DELI BUSINESS

PREPARED FOODS
Pizza:
Keep It High Quality
But Simple
Time-tested ingredients still big favorites
BY BOB JOHNSON
Few foods appeal to such a
diversity of people as pizza
— the faintest whiff of
which can get so many of us
craving a slice or two.
“There is nothing better than the taste
of comfort and the wonderful memories it
brings when eating something you love,”
says Deb Crissan, senior vice president
for sales and marketing at Rao’s Specialty
Foods, New York, NY. “Pizza is a food
category that continues to grow each year,
and pleases everyone at any age.”
However, while the category may still
be growing, the challenge is finding a way
to stand out from the crowd of pizza parlors,
home delivery businesses, take-andbake
outlets, and frozen retail products, all
of varying price and quality.
Despite this formidable competition,
pizza sales at the deli continue to increase,
according to statistics compiled by the International
Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association
of Madison, WI.
Deli pizza sales topped $280 million
for the quarter ending March 2015, which
represented an increase of more than
11 percent compared to the previous year.
As mature as the category is, last year’s
sales in the deli grew at an even faster
rate for pizza than for salads, sandwiches
and entrées.
Make It Interesting And Authentic
The solution to the fiercely competitive
marketplace may be found in an array of
pizza ingredients that are readily available
in the cold case.
“The best way the deli can differentiate
itself is to feature fresh deli items as ingredients
— the cheeses and the meats,” says
Greg Caloia, marketing and communications
manager at Deiorio’s Frozen Dough,
Utica, NY. “That will highlight the things
the deli has to offer.”
The deli can rise above the competition
— which may be more economical or more
convenient— by offering authentic, fresh,
high quality ingredients not found elsewhere,
experts say.
“People are looking for good products;
they want tomatoes that look like tomatoes
and chicken that looks like chicken,”
says Brad Sterl, chief executive at Rustic
Crust in Pittsfield, NH. “We have a
new line of wood-fired products. We will
be ready for the deli in 2016. It will be
clean label.”
Natural flavoring ingredients can make
for pizza dough that is both inviting and
relatively healthy.
“We’re seeing a lot of interest in herbs,
either in or on the crust,” says Sterl. “Basil
and sea salt is a big one. People want something
other than ‘me too.’”
Information is moving much faster these
days, which makes keeping on top of trends
more challenging and exciting.
“With the growth of food and cooking-driven
blogs and online media, there is
much more information for the Millennial
consumer to digest in terms of creative
OCT/NOV OCT/NOV 2015 DELI BUSINESS 41