Instore - July 2018 - 38

CATEGORY SPOTLIGHT

nies that provide the sauces, cheeses and
other ingredients for the kits. "It's still very
early for the category, but it could definitely
be more conducive going forward," he says.

Par-baked shells are popular
with commissaries and
central kitchens.
Photo: DeIorios

On the organic side, DeIorios can make
pizza doughs with the same mouthfeel, taste
and overall quality of conventional doughs,
Viti says. The problem is making organic feasible on the financial side, given the greater
expense of raw materials. "The challenge is
supply and demand," he says.
Another pizza sub-category that's performed
well but still has some kinks to work out is
gluten-free, Viti says. Not too long ago, you
might find gluten-free at the back of the
store by itself, relegated to second-class citizenship. Now, Viti says, it's marketed side
by side with conventional. "Gluten-free has
made strides, almost monthly, to become
more mainstream," he says. "The strides
it's made in the past three to five years have
been tremendous."
That said, today's gluten-free pizza doughs
and crusts are only better relative to earlier
versions of gluten-free, Viti is quick to point
out. "I still wouldn't compare a gluten-free
dough to a conventional dough," he says.

Secrets to the sauce
Chicago-based Pastorelli Foods has been
making pizza sauces and other products
since 1927. Richard Pastorelli, the company's president, says a focus on what flavors
consumers are looking for helps separate
Pastorelli Foods from the competition.
"Moving away from the traditional sweet flavor profile and towards a zesty profile will
truly sets one's pizza apart from everyone
else," he says. "Pizza sauce as a topping is a
key element that allows pizza to differentiate itself from large multi-chains."

Using only the top ingredients in its sauces
- imported Pecorino romano cheese, for
example - also gives Pastorelli Foods a leg
up on the competition, Pastorelli says. "Our
products are made with only the finest ingredients. Our pasta sauces are chunky, not watered down, and all of our products are from
a family recipe that was used for centuries."

"For over 85 years we've owned
and occupied a 50,000 square foot
manufacturing and bottling facility
which is capable of custom blending
to a speciﬁc recipe and is also able to
privately label for both restaurants and
distributors alike."
RICHARD PASTORELLI

Part of being a successful sauce maker, Pastorelli says, is having the flexibility to meet
customers' changing needs on short notice.
"For over 85 years we've owned and occupied a 50,000 square foot manufacturing and
bottling facility which is capable of custom
blending to a specific recipe and is also able
to privately label for both restaurants and
distributors alike," he says.
Pastorelli Foods ships pizza sauce under
both its Pastorelli Italian Chef and Pastorelli Continental Chef labels. In addition,
the company ships bulk sizes: Regina-brand
pizza sauce concentrate (4 x 190 oz containers), Italian Chef pizza sauce (4 x 190 oz
bags) and Continental Chef bagged sauce (6
x 105 oz bags).

Ingredient suppliers are helping commissaries and instore departments up their pizza
games. Photo: Schuman Cheese

38 * JULY 2018 * commissary INSIDER

In addition to sauce, Pastorelli Foods ships
55-gallon drums and 250-gallon totes of hot
break and cold break tomato paste and
diced tomatoes in juice.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Instore - July 2018