Pizza Hut is doing its part to lift the farm gate milk price by adding more cheese to its pan pizzas. The restaurant chain will use an additional 150 pounds of milk annually to increase the amount of cheese on its pan pizzas by 25%.

The project was made possible thanks to dairy scientist Nitin Joshi, a Dairy Management Inc. employee who works onsite at Pizza Hut’s headquarters in Plano, Texas. Pan pizza is the chain’s signature product offering and the new formulations are now available at more than 6,000 restaurants nationwide.

“Pizza Hut is known for its crave-able, iconic pizzas and its leadership believes that more cheese in more places is a way to make their pizzas even more delicious,” Joshi said. “This obviously is great news for our dairy farmers as more Pizza Hut consumers will get to enjoy more of the wholesome products that are made possible because of the hard work our farmers do each day on their farms.”

Joshi said the project began in 2016 but needed to clear several hurdles throughout 2017 before it became a reality. DMI first shared research and insights to help convince Pizza Hut that consumers want more cheese on pizza. This led to a discussion of how much cheese to add to the chain’s existing pan pizza recipe that would make a noticeable difference with consumers.

Then, there was the challenge of assuring the pizza would be cooked consistently across the country. Joshi said there are several different types of ovens used by Pizza Hut restaurants nationwide, so it was critical to create a pizza that would have uniform melt, stretch and color qualities. Joshi said the Pizza Hut team prepared about 8,500 pizzas before settling on a finished product. The team then conducted training sessions with franchise operators across the country.

“This is another great example of the power of a partner working with our checkoff team to give consumers a product they truly desire,” said Marilyn Hershey, Pennsylvania dairy farmer and chairman of DMI, which manages the national dairy checkoff. “It’s also a win for farmers as we continue to explore new and innovative avenues for our milk production through our partnerships.” 

Source: Dairy Management Inc.