NRN senior food editor Bret Thorn breaks down what you should be watching in the industry this week. Connect with him on the latest marketing trends and news at [email protected] and @foodwriterdiary. RELATED: • Pizza Hut to introduce gluten-free pizza • Pizza Hut to revamp menu • More food and beverage news
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Although fewer chefs see “gluten free” as a growing trend in 2015, new items that are free of the wheat protein continue to hit the market.
This week Pizza Hut threw its crust in the ring with gluten-free cheese and pepperoni pies, available at about a third of its domestic locations.
The new pizza isn’t just made with a gluten-free crust. The pies are isolated from other foods and baked in restaurants under protocols certified by the Gluten Intolerance Group. The staff making the pizza must wear gloves, slice pies with designated gluten-free pizza slicers, and deliver them to tables in designated gluten-free pizza boxes.
Even so, Pizza Hut warns people with celiac disease, which is only treatable by completely avoiding consumption of gluten, to proceed with caution.
“Due to the handcrafted nature of our menu items, variations in vendor-supplied ingredients, and our use of shared cooking and preparation areas, we cannot assure you that our restaurant environment or any menu item will be completely be free of gluten,” Pizza Hut states on its website. “We recommend that you consult your medical advisor as to what is safe for you.”
Although estimates of the number of Americans avoiding gluten are as high as 30 percent, USA Today reported that Domino’s Pizza said that the gluten-free pizza it introduced 2012 “is not a huge seller.”
Time said Pizza Hut’s move seemed like an attempt to stay on-trend, particularly since it comes shortly after it revamped its menu with new Flavor of Now selections that include such options as pretzel crusts and honey Sriracha sauce.
The gluten-free pizza will be available starting Jan. 26, which Slate pointed out is the same day Chipotle is inviting everyone to try Sofritas, its tofu-based vegetarian filling, in exchange for a free entrée at their next visit.
Coincidence? Probably.
Another probable coincidence: The same day Pizza Hut made announced its gluten-free pizza Coors released gluten-free beer.
“What goes together better than pizza and beer? Nothing, that’s what,” Consumerist observed, noting that both of those items are off limits to people with gluten sensitivities, and that Pizza Hut and MillerCoors made their announcements on the same day.
Gluten-free Coors Peak Copper Lager will debut in Seattle and Portland, Ore., in April.
Pizza Hut might be a couple of years behind Domino’s, but MillerCoors is nine years behind Anheuser-Busch, which Consumerist noted introduced gluten-free Redbridge beer in 2006.
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected].
Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary
