Baking & Snack - September 2020 - 59

EQUIPMENT
Pizza Tech

PILING
IT ON

Frozen pizzas surge during
the pandemic, and advanced
automated systems help
bakers keep up with demand.
by Nico Roesler

There may not be a meal more suited for a pandemic
than frozen pizza. It can be stored for long periods of
time, and it comes in all types. From cauliflower crusts
to a cornucopia of toppings, consumer options are
seemingly endless.
Frozen pizza sales have experienced unprecedented
growth since coronavirus (COVID-19) and stay-athome orders began. Part of its recent success is that it
neatly aligns with why people purchasing more frozen food. According to the American Frozen Foods
Institute, the top six reasons include the long shelf life
of frozen foods, consumers' desire to stock up in case
of food shortages, consumers' need to limit the number
of trips to the grocery store, the ease of preparation at
home, the time saved for cooking and cleanup, and consumers' belief that frozen packaged foods are safer than
fresh baked-in-store items.
Because of these factors, frozen pizza sales in the four
weeks ending April 5 soared 94.2% over the same period
in 2019, according to IRI. Through June, frozen pizza
continued to see more than 24.5% growth in dollar sales
compared to 2019.
To meet this demand, bakers need high-output lines
that can produce the wide variety of pizzas demanded by
the diverse market. Frozen pizzas have evolved from basic cheese and pepperoni varieties to many other healthy
dough and topping alternatives. At the same time, advances in automated pizza lines have increased throughputs while decreasing changeover times.

"Pizza systems can be extremely high throughput,"
said David Moline, vice president of sales and marketing at Moline Machinery. "We have systems in operation
that are in excess of 30,000 lbs an hour."
And those levels of throughput are needed in today's
market. From mixing to dividing or sheeting to the oven
and eventually the freezer, every step of the process is
important to maintain consistency and meet pandemiclevel demands.

Frozen pizzas now come
in all shapes and sizes,
with an ever growing list of
topping options.
©pavel siamionov - stock.adobe.com

Creating the right crust
For frozen pizzas, ingredient technology can improve
crust characteristics during and after freezing. Jeff Zeak,
national development manager, bakery, Reiser, said
various starches, gums, pectin, proteins and fibers assist
with moisture management in the dough.
"Moisture management reduces formation of ice
crystals during freezing which can contribute to freezer
burn and weeping of excess moisture during baking,"
Mr. Zeak said.
Moisture also affects dough viscosity, he added. Soft,
wet, sticky doughs, as well as stiff or dry dough characteristics often cause difficulties in handling on downstream processes like dividing, rounding, conveying and
transferring. By designing a pizza processing system
with the dough's rheology in mind, bakers can set themselves up for success.
"Softer doughs are more delicate to handle, so interfaces like belt-to-belt transfer are designed to keep shape

www.bakingbusiness.com / September 2020 Baking & Snack 59

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Baking & Snack - September 2020

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