Ardent Mills debuts on-trend pizza ideas at 2016 Pizza Expo
By Canadian Packaging staff
Design & Innovation 2016 International Pizza Expo Ardent Mills pizza dough pizza flour pizza innovation pizza trade showMatching pizza dough formulations to toppings for innovative tastes and textures.
Las Vegas, Nevada—Ardent Mills, a premier flour-milling and ingredient company and provider of fine pizza flours, pizza mixes and custom blends, joined more than 6,000 pizza industry leaders at the 2016 International Pizza Expo.
The Ardent Mills’ booth featured a taste of what’s next in pizza dough innovations where pizza restaurant owners, operators and baker-chef attendees sampled a range of flavors and doughs developed by Ardent Mills’ technical and culinary teams, and fueled by industry-leading consumer insights.
“We see pizza dough as another great opportunity when it comes to innovating pizza tastes and textures. At the Pizza Expo, we offered samples of pizza made with doughs highlighting the great nutrition and complex flavors that can come from using our portfolio of mixes in Hand Crafted, Hearty Deluxe, Multigrain and Wholegrain varieties,” Ardent Mills Canada marketing manager Elaine O’Doherty saiys. “Our flours and grain mixes allow operators simple ways to add whole and ancient grains, while delivering consistency, reducing food costs and waste and allowing quicker crust innovation for thick, thin, and deep dish crusts. We paired creative dough recipes with complementary toppings that fall in line with eating styles diners want right now: simple, clean ingredients, better health, heartiness, unique flavor profiles and some indulgence.”
Ardent Mills Canada’s pizza flour portfolio includes custom blends, Whole Grain and Multigrain Pizza Mixes, Robin Hood Pizza Mixes, Robin Hood Pizza Flour (bleached and unbleached) and Robin Hood Italian Style Flour. Samples featured at the show included:
- Rye and Reuben Pizza with ground rye-pumpernickel, quinoa and high protein flour crust topped with pastrami, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Russian dressing;
- Sprouted Beets Pizza featuring crust made with high protein flour and Sprouted White Spring Whole Wheat Flour and topped with candy cane beets, roasted green onions, goat cheese, fig reduction and béchamel sauce;
- Neapolitan Style Funghi Pizza featuring Italian flour, white béchamel sauce, mixed mushrooms, smoked mozzarella, Gruyère and thyme;
- Salad Pizza featuring high protein flour and red quinoa (see image at top).
“The salad pizza evolved when our chef realized that people go out to pizza in groups. Inevitably, some members of the group want a lighter option,” says O’Doherty. “This pizza is more like a salad, with quinoa, braised greens, tomatoes and vinaigrette. The dough is made with premium high protein pizza flour that has exceptional elasticity and extensibility.”
Ardent Mills also sponsored and contributed high protein pizza flour to the event’s World Pizza Games competition, which crowns the best pizzaiaolo in several competitive events. The winner of the Freestyle Acrobatic Dough Tossing Games was Hyeonsoo Joo of Mr. Pizza. Clocking in at just over 24 seconds, Mitch Rotolo Jr. of Rotolo’s Pizzeria was the fastest dough maker. Carlos Mangana of Pizza My Heart stretched the largest dough at 105.65 centimeters.
“These rigorous games demand a consistent, high performing flour,” says Michael Shepard, pizza industry expert and one of the games’ founders. “The dough stretching and triathlon events require soft, flexible dough, and the acrobatic spinning events require a harder, tough dough that can take a pounding. We’ve relied on Ardent Mills Kyrol pizza flour for years because it delivers both with the consistency and the flexibility we need.”
About Ardent Mills:
Ardent Mills, a premier flour-milling and ingredient company, has a vision to be the trusted partner in nurturing its customers, consumers and communities through innovative and nutritious grain-based solutions. Ardent Mills features a full portfolio of high quality pizza mixes and custom blends, suitable for thick, thin, and deep dish crusts. Its operations and services are supported by more than 40 flour mills and bakery-mix facilities along with a specialty bakery and Mobile Innovation Center, all located in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. Ardent Mills is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, and employs more than 100 certified millers, supporting thousands of local jobs and contributing billions of dollars to local economies. Ardent Mills is a leading supplier of organic flour, certified since 1996, and has begun an initiative to double organic U.S. organic wheat acres by 2019. To learn more about Ardent Mills, visit www.ardentmills.com.
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