Macphie | Insight | What is hot for pizza toppings in 2019?

by Diane Cosgrove

Pizza is a staple of the food industry, crossing all categories.

Whether you are serving it to go, to eat in, or to put on a shelf and take away to be cooked elsewhere, pizza is likely to be part of your offering.

So what does the future hold for pizza in 2019?

Mintel reports that half of today’s pizza eaters are looking for more gourmet toppings from their frozen supermarket pizzas, as they perceive these to be a healthier option.

Buyers like to share, with 50% looking for their pizza toppings to be different on each half.

This is reflected in the effort undertaken by frozen pizza manufacturers to replicate the takeaway experience more closely.

All about the base

Pizza bases were bread, thick, thin or with a stuffed crust, but always wheat flour.

Sourdough is becoming the hallmark of a gourmet pizza with all the large supermarkets using it as their premium base.

The influence of the street food trend has been seen in the use of naan, tortilla and other ethnic flatbreads instead of the usual dough.

High protein pizzas are now available and are gaining distribution in the market.  These bases are made with high protein, low carbohydrate ingredients, which are tapping into the high protein trend.

Building on that trend is the use of doughs made from spinach, beetroot, omelettes and cauliflower to even a Yorkshire pudding pizza base that went viral earlier this year.

The secret sauce

There has traditionally been a bechamel or red tomato sauce on the base of each pizza to moisten the bread and keep the topping in place.

The advent of vegan pizzas is part of an evolution as pizza moves from being a traditional Italian dish to a world food that crosses trends in eating.

The sauce is now tapping into the trend for world spices, from soy and sriracha to chipotle and barbeque, making a fundamental difference to the overall taste.

Top it all off

The choice of toppings is infinite.

No longer is pineapple seen as daring, you can have everything and anything.

The popular vegan pulled pork substitute, jackfruit, is finding its way onto many high street menus as a pizza topping and people are looking for on-trend high protein or world food on their pizza.

The main supermarkets are offering vegan and premium gourmet pizzas and the Gen Z target market is willing to try them out.

What’s amore?

Sweet pizzas arrived on our shores a few years ago and have slowly carved themselves a slice of the market.

With a sweet white sauce and a rocky road or brownie topping, these pizzas are a great way to stretch the trend.

Breakfast

Breakfast pizza has long been shorthand for finishing off leftovers at home.

But new on the market is a specially designed breakfast pizza with a traditional Roman-style light and crispy breakfast pizza base.

With a 9.5% increase in people eating breakfast on the go and 40% of those breakfasts bought by Gen Z consumers, it’s a possibility that deserves consideration.

Macphie’s experience in product development has helped many operators with their pizza offerings.

For more information, contact our customer services.

 

Sources: Mintel, The Grocer, technomic.com