Supermarket Perimeter - March 2020 - 63

INSIDER
TECHNOLOGY

OPERATIONS

Ensuring freshness

Adding spice

An organic ﬁrst

PIZZA
by Andy Nelson

THE PIZZA PLANT

PIZZA HAS ALWAYS BEEN A
FOOD BLESSED BY VARIETY.
Thin crust, thick crust. New York
style, Chicago style and everything in between. And of course a
nearly endless array of toppings.
Today's food environment
adds even more complexity to
the pizza mix. In pizza crusts
alone, consumers can choose
from conventional, gluten-free
and vegan crusts. Cauliﬂower,
sweet potato, broccoli, beet root?
Yep, they're all used to make
pizza crusts.
Add to that consumer demand
for authenticity, clean labels, local
ingredients, texture and exotic
cuisines, and the possibilities for
pies expand even further.
For grocery retailers looking
to make their prepared foods
sections stand out, there's never
been a better time then now to do
it with pizza. All that variety in the
category translates to countless
opportunities to ﬁnd your niche,
and pizza ingredient suppliers are
there to meet the need.

Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods
Market, already known by many
for the quality of its hot to-go
pizza, added another chapter to
its pizza story in January.
The retailer partnered with
Pasadena, California-based The
Pizza Plant to deliver the ﬁrst
USDA-certiﬁed organic take and
bake plant based pizzas.
Stores in California, Arizona
and Nevada began selling the
pies on Jan. 15.
The Pizza Plant is known for
its enormous 13-Topping, CBDinfused, plant-based Nacho Pizza
and its decked out, bright green
tour bus-sized pizza kitchen
serving unique pies prepared
on a scratch-made artisan crust
loaded with a symphony of creative-yet-complimentary sauces,
toppings, and garnishes.
Whole Foods' prepared foods
departments and pizza stations
are offering four Pizza Plant pies:
1. The Sink Not Included.
House-made ancho chilled
spiced tofu peperone slices &
Italian spiced wheat crumble, bell
peppers, onions, Kalamata olives,
made from scratch mozzarella
style cashew nut cheese & marinara atop an artisan crust.

2. Yes, We Will Take You to
Funghi Town. Roasted baby bella
mushrooms, broccoli, housemade pumpkin seed pesto,
shaved red onion & made from
scratch mozzarella style cashew
nut cheese atop an artisan crust.
3. Sinful Yet Guilt-Free. Housemade Italian spiced wheat crumble, cured shiitake bits, shaved
fennel, made from scratch mozzarella style cashew nut cheese &
marinara atop an artisan crust.
4. Not Your Grandma's. Made
from scratch mozzarella style
cashew nut cheese & marinara
atop an artisan crust.
The 10 in pies are packaged
in an eco-friendly, certiﬁed
compostable oven-safe to 425° F/
Microwavable TreeSaver™ Pizza
Pans made in the U.S.

Adding CBD to the mix
Melrose Park, Illinois-based Caputo
Cheese is bringing CBD to the pizza ingredients market with its new
Elevated Cow fresh mozzarella.
The CBD-infused variety
comes from 100% organic hemp
sourced in the U.S. and lab-tested
and veriﬁed.
"A rigorous amount of research
and testing went into developing
Elevated Cow and we are excited

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to provide our customers with
a new cheese experience," says
Natale Caputo, Caputo Cheese's
president.
After having a positive personal experience with CBD,
Caputo had the idea to craft
something unique: his company's
award-winning fresh mozzarella
elevated with CBD.
After rigorous lab tests, Caputo
put his stamp of approval on
the cheese and began working
to make CBD fresh mozzarella
available to cheese lovers looking
for elevated offerings.
"I believe in the positive effects
of CBD," he says. "Infusing CBD
into my passion for fresh mozzarella just seemed natural."
MARCH 2020 - 63

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Supermarket Perimeter - March 2020

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