Pizza innovation in food service
Growth in restaurant delivery during pandemic spurs new pizza development.
Domino’s Chicken Taco and Cheeseburger Pizzas
Domino’s Pizza
Domino’s Pizza has added a pair of specialty pizzas. Domino’s Chicken Taco Pizza has American cheese, taco seasoning, grilled chicken, onions, green peppers, tomatoes, provolone and cheddar cheese. Domino’s Cheeseburger Pizza is topped with a ketchup-mustard sauce, American cheese, beef, onions, tomatoes, provolone and cheddar cheese.
Papa Murphy’s plant-based pepperoni-style pizza topping
Papa Murphy’s
Papa Murphy’s has partnered with Hormel Foods Corp. to offer a plant-based pepperoni-style topping at select locations. From Hormel’s Happy Little Plants brand, the item is soy-based and flavored with a blend of garlic, paprika and red and black pepper.
Your Pie Chicken Al Pastor Pizza
Your Pie
Fast-casual pizza chain Your Pie in August introduced the Chicken Al Pastor Pizza, topped with avocado-pineapple salsa, jalapeño, mozzarella, smoked chipotle ranch and lime.
Rapid Fired Pizza Smoky BBQ Chicken Pizza
Rapid Fired Pizza
In July, Rapid Fired Pizza introduced the Smoky BBQ Chicken Pizza, featuring applewood barbecue sauce, chicken, ham, cheddar jack cheese, red onion and ranch dressing.
Mod Pizza Diego Pizza
Mod Pizza
Mod Pizza in July added the Diego Pizza, topped with red sauce, mozzarella, feta, cilantro, red onion, roasted corn and pork chorizo.
Papa John’s Shaq-a-Roni Pizza
Papa John’s
In July, Papa John’s launched the Shaq-a-Roni Pizza, made in collaboration with board member and restaurant owner Shaquille O’Neal. The pie is an extra-large pizza topped with extra cheese and extra pepperoni that is cut into the pizza chain’s largest slice size to-date, the company said.
Grimaldi’s Barbecue Chicken Pizza
Grimaldi’s Pizzeria
Grimaldi’s Pizzeria launched its Summer Selections menu in June, featuring the new Barbecue Chicken Pizza. The pie is made with Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce, oven roasted chicken, smoked bacon, red onion and cilantro.
Little Caesars Pepperoni Cheeser! Cheeser! Pizza
Little Caesars
Little Caesars in May introduced the Pepperoni Cheeser! Cheeser! Pizza, featuring a large pizza topped with pepperoni, high-moisture mozzarella and basil and edged with a toasted asiago-Parmesan crust.
Jet’s Pizza Mexican Pizza
Jet’s Pizza
Jet’s Pizza celebrated the Cinco de Mayo holiday in May with the new Mexican Pizza. The pie is topped with chorizo, mozzarella, cheddar cheese, black olives, diced tomatoes and jalapeños.
“The limited-time offers, like the Mexican Pizza, are a fun way for us to experiment with different flavor combinations and get a better idea of what our customers are interested in for future menu additions,” said John Jetts, president of Jet's America Inc. “With Cinco de Mayo kicking off the summer months, we thought this was the perfect time to get this new pizza out there for our customers to enjoy.”
1000 Degrees Pizza Green Team Pizza
1000 Degrees Pizza
In May, 1000 Degrees Pizza partnered with Caulipower to develop a new pizza featuring Caulipower’s cauliflower crust. The Green Team Pizza is topped with pesto, mozzarella, feta, chopped garlic, broccoli, red onions and basil.
Pizza Hut Mozzarella Poppers Pizza
Yum! Brands, Inc.
In February, Pizza Hut debuted the Mozzarella Poppers Pizza, featuring crust topped with 16 crispy mozzarella-stuffed squares. The squares are baked with a mix of garlic, onion, Parmesan, Italian seasonings, parsley, basil, oregano and mozzarella cheese. The pizza comes with two sides of marinara sauce for dipping.
Pieology Protein Style Chicken Base Pizza
Pieology Pizzeria
Pieology Pizzeria in February unveiled the Protein Style Chicken Base, a crust made of white-meat chicken, eggs and cheese. Created in tandem with Foster Farms, the new base is keto certified and gluten-free. The base contains 44 grams of protein, 2 grams of carbs and 280 calories.
Cicis Pizza Garlic Parmesan Crust Pizza
Cicis Pizza
In February, Cicis Pizza started serving new Garlic Parmesan Crust pizzas. The crust may be found on the pepperoni pizza and alfredo pizza and is also available on any round pizza for carryout.
Newk’s Eatery Cauliflower Crust Pizza
Newk’s Eatery
New from Newk’s Eatery in January, Cauliflower Pizza Crust is a plant-based, gluten-friendly option that may be used with any Newk’s pizza.
“Our guests have come to know and love our delicious Newcomb Family Recipes, and we're delighted to provide a plant-forward option to fuel any lifestyle and make keeping New Year’s resolutions easy,” said Chris Newcomb, co-founder and chief executive officer of Newk’s. “We truly believe wholesome is the new healthy in 2020, and we're striving to continue exceeding the expectations of our guests with this new offering.”
Donatos cauliflower crust pizzas with plant-based sausage
Donatos Pizza
Donatos Pizza in January debuted three new 10-inch cauliflower crust pizzas featuring plant-based sausage.
The Cauliflower Bruschetta Pizza includes red sauce, smoked provolone, green peppers, onions, tomato bruschetta, spinach and plant-based sausage.
The Cauliflower Garden Pizza is made with red sauce, smoked provolone, green peppers, onions, mushrooms and plant-based sausage.
The Cauliflower Heat Pizza is topped with red sauce, smoked provolone, pepper jack cheese, jalapeños, crushed red pepper and plant-based sausage.
“Our menu innovation and culinary team did a tremendous job developing these pizzas,” said Tom Krouse, president and chief executive officer of Donatos. “Donatos strives to bring trending flavors and premium ingredients to our customers, and we are excited to add these delicious options to the Donatos menu as it provides more individual choice.”
Mod Pizza Lucia Pizza
Mod Pizza
New at MOD Pizza in January, the Lucia Pizza features a spicy Calabrian chili red sauce base topped with shredded mozzarella, ricotta, pepperoni and basil.
“The spicy red sauce for The Lucia was created with Calabrian chili peppers — a variety of small, but very flavorful chilis from the Calabria region of Southern Italy,” said Brian Figler, culinary manager at MOD Pizza. “They add a wonderful spice to this pizza — and perfectly complement the creamy ricotta and smoky pepperoni.”
Papa John’s Extra Cheesy Alfredo Garlic Parmesan Crust Pizza
Papa John’s
Cheese championed the new pizza Papa John’s launched in January. The Extra Cheesy Alfredo Garlic Parmesan Crust Pizza is topped with alfredo sauce, a blend of provolone, fontina and asiago cheese, and an extra portion of mozzarella cheese all served on a garlic parmesan crust.
7-Eleven Breakfast Pizza
7-Eleven, Inc.
7-Eleven, Inc. bolstered its breakfast food offerings in January with a new personal-size breakfast pizza.
Featuring a flaky biscuit crust, the 5-inch pie is topped with white gravy, scrambled eggs, sausage crumbles, bacon, ham and a blend of mozzarella and cheddar cheese. The hot and ready-to-eat pizza is available in the hot foods case of 7-Eleven stores during the morning hours for a suggested retail price of $2.
“7-Eleven stores’ busiest time of day is right in the heart of traditional breakfast hours, and people are hungry,” said Robin Murphy, fresh foods product director for 7-Eleven. “We took our busiest time of day and (one of) our customers’ favorite hot foods — pizza — to create what we think will become a breakfast favorite that is delicious and easy to eat on the go.”
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