Las Vegas — The 2022 International Pizza Expo & Conference returned to the Las Vegas Convention Center last week. Pizza. Pasta. Sausage. Cheese. Sandwiches. Gelato. It was all at the Pizza Expo.
There was a big focus on plant-based products as well as dairy-free ingredients at this year’s Pizza Expo. Attendees were able to enjoy free samples of pizzas, pastas, sandwiches, gelato and much more. Even Pepsi had a booth where guests could try their newest sodas.
The BE-Hive introduced me to their plant based meats and cheeses. They are available in both retail and foodservice quantities.
“We are a vegan meat company from Nashville comprised mainly of musicians,” said Ben Stix, owner and president of The BE-Hive. “I built the company while I was touring, doing pop-up events that led to doing Satan and work on Monday and Tuesday and go out of town and tour. Then we grew into a wholesale vegan meat company. We have a deli in Nashville. The main thing is that this is Satan-based which is kind of an ancient Asian recipe that they’ve been doing for a long time. It’s basically gluten flour, you have a high-protein, low-carb meat that you kind of mold into different flavors. We have vegan pepperoni, vegan Italian crumbles, and we’re also showcasing our slices. We got vegan pepperoni pizza, vegan bolognese and a classic Italian sandwich.”
Practica USA showed off their new high-speed pizza ovens that can bake a pizza in just four minutes or less. Wow!
“We manufacture about five different models of high-speed ovens,” said David Prudhomme, Vice President of Sales at Practice USA. “Our newest model is just hot air and IR [infrared radiation] that’s for fresh pizza and baking products. You can do a fresh dough pizza in just four minutes. That’s the way we like it. You can do it as fast as two and a half or three minutes depending on what style you want. Two of the models have microwaves in them. We’re able to add microwaves into the cooking to cook frozen products faster at a high speed rate than you would in say a regular oven. It’s just the size of the cavity.”
Miyoko’s Creamery introduced me to their plant-based, liquid vegan mozzarella cheese. They offered free samples of it on pizzas for attendees to try.
“It doesn’t have all of the stuff that the others have,“ said Jeff Strah, national food service and industrial sales manager at Miyoko’s Creamery. “Because it’s plant milk based which has protein in it, it browns and bubbles and melts unlike anything else. Also because we don’t have anti-caking agents, it doesn’t stick to your mouth like all of the other brands do. It’s a very innovative and revolutionary product. We’re incredibly happy to be here at the Pizza Expo. I’m excited about our future and what we’re doing.”
Tower Isle’s offered free samples of their Jamaican beef patties. The company is celebrating its 53rd anniversary this year.
“It is the Jamaican version of a turnover with filling,” said Jim Jobson, vice president of planning and development at Tower Isles. “A lot of cultures in the world have them. The meat has a lot of the Caribbean spices. It’s just a very unique product. We were founded in Brooklyn, New York. The pizzerias in New York discovered us 40 years ago or so. We started selling in the pizzerias and then we’ve grown to thousands of them around New York and the country. We’re blessed to have been growing slowly over the years.”
Last year’s Pizza Expo was held in August in the Las Vegas Convention Center’s South Hall. This year, the event moved to the brand new West Hall.
“This is the bigger hall and it’s kind of back to normal,” Jobson added. “Lots of traffic in the early days of the week. A little bit slower today which is fairly typical of a three-day show. Overall, it’s very successful. We’re pleased to be in the new hall. People come without a lot of the Covid restrictions. It’s really good.”
Fun fact: The city of Detroit, Michigan was recently named the No. 1 pizza city in America. That’s according to a study conducted by AnytimeEstimate.com.
For more info about the International Pizza Expo & Conference, visit https://pizzaexpo.pizzatoday.com/
Welcome to the International Pizza Expo & Conference 
Pizza slices with The BE-Hive plant-based toppings 
Ben Stix, owner and president of The BE-Hive 
Miyoko’s Creamery 
Cultured plant milk pizza mozzarella cheese 
Jeff Strah, national food service and industrial sales manager at Miyoko’s Creamery 
Tower Isles Jamaican Style Patties 
Pepsi offered samples of its newest sodas