There’s nothing quite like a quality pizza. No one enjoys going to a pizza restaurant only to find out the pizza is low-quality and cheaply made. A fast-casual pizza restaurant is focused on providing quality-made pizza with a quick turnaround. The environment of a fast-casual restaurant is relaxed but elegant. To go along with quality service, a pizza restaurant needs to have quality ingredients. Are you a pizza restaurant owner? If so, you probably understand why pizza ingredients are important. Not only do quality ingredients look good, but they also taste great. If you cheap out on ingredients, you will surely pay in a drop of quality. Customers won’t like that, and they’ll look elsewhere for good ingredients.
Why Your Toppings Are So Crucial
The toppings you use for your pizzas say a lot about you as a company. Do you use canned and pickled veggies, or do you use fresh ingredients? Customers are smart. They can tell if the ingredients are fresh or not. There’s not only an aesthetic element to using fresh ingredients. When you bite into that first slice, the textures and flavors will improve with fresh ingredients. The tastes are more potent, and the texture is more robust. Take frozen spinach, for example, versus fresh. Frozen spinach has broken down in the freezer and doesn’t have the same structural integrity as fresh spinach. The color of fresh ingredients for toppings also provides a more vibrant color palette that you just won’t get otherwise.
When it comes to toppings, if your customers can tell you’re going that extra mile, they’ll be sure to come to you—not that national chain next door. While fresh toppings may present a higher upfront investment, you’ll surely see a return on investment in future business.
The Crust
So, you’re starting to understand why pizza ingredients are important. Arguably, the most important pizza ingredient is the crust. Think about the crust as the foundation of your pizza. The crust is the carrier of your sauce and all the ingredients. What you put in the crust, you get out. If you opt to use a low-quality flour, you’ll get a low-quality crust. If you’re looking to make a high-quality dough, use 00 flour. Its gluten content is optimal for pizza crust. It provides that slight bite and perfect fluffiness that you’re looking for in a fast-casual pizza.
Seasonings
Alongside toppings and crust are seasonings. Aside from black pepper and salt, you have herbs. There are tons of options when it comes to what combination of herbs and spices you want to use. When you want to use herbs, we always suggest choosing fresh herbs. Pre-dried herbs have a tendency to dry out and burn before the pizza is even done. Plus, they don’t have that oil content that something like fresh rosemary would have. Which do you think your customers would like more? Seeing a bowl of fresh seasonings or containerized dried seasoning? The thought that goes behind the selection of herbs and spices shows them you mean business.
Attend Pizza School
At New York Brick Oven, we also provide pizza consulting. At our pizza school, you’ll learn everything you need to know about running a successful fast-casual pizza restaurant.
