PIZZA WEEK
First ever National
Pizza Week
success is a resounding
The UK’s inaugural National Pizza Week was celebrated between 22 and the 28 November 2021. Here’s more about the event, and how you could get involved this year. HIGHLIGHTS Kicking off with the annual Pizza, Pasta & Italian Food Association (PAPA) Awards and culminating in an abundance of publicity for the industry, the first National Pizza Week was hailed by all involved as a resounding success. A homage to one of the nation’s favourite meals, celebrating pizza in all its cheesy, gooey, glory, the aims of the awareness week were to support our members to make a strong comeback and provide a much-needed boost to the economy. Alongside media agency, Pretzel Group, and working with sponsors Papa John’s, Stateside Foods and Goodfellas, PAPA shaped the pizza industry facts, statistics, trends, and research into data driven media stories that ran across hundreds of titles. PAPA members up and down the country were invited to get involved, with many sharing their news, ideas and putting on some brilliant offers for their customers, all of which contributed to taking the humble pizza to new levels of fame. In fact, news stories publicising National Pizza Week deals, from members of the association, ended up making it into big national titles such as the pages of Hello! magazine. 16
In total, there were 498 print and articles, interviews, and broadcast mentions, of National Pizza Week. The column inches generated for businesses, partners, and entrepreneurs as well as the industry as a whole, had a readership of 340million. Online coverage was shared on social media channels over 2,500 times. VEGANS TAKING A SLICE OF THE MARKET One story that really took off during National Pizza Week reflected the growing popularity of veganism, incorporating statistics from one of the leading takeaway pizza providers - Papa John’s. On analysis of sales figures, the pizza chain found that vegans were taking more than a slice of the market. A 154% rise in vegan sides and 81% rise in vegan pizzas were reported, demonstrating the trend for a plant-based diet as consumers switch on to its health and environmental benefits. The data also revealed that Southend is the vegan pizza capital of the UK. Papa John’s now has over 500 veganfriendly stores across the country, with six delicious vegan pizza options. The brand offered pizza lovers a massive 50% off vegan pizzas to celebrate both National Pizza Week and World Vegan Month which took place at the same time. “It’s fantastic to see demand for vegan food continue to grow every year, largely
driven by the incredible range of plantbased dishes available now to consumers,” said Giles Codd, senior marketing director at Papa John’s UK. UK’S FAVOURITE TOPPINGS REVEALED Research by sponsor Goodfella’s revealed the classic Margherita to be the nation’s favourite pizza, during National Pizza Week. We’ve seen toppings such as baked beans, smoked reindeer and even a banana and curry pizza tickle the nation’s tastebuds, however the data shows that UK has quite the reliable palate. Cheese pipped the meat dishes to the top spot as the favourite topping (42%), closely followed by Pepperoni (33%) and then Meat Feast (8%). Sam Dolan, head of marketing at Goodfella’s said: “We’re constantly seeing creative and unexpected flavour combinations emerge, but it’s clear to see that there is still a huge amount of love for the classics.” SHARING INDUSTRY KNOWLEDGE Something that always goes down well with the public is when industry experts and members share how to create a professional meal at home. So, when culinary director, and pizza specialist Michael Eyre shared how to quickly, easily, and cheaply convert any conventional oven to create the perfect slice of pizza, www.pizzapastamagazine.co.uk
