EVENTS & PROMOTIONS APRIL 2022

Industry Events

New England Food Show

April 3-5

Taking place in Boston, this regional event offers the industry’s latest products, services and technologies plus educational sessions and cooking demos. Keynote speakers include Michaela Mendelsohn, CEO of Pollo West Corporation; chef Richard Blais; and Marian LeitnerWaldman, CEO and co-founder of Archer Roose Collective. Learn more at newenglandfoodshow.com

World Pizza Championship

April 5-7

After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, this international event returns to Parma, Italy, in 2022. It will feature culinary competitions in categories including Classic Pizza, Pan Pizza, Neapolitan STG, Pizza for Two and Roman Pizza, plus acrobatic contests like Freestyle, Largest Dough Stretch and Fastest Pizza Maker. Learn more at campionatomondialedellapizza.it/eng/

Promote This!

Saturday, April 2

World Autism Awareness Day

Set aside this day to honor and spotlight your employees, employees’ family members or customers with autism. Use social media, including still photos and videos, to showcase their talents and skills and offer specials to families with autistic children or adults.

Tuesday, April 5

National Deep Dish Pizza Day

You say you don’t have deep-dish pizza on your menu? It’s a hugely popular style, so now might be the time to try out your own version. Offer the Chicago classic to members of your loyalty program at a reduced price and ask for their feedback.

Saturday, April 16 Day of the Mushroom

A 2021 YouGov survey ranked mushrooms as the third most popular pizza topping, and there are countless varieties to showcase on your pizzas. Create an LTO pie featuring your favorite fungi, design some trippy graphics and promote it on social media.

Tuesday, April 19

National Garlic Day

Showcase the grandeur of garlic in pies, pastas, sauces and other dishes featuring the “stinking rose.” Turn up the heat with Rocambole garlic or roast Purple Stripe garlic cloves, such as a Chesnok Red or Persian Star, for garlic ice cream—a sweet spring treat!

Wednesday, April 27

Stop Food Waste Day

Dedicate April to launching a new program to dramatically reduce wasted food. Conduct a food waste audit, train your staff on solutions and partner with a food pantry for a special April 27 event to show that you care about the environment and food equity.

Learn and Earn!

1 p.m. (CT), Tuesday, April 19 PMQ Live Update: Francisco Migoya, Head Chef, Modernist Cuisine

Migoya, co-author of Modernist Pizza will fill us in on the inspiration and creation of this new, exhaustively researched, three-volume guide to the world’s greatest food. Migoya will also talk about some of his favorite recipes featured in the book. Join us on Facebook Live!

SAYING “I DO” TO PIZZA WEDDINGS

Valentine’s Day can be a little cheesy. So can weddings. But 10 micro-weddings on February 14 at L’industrie Pizzeria in Brooklyn, New York? You can’t get much cheesier than that, especially with pizza and soft-serve ice cream served at the reception. L’industrie found a match made in heaven with Honeybreak Officiants, a woman-owned New York company that presides over both in-person and virtual weddings (yes, some couples get married in Zoom meetings now). L’industrie hosted the 10-minute ceremonies in a heated outdoor pop-up chapel and then served up a feast of two pizzas per couple with softserve ice cream for dessert. The $600 package included 15 edited photos of the ceremony from a professional photographer. The lovebirds had to reserve their slots in advance on OpenTable.

A MASH-UP TO REMEMBER

Grace Garrett of Atlanta scored the grand prize—free pizza for a year—in the 2022 Pizza Mash-Up Contest held by Marco’s Pizza, thanks to her idea for an Italian Beef Pizza. Marco’s held a VIP Pizza Making Event on National Pizza Day in February, with Garrett and her family as the guests of honor. Chef Andy Dismore, Marco’s senior director of culinary innovation, picked the winner out of more than 500 entries submitted from around the country. The Italian Beef Pizza is topped with slowbraised Vienna Italian beef, Marco’s signature three-cheese blend, roasted sweet peppers and spicy giardiniera. Garrett and Dismore made the pie together at the VIP event at a Marco’s store in Atlanta. “I entered for fun but never really expected to actually win,” Garrett said. “My mouth waters every time I think about the flavor profile of an Italian Beef Pizza, and I’m so happy that I was able to try it.” Dismore said he was “blown away” by the hundreds of entries received for the contest. “There’s an art and science to blending flavors and textures, and when I read through Grace’s submission, I knew we had a winner.”

Sharing The Wealth At Pizza Shuttle

As kids, Mark Gold and Louis Siecinski shared tuna sandwiches for lunch in middle school, watched movies and hung out at each other’s homes. Mark once even got “out of control with his emotions” and locked Lou in a closet during a sleepover. But all was forgiven. In 1985, they founded Pizza Shuttle in Milwaukee and have run the business together ever since. Now, as they eye retirement, the old pals are transitioning Pizza Shuttle to an employee-owned business. “Many of our employees have been with us for years—even decades,” Mark said. “When I discovered the employee ownership model, I knew this was how I wanted to transition into retirement—empowering my employees to take ownership and benefit from business growth and success.” Mark and Lou turned to a financial technology company called Teamshares to make the change. Current employees will keep their jobs through the ownership transition. Employees collectively will receive 10% stock in the company, to be earned through four years of ongoing service. The goal is for Pizza Shuttle to be 50% employee-owned in 10 years and 80% employee-owned in 15 to 20 years. “It’s extremely rare in the restaurant industry to have built a passionate, loyal team like we have here at Pizza Shuttle,” said Jessica Gold, the pizzeria’s general manager. “We’re always looking to grow our team, and now employee ownership turns a job at Pizza Shuttle into a future career opportunity.”

A Circle Of Friends

For Garrett Schroeder, whose family has owned Circle Inn Pizzeria since the 1950s, a nightmare came true in early January when a fire erupted and burned down his Sunset, Utah, shop. The community rallied to assist Schroeder and his displaced employees with various fundraisers, but he also got help from an unexpected source: Taboo Pizza, located in nearby Ogden. Taboo co-owner Jeremy Holmes started sending out his delivery pizzas in Circle Inn boxes, with an attached flyer promoting a GoFundMe page for Circle Inn. In an interview with a local news station, Holmes said Circle Inn, a family business that has been passed down through three generations, is a “community favorite.” He said his own pizzeria narrowly avoided destruction by an electrical fire a few months earlier. “If I hadn’t been here at the building, we would have lost everything…so we can feel what [Circle Inn’s owners] are going through.” Holmes added, “Yes, we are competitors, but at the same time, we are people, and as people, what we need to do is come together.”