A quarter century has flown by in the blink of an eye. I hope you’ll indulge this brief trip down memory lane with me. I’m a bit emotional as I write this Commentary. You see, I began my career at Pizza Today 25 years ago today.

I was just a baby, so to speak. Twenty-four years old and somehow, some way found my way to Pizza Today. I’d been working as a sports reporter and then sports editor at three different daily newspapers since graduating college, but my dream was to enter the world of magazines.

I loved everything about magazines back then. Still do. The word “magazine” begins with the letters “m-a-g” because magazines are, well, magical. They have the power to transform lives.

When a tiny little publication based in New Albany, Indiana, (at that time) was hiring, I decided to apply. I wanted to relocate to the Louisville, Kentucky, area anyway to be close to family and to raise my own family (that I did not yet have) there. And it was a magazine job!

To my surprise, I somehow sweet-talked my way into the gig. I wasn’t qualified, per se, but I had gumption. They took a chance on the kid, and my education and deep-dive into the pizza industry began. What I lacked in knowledge and experience (and that was plenty), I somehow made up for with diligence, a passion for learning and a desire to always improve.

I planned to keep the job for two years and then move on to a “bigger and better” magazine. Ideally in sports.

Senior Creative Director Josh Keown (left) and Editor in Chief Jeremy White work in the test kitchen at Pizza Today HQ in 2010. Photo courtesy of Josh Keown

Then, something happened. I fell in love with the pizza industry. I met amazing people at Pizza Expo who became lifelong mentors and, eventually, friends. I started to care. Deeply. Like really care. I started to understand I had the power to help real people run their businesses and improve their lives. I was hooked.

Looking back now, we can agree it has worked out OK.

I ended up getting that offer to jump to a “bigger and better” magazine – and it was a sports magazine. The pay was better. I would either “get to” or “have to” move to a “bigger and better” city, depending on your point of view.

But it was too late. I was no longer a writer and editor. I was a pizza person.

Though I do not personally make pizza for a living, when someone I don’t know asks me what I do, I tell them I’m in the pizza industry. Because I am. And I’ve loved every minute of the 25 years I’ve spent here.

I will turn 50 this month (how???), but believe me when I tell you I am just getting started. That’s how I’m built.

What’s next? Something big and exciting. And I can’t wait to share the news soon. Until then, THANK YOU for indulging my self-absorbed column this month. THANK YOU for all the support you, dear Pizza Today reader, have shown me in the 25 years I’ve been with this great magazine. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.

With love and gratitude,

Jeremy White

Editor In Chief

The post Cheers to 25 Years | Commentary appeared first on Pizza Today.

I remember the first time I ever had a pizza that featured potatoes. That was more than 20 years ago. It was made at a competition at Pizza Expo that was called “Pizza Festiva.” That was the precursor to what we all now know and love as the International Pizza Challenge. This particular pie was made by Tony Palombino. And it rocked my notion of what pizza could be. Though non-traditional, it hit all the right spots. Ever since then, I’ve seen a proliferation of pizzas across the country that utilize the humble potato in some way, shape or form. Here are some potato pizza recipes that will take your menu to new heights. Enjoy!

Hot Potato Sicilian Pizza by Tony Gemignani

Get the Hot Potato Sicilian Pizza recipe.

Potato and Poblano Pizza

Get the Potato and Poblano Pizza recipe.

Pancetta and Potato Pizza

Get the Pancetta and Potato Pizza recipe.

Jeremy White Is Editor-in-Chief at Pizza Today.

The post You Say Potato, I Say… Potatoes are Amazing on Pizza — End of Story appeared first on Pizza Today.

With Pizza Expo merely a month away, we have so much to look forward to in 2025. We’re just settling into the new year, but one thing that never will go out of style and always remain on point are great recipes. We’re committed to bringing you even more recipes than ever this year because our readers continue to ask for them. With that in mind, I wanted to kickstart things in this small zone of “down time” between the Super Bowl and Pizza Expo with five of my favorite recipes we’ve published in Pizza Today. These run the gamut and are sure to be a hit with your customers. Try them out as a limited time offering and experiment in the kitchen to find what works best with your demographic.

Garlic & Olive Focaccia

Get the Garlic & Olive Focaccia recipe.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Get the Buffalo Chicken Dip recipe.

Spicy Chicken Giardino

Get the Spicy Chicken Giardino recipe.

The Grandma by Tony Gemignani

Get the Grandma recipe.

Olive Oil Cake by Chris Decker

Get the Olive Oil Cake recipe.

Jeremy White Is Editor in Chief at Pizza Today.

The post Five Recipe Favorites for 2025 appeared first on Pizza Today.

I wanted to also give them some “love” here. They are very deserving of the recognition. Without further ado, here are the 2024 PIE Awards Winners:

Young Entrepreneur of the Year — Weather Preston, Cross Eyed Cow Pizza.

Best Advertising Campaign — Mattenga’s Pizzeria, Hengameh Stanfield 

Most Interesting Menu — Old Scratch Pizza, Clarissa Lowry

Community Involvement Award  — Caliente Pizza & Draft House, Nick Bogacz

Mobile Pizza Business of the Year — Cut Stone Foods, Riki Tagliapietra 

Most Innovative Pizza Company — MOTO Pizza, Lee Kindell

Best Pizzeria Website —  Vinceno’s Newhall, Greg Randall

Best Pizzeria Social Media — Square Pie Guys

Best Pizza Box Design — Caliente Pizza & Draft House, Nick Bogacz

Best Video Short — Vincenzo’s Newhall, Greg Randall

Most Unique Pizzeria Location — Old Scratch Pizza, Clarissa Lowry

Pizza Company of the Year by Region — 

Pacific Northwest — Farrelli’s Pizza, Tacoma, WA

West Coast — Flour + Water, San Francisco, CA

Mountain West — Woody’s Wood Fired Pizza, Golden, CO

Southwest — Spinato’s Pizzeria, Tempe, AZ

Midwest — Old Scratch Pizza, Dayton, OH

Southeast — Valentina’s Pizzeria & Wine Bar, Madison, AL

Mid-Atlantic — Caliente Pizza & Draft House, Pittsburgh, PA

Northeast  — Toss & Fire Wood-Fired Pizza, Syracuse, NY

ALSO: December is our annual trends report, and I know you’re going to be blown away by the breadth of information our survey turned up. Read the Pizza Industry Trends Report 2025.

Best,

Jeremy White
Editor In Chief
jwhite@pizzatoday.com

The post Commentary: Congratulations to the PIE Awards Winners! appeared first on Pizza Today.

According to one source, it’s Philadelphia. Not only is the City of Brotherly Love home to PizzaCon this month, but it also ranks as the No. 1 city in the world when it comes to pizza-related Google searches. That information comes from Chef’s Pencil, which scoured Google Trends search data and discovered that Philly is “the most pizza-obsessed city in the world.”

According to Chef’s Pencil, Philadelphia has “the highest percentage of pizza-related Google searches relative to all local searches.”  That’s good stuff!

Jeremy White, Editor in Chief, Pizza Today Magazine

It makes sense considering the city’s high Italian American population. Philly is second only to New York City in that regard.

Of course, this report from Chef’s Pencil was just released and we did not have this data when we selected Philadelphia to host PizzaCon on November 7. But it sure seems to fit nicely, nonetheless.

What else fits nicely at PizzaCon? The exhibiting activation stations! While there will be the sampling you’ve come to expect at our events, these activations provide attendees with an opportunity to receive a hands-on, consultative approach to using the products and wares our exhibiting friends will be promoting to the industry. You’ll want to take plenty of time at each station asking questions and figuring out which goods are a fit for your business.

It’s not every day that you’re able to talk shop with subject matter experts who can help improve your
bottom line, so take advantage of the knowledge that will be available at each activation station.

Likewise, be sure to listen in on the seminars that best meet your needs at PizzaCon as well. For a look at the subjects, flip to the article.

We’re really excited to see you in Philadelphia this month at PizzaCon. Please grab me or Denise, introduce yourself and say hello. We’re currently looking for Hot Slice podcast guests for the winter (hint, hint).

Best,

Jeremy White
Editor In Chief
jwhite@pizzatoday.com

The post Commentary: It’s Time for PizzaCon! appeared first on Pizza Today.

What city is most obsessed with pizza? According to one source, it’s Philadelphia. Not only is the City of Brotherly Love home to PizzaCon in November, but it also ranks as the No. 1 city in the entire world when it comes to pizza-related Google searches.

That information comes from Chef’s Pencil, which scoured Google Trends search data and discovered that Philly is  (their words) “the most pizza-obsessed city in the world.”

According to Chef’s Pencil, Philadelphia has “the highest percentage of pizza-related Google searches relative to all local searches.”

It makes sense considering the city’s high Italian American population. Philly is second only to New York City in that regard. The Top 10, which is dominated by Italy and the United States, has some surprises.

1 — Philadelphia

2 — Naples, Italy

3 — Turin, Italy

4 — Columbus, Ohio

5 — Rome, Italy (tie)

5 — Boston (tie)

7 — Milan, Italy

8 — Copenhagen, Denmark (tie)

8 — Indianapolis (tie)

10 — Chicago

Ironically, when Chef’s Pencil dug further into Google Trends data and looked at the highest percentage of pizza-related Google searches relative to all local searches by country, the United States was fourth. Here’s the Top 5.

1 — Italy

2 — Denmark

3 — Canada

4 — United States

5 — Israel

Denmark and Canada being more pizza-obsessed than the United States??? We say NO WAY! But this piece was full of information that we thought you’d find of interest this National Pizza Month, so give it a read.

Jeremy White is Editor-in-Chief of Pizza Today.

The post World’s Most Obsessed Pizza Cities appeared first on Pizza Today.

You should love it too — it’s National Pizza Month!

Jeremy White, Editor in Chief, Pizza Today Magazine

Pizza Today first designated October as National Pizza Month way back in the 1980s. Fast forward to today and National Pizza Month has only grown.

By leaps and bounds.

Pizzerias across the country celebrate it with their customers. Pizza is so important and so revered that it doesn’t get a mere day, but an entire month.

Let that sink in.

Check out the National Pizza Month Operator Toolkit we’ve put together for you as soon as you can.

Like, yesterday.

This toolkit is designed to help YOU make the most of National Pizza Month in your community and contains press releases, graphics, and other media assets (including a video) you can use to draw media attention to your business during the entire month. Be sure to check out the monthly marketing calendar as well.

Our hope is that we can help you make this October your best month ever. Let’s get started!

PizzaCon: In other news, we are now a month away from PizzaCon in Philadelphia. This event is sure to be a crowd pleaser, and not just for those located in the Northeast corridor of the United States. If you haven’t already, be sure to register at Pizzacon.com for the event (which takes place November 7th). See you there!

Jeremy White

Editor In Chief

jwhite@pizzatoday.com

The post Commentary: Ode to October appeared first on Pizza Today.

That’s why I wrote the article on using apples in your pizzeria kitchen. A wistful nostalgia invades my brain when I think of September in my youth. One memory I hold dear is of an apple tree behind my grandparents’ house. Each fall I’d pick those small, firm and deliciously juicy apples and listen to the crunch as I bit into them. I can still smell them. I can still see the white inner flesh and taste the somewhat bitter skin. I’d pull them from the tree and bite into them immediately, feeling the warmth of the sun on them as the fruit touched my lips.

Those simple days shaped me, and I find myself yearning for them.

Jeremy White, Editor in Chief, Pizza Today Magazine

As wholesome and American as apple pie seems to be, that’s but one way to make use of the fruit in a professional kitchen. We all love a good apple fritter, after all, and I’m a sucker for apple butter. But in your pizzeria, one of the best ways to utilize the item is with a dessert pizza. I still remember an apple pie pizza I had in Ohio 20 years ago. The apples were shaved thinly and cooked with butter, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar — with a hint of bourbon. The resulting sauce, along with cream, was used as the base and topped with the cooked apples. Crunchy oats and a caramel drizzle finished off the pizza, and my mouth waters thinking about it two decades later. I’ve tried my best to recreate it with the recipe offered in the article. Give it a try in your kitchen. Tweak it to your likes and run it as a weekly special later this month and let me know how it goes!

NATIONAL PIZZA MONTH: Before I let you go, dear reader, I’d be remiss if I didn’t remind you that next month is National Pizza Month. We have a detailed NPM playbook that you want to bookmark and refer to often as you plan how you’ll celebrate the month in your pizzeria. This is an opportunity to get a jumpstart

Best,

Jeremy White

Editor In Chief

jwhite@pizzatoday.com

The post Commentary: An Apple a Day… appeared first on Pizza Today.

Many chefs light up when they talk about fresh summer produce. The bountiful growing season yields so many wonderful ingredients that allow them to execute high-level dishes at peak performance. I mean, look no further than the glorious tomato — one of the most important ingredients in your entire arsenal as a pizza kitchen. Take a freshly grown heirloom tomato and slice it right next to a hothouse tomato your customers can purchase at the grocery store. Compare the color, the texture, the flavor. They are two completely different items that barely resemble one another, correct? One is sweet, juicy, vibrant … the other is a poor imposter that we grudgingly make do with much of the year to put slices of tomato on sandwiches or in salads.

Point being, now is the time gardens and farmer’s markets are lighting up with an array of colors, textures and tastes that you can incorporate on your menu to make it pop. You now have access to the freshest of the fresh. Now is the time to fire up some limited time offerings that will wow your customers and give your kitchen staff a break from the monotony by allowing them the freedom to create something fun with this new palette available to them.

In his “On Deck” column this month, contributor Chris Decker glows when he writes about the fresh vegetables coming to market right now. He creates a visually stunning pizza (check the photo in On Deck) that features fresh spinach, summer squash, zucchini and three types of edible flowers. You won’t find a prettier pizza on Instagram!

Speaking of Instagram, be sure to follow Pizza Today on our favorite social media outlet. You can find us there by searching for @pizzatoday. In his column this month, after detailing how he made the summer harvest pizza, Decker asks you to get the freshest produce available to you locally, make your own summer creation and post the result to Instgram. When you do, tag us (@PizzaToday) as well as Chris (@everythingbutanchovies) and use the hashtag #ondeck.

Chris is excited to see what you come up with using his pizza as inspiration. We are, too!

‘Tis the season. Make the most of it.

Best,

Jeremy White

Editor In Chief

jwhite@pizzatoday.com

The post Commentary: Summer’s Bounty appeared first on Pizza Today.

While I understand there are sometimes limitations (a slice shop that survives off lunchtime foot traffic in an area that clears out after 5 p.m., for example), I’m a believer that, for the most part, the best pizzeria experiences come with a bar element. There’s something about pizza and beer, or Italian food and wine, that is difficult to beat.

Having said that, running a bar component is hard. Even if the product sells itself. Staffing, training, inventory that seems to easily disappear, the worry of an employee serving an underage patron … there’s a lot to it.

Jeremy White, Editor in Chief, Pizza Today Magazine

In this issue of Pizza Today, we touch upon training your staff to operate a bar within your pizza shop. We talk cocktails. We talk bar equipment. It’s a good start if you’re thinking of adding a bar to your pizzeria.

After you read those articles, be sure to catch up on what you missed if you weren’t able to attend the 40th Anniversary of Pizza Expo this spring. We had the Las Vegas Convention Center buzzing!

Speaking of spring, we’ve been springing into action pretty heavily on pizzatoday.com with lots of new content that you won’t find here in the print edition. Be sure to bookmark pizzatoday.com and visit regularly and often to stay up to date on the latest.

And now that we’ve mentioned the latest, have you heard of PizzaCon yet? It’s a one-day exclusive and experiential event we’re hosting in Philadelphia on November 7th at The Fillmore. Naturally, it is designed for pizzeria owners that are serious about growing their businesses. With curated programming and educational activations, it’s going to be nothing like your typical “tradeshow.” Visit PizzaCon.com to learn more. Excited to see you there!

Best,

Jeremy White
Editor In Chief
jwhite@pizzatoday.com

The post Commentary: Behind the Bar appeared first on Pizza Today.