and eventually went out of business.
The restaurant was not able to offer vegan pizzas with a locally produced vegan cheese, so Byrne decided he would try to make his own.
“I just started experimenting…
Read the full story from the Washington Business Journal.
