Garden Truck Foods launches Kickstarter to take its red bean pepperoni nationwide

Garden Truck Foods, the Florida plant-based food company behind a long-running local favorite, has launched a Kickstarter campaign to scale its Red Bean Pepperoni and bring it to retail shelves and foodservice customers across the USA. The effort marked the first major expansion step for the product, which the company plans to showcase at The Future of Protein Production Chicago on 24/25 February 2026.

The focus of the campaign was the company’s artisanal Red Bean Pepperoni, described as smoky, spicy, and unmistakably pepperoni despite being made from pinto beans. Garden Truck Foods said the product reflected more than 10 years of refinement. Gail Patak, Chef and Food Innovator at the company, said the guiding principle had always been consistent. “We’ve been reimagining plant-based food that doesn’t taste like alternative. It tastes like the real deal, just smarter and more sustainable,” she said.

The pepperoni contained 11g of plant protein per serving and relied on only nine ingredients, all drawn from whole foods rather than isolates or powders. Pinto beans served as the primary base, delivering the texture and mild flavor profile the company sought while also offering a lower environmental footprint. The pepperoni was cured for 48 hours, a process Garden Truck Foods said deepened flavor in the same way traditional charcuterie relied on time to develop complexity.

Patak said the recipe evolved through continuous feedback from real-world use. “It started as a 'chef-y' experiment in flavor and sustainability and turned into a cult favorite we couldn’t keep in stock,” she said. Small-batch sales, community events, and catering allowed the team to test versions and adjust ingredients repeatedly as the product gained a following.

Garden Truck Foods traced its roots to 2013, when Gail and co-founder Ron Patak opened the Garden Truck Café in Jacksonville, the city’s first completely vegan and eco-focused restaurant. The café grew into a community space known for events ranging from vegan lunches that supported local causes to vegfest pop-ups and fundraising nights. Those years helped shape the company’s approach to plant-based food and the expectations of its customers.

By 2018, the business expanded into catering and food production. The red bean pepperoni became a standout item, prompting the founders to consider broader distribution. Gail Patak brought more than 25 years of experience in hospitality and product development, including her work launching The Kitchen at Farm Sanctuary, the nonprofit’s first on-site eatery designed for mission-driven meals at scale. Ron Patak contributed operational expertise built across years of growing and structuring restaurant concepts.

The Kickstarter campaign was supported by what the company described as a small, tight-knit team that had championed the pepperoni from its earliest days. Patak said that community values sat at the core of the company’s identity. “As a mission-driven company, we don’t just rely on our community. We invest in it,” she said. “Community impact isn’t a side project. It’s at the heart of everything we do.”

Garden Truck Foods chose Kickstarter to support scaling in a controlled and transparent way. Funds raised through the campaign were intended to go toward upgrading equipment for larger batch production, allowing the company to meet rising demand without compromising quality. Additional funding would support the development of improved packaging designed to be shelf-ready, visually compelling, and aligned with sustainability objectives.

The company also planned to use part of the funding to create new marketing assets, including photography and demo kits, to help introduce the pepperoni to food buyers, chefs, and retailers. Meeting the requirements for both retail and foodservice channels was a key goal of the campaign.

Garden Truck Foods acknowledged that scaling introduced risks, including potential delays related to equipment upgrades, packaging work, and supplier timelines. These challenges were familiar to the team, which had produced and sold the pepperoni in small batches for several years with incremental improvements throughout.

Patak said the size and scope of the Kickstarter were intentional. “We’ve poured years into this pepperoni, and every contribution helps us move forward with care, transparency, and a whole lot of gratitude,” she said.

With the launch of the campaign, Garden Truck Foods moved from a decade of local testing and refinement toward a national market, aiming to maintain the character and flavor that built its early following while expanding the product into broader distribution.