Trends in pizza: elevating the crust to a new level

Trends in pizza: elevating the crust to a new level

No matter how you cut it, toppings are the weapons used in the pizza world’s power struggles. However, the real winner is what lies beneath the consistently popular top-sellers like cheese, pepperoni, and supreme variants, as well as lesser-known options like hot honey barbecue and tandoori pie with inspiration from around the world.

When it comes to choosing frozen pizza from their local aisles, Maddie Essman, senior marketing manager at Schwan’s Consumer Brands Inc., stated that crust type is the most important factor in consumers’ decisions.

The Red Baron brand has launched a number of new types in recent years, such as its Fully Loaded Original Pizza and Stuffed Crust Pizza. The Red Baron Fully Loaded Hand Tossed Style Crust Pizza, an expansion of Schwan’s Fully Loaded Original Crust Pizza, which made its debut in 2021, is now being introduced by the Bloomington, Minnesota-based company.

“Within the restaurant pizza industry, we noticed a sizable number of consumers who seek out hand-tossed pizza,” Ms. Essman stated. In quick-serve restaurants and pizzerias all around the country, this is the crust variety that sells the best. Nevertheless, less than 1% of frozen pizzas on the market were made with this crust type.

The hand-tossed pizza dough, she continued, is chewy and soft on the inside yet crisp enough on the outside to prevent “flopping” when a slice is held in place. In contrast to the brand’s original pizza crust, which Ms. Essman referred to as “crispy and airy — like a deep-dish pan-style pizza,” it is designed to offer customers a luxurious, restaurant-style experience.

According to Mintel’s 2022 analysis on the US pizza category, “it’s all about the crust” in terms of consumer preferences, from the perspective of a market researcher.

The survey found that even while a sizable percentage of retail pizza buyers show interest in specialty variants and expensive toppings, those ideas are likely to fail if the dough isn’t cooked properly.

For the past three years, the pizza sector has been quite a roller coaster. According to a Mintel analysis, sales of retail pizza, which includes frozen pizza, take-and-bake pizza that is refrigerated, and pizza kits and components, experienced a 24% jump in 2020 during the pandemic, surpassing the gains made by numerous other food categories. Unit sales returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2022, however sales dipped in 2021 and increased again in 2022 due to inflation.

This year, the freezer cabinet remains in that state. Data from Circana for the 52 weeks ended May 13 shows that while units fell 3.1%, frozen pizza sales increased 10.2% to about $6.9 billion. Any unit reduction was more than offset by the 13.7% increase in the average price per unit.

“It’s amazing to consider a 10% growth while losing 3% in unit sales,” stated Sally Lyons Wyatt, Circana’s executive vice president and practice leader for client insights. “It demonstrates that pizza remains a popular category in the stores.”The competitive advantages of the frozen pizza market are convenience and cost.People store it in their freezers at home and can grab it whenever they want to bake it,” the spokesperson stated.

As unit sales increased 8% over the previous year, deli department pizza is booming, gaining 16.5% to nearly $2.1 billion, according to Circana. Sales of entire pizzas increased by 17.1% to $1.2 billion, with a 9.9% increase in units. Slices by themselves increased 16.1% to $532.2 million, while deli units increased 6.8%. While sales of deli calzones fell, the smaller all-other pizza segment grew at a double-digit rate as well.

According to Ms. Lyons Wyatt, price is a further factor driving deli pizza sales, particularly for customers who commute more frequently.

A vastly different planet

In recent years, a lot of pizza manufacturers have concentrated on developing various crust recipes.

Ms. Lyons Wyatt stated, “We see more innovation around the crust itself, so you might have a filled crust or a pretzel crust or flatbreads.”Under its trademarks, which include DiGiorno, California Pizza Kitchen, Jack’s, Lean Cuisine, Life Cuisine, Stouffer’s, and Sweet Earth, Nestle USA, located in Arlington, Virginia, sells a range of crusts.

A representative for the firm stated, “DiGiorno is constantly reimagining how to bring fan-favorite pizza styles to people’s kitchens as a category leader known for its crust.” “The brand addressed the ongoing thick crust versus thin crust debate by introducing two new pizza varieties recently.”

Nestle has chosen three consumer trends to center its innovation strategy around. First, the representative claimed that decadent selections like DiGiorno Fully Stuffed Crust Pizza offer “over-the-top taste.” Second, the business is expanding its DiGiorno personal pizza line to include two new hand-tossed crust styles, Chicken Alfredo and BBQ Recipe Chicken, to cater to new dining circumstances and liven up snack time. Pizzas like DiGiorno Gluten Free Crust Pizza, Life Cuisine Carb Wise Keto-Friendly Veggie Pizza, and Sweet Earth plant-based pizzas are included in the third category, which caters to dietary needs.

According to the spokesman, “people’s dietary preferences are constantly evolving as consumers look for convenient options that meet those lifestyle changes.”

Pizza is not just circular at Molinaro’s Fine Italian Foods; it’s also rectangle. The Mississauga, Ontario-based company sells 6-by-12-inch stone-baked flatbreads with additional toppings for private label store brands. Some of the variations available are Buffalo Style, Bruschetta, and spinach and cheese, to mention a few.

Vice president of sales and marketing Joe Delduco stated, “The flatbreads could be used for entertaining or sliced for an appetizer, but they can also be used as a pizza for dinner.” “You just need to remove two or three, and they will all fit into the oven at once.”

Moreover, the flatbreads offer greater portion control than traditional pizzas.”The majority of individuals won’t consume a 12- or 14-inch circular pizza; however, they might purchase two flatbreads due to their smaller serving size and lower cost,” he stated.

The New York-based Vandemoortele USA provides a wide range of products for in-store bakery/delis and foodservice providers, including thick focaccia, ciabatta, and pizza crusts as well as pinsa, a light and airy sourdough prepared in its northern Italian bakeries using a biga beginning.

At the recent 2023 International Dairy Deli Bakery Association event, Johan Coppens, master baker and culinary/technical adviser for Vandemoortele Europe NV, Ghent, Belgium, stated that pinsa is unquestionably a trend. Because pinsa is naturally wonderful, I see more of it being prepared in Europe as well as here in America. There is no yeast involved—just water, salt, flour, olive oil, and biga.

Other pizza producers are concentrating on the crust. Nothing But Crust is sold frozen by Home Run Inn in cartons of two. The Chicago-based company invites customers to customize their own renditions of the Windy City favorite on its distinctive buttery crust, in addition to offering menu choices on the package. Based in New York A few years ago, The Pizza Cupcake had an appearance on “Shark Tank.”

Increasing the value of pizza

Ms. Essman anticipates that consumers on a tight budget would look for additional frozen pizza options as a result of ongoing inflation.

“We are witnessing customers switching from diner pizza to high-quality frozen pizza,” the spokesperson stated. “By switching over, these customers can still get a great pizza for a much lower price.”In an effort to save money on groceries, she also observed a rise in the consumption of value pizza.”A Red Baron pizza costs about $5, and a Tony’s pizza costs about $4,” Ms. Essman stated. “The whole family will love the tasty and reasonably priced pizzas that these options offer.”

According to a survey by Mintel, almost 75% of respondents said their family has consumed pizza from a store during the previous three months.

Here are two important things to remember, though. The majority of retail pizza customers—more than 75%—agree that delivery pizza tastes better. As per Mintel, this implies that the benchmark for evaluating the quality of retail pizza stays to be delivery.

Second, the survey revealed that almost 50% of customers of retail pizza expressed a desire to see more frozen and refrigerated pizza with additional toppings, suggesting that some may think toppings on retail pizza are “skimpy.” Products that deliver on their promises of additional cheese or toppings are likely to appeal to a more receptive audience, according to Mintel. Maybe that’s why so many manufacturers provide alternatives for “loaded” or extra toppings.

According to Ms. Lyons Wyatt, “we have to find ways to defray additional price increases because if we keep increasing double digits, we’re going to price ourselves out of consumers’ pocketbooks. The way to do that is through penetration, buy rate, and frequency.” “We must figure out how to get into new houses and/or persuade the ones that are already buying pizza to buy it more frequently or in larger quantities. To push additional units, that can call for buy-one-get-one, buy-three-get-one, or other incentives.

According to her, “every calendar year gets off to a great start because big football and basketball games create moments when consumers look to frozen pizza to feed their families and friends.” “Frozen pizza is a tasty and practical choice for families when students return to school in the late summer or early fall. Throughout the fourth quarter, there is still a surge in demand for frozen pizza as people search for ways to simplify dinner preparation and serve crowd-pleasing options when they get together with their loved ones for the holidays.

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new and specially crafted

Freshly baked pizzas are available in the deli for customers who want to heat them after returning from work or eat them right away. Take-and-bake continues to be a major focus area for British Columbia-based Pace Processing & Product Development, a division of Toronto-based Bond Bakery Brands, with its Artisan Hand Panned Pizza products leading the way.

Pace Processing President Sean Darrah stated, “Consumers are looking for high-quality products in the HMR (home meal replacement) set that offer value when compared to the products that can be purchased within the restaurant or foodservice space.”

Due to their hectic schedules, people frequently search for the simplest and fastest dinner to prepare, according to her. Our pizza crust not only tastes great, but it’s ideal for that. Additionally, we’ve witnessed an increase in pizza made at home. For a quick, homemade pizza night, any of our flatbreads would create the ideal crust.

Atoria’s produced a cauliflower and coconut keto-friendly pizza crust after their cauliflower and coconut mini lavash gained a lot of popularity among low-carb eaters. It’s introducing Mini Naan, which comes in Traditional and Upcycled Multigrain varieties and is manufactured from grains salvaged from the end of the beer brewing process, for creating customized pizzas.

According to Ms. Eshoo, “upcycling is a newer idea around the US, giving it plenty of opportunity to rise.” “Choosing upcycled products is one small way to divert food waste and reclaim high-protein, high-fiber grains by giving them this second life. Food waste affects 99% of Americans.” Pizza is a great way to use up leftovers and avoid waste, so it’s a win-win situation for customers who want to reduce their environmental impact.

“While certain offerings, like gluten-free, seem to have slowed down and may have reached a peak, consumer interest in no-carb pizza products continues to see higher traction in the frozen aisle,” Mr. Darrah said. Pizzas that are healthier for you continue to be a niche market for Pace Processing. The perception of consumer value in relation to the higher price point for some clients is one obstacle we observe to the category.