Pizza Hut is a bone fide major player in the Italian Pie Game. So it can legitimately claim substantial cred when making predictions or quoting stats. Thus it is that The Hut has published its annual survey of Pizza-by-the-numbers in America…
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Pizza Hut polled a very select group of 5,000 Americans, chosen to represent all regions and demographics in the country. The survey asked detailed questions resulting in an incisive portrait of the country’s Pizza consuming habits…
What they found
Frequency
The infographic above gives the result at a glance. Among the more pertinent stats:
- Americans eat Pizza an average of 3 times a month.
- They eat an average of 8 slices a month.
- Friday is the most popular day of the week to order Pizza.
Crust Preference
- 28 percent of respondents said their first choice was Thin Crust.
- 20 percent favoured Stuffed Crust.
- 14 percent chose Thick Crust.
Toppings
- 42 percent of those polled named Pepperoni as their fave Pizza topping.
- 44 percent admitted they would be willing to try Pineapple on a pizza.
- 23 percent said they would BAN Fish on Pizza.
- 10 percent said they wouldn’t ban anything!
Dipping Sauce
If you dip your Pizza, the following will be of urgent import:
- 38 percent named Ranch Dressing as their fave sauce, followed by garlic sauce (27%) and hot sauce (8%)
- 27 percent made Garlic Sauce a distant second by 11 points.
- 8 percent insisted Hot Sauce was ‘the bomb’.
Coming Trends?
- ‘Spicy’ continues to reign as the largest trend in Pizza flavours.
- ‘Swicy’ (Sweet + Spicy) is closing fast on the inside.
- ‘Trad Veggies’ are still going strong amid the parallel flavour and Crust-format evolutions.
My take
I thought I was an average Pizza Lover. But I may have been wrong! Where do I start?
- I only eat Pizza once (at most twice) a month.
- I eat a total of 2 slices per episode.
- I prefer Thick Crust.
- I’ll consider any topping on my Pizza that the Italians would use.
- I’ll even go for a Pineapple Pie, now and then.
- I am solidly with the 10 percent who wouldn’t ban any topping.
… Not before I had tried it at least once, anyway.
- I consider any day to potentially be Pizza Day.
- I do NOT dip my Pizza in any sauce.
… But if I did, it would be traditional Marinara. Like traditionalists (and millions of Italians) dip their Calzones and Panzarotti. And, come to think of it, where was Marinara in the list of America’s fave Pizza Sauces?
- The only Spicy ingredient I want on my Pizza is the traditional, authentic sprinkling of Dried Chili Pepper Flakes.
- However, I will be willing to try ‘Swicy’ Pizza if offered a slice…
~ Maggie J.