Top Baking Trends of 2020: Pizza Crust Trends

The crust is the true glue that holds things together, and whether you are a fan of deep dish, thin crust, stuffed, square, round or triangular, there is truly a flavorful, flaky layer for everyone. So, throw your hands in the air, toss your crusts up high, and celebrate our top three trends of the year for the category.

Shopping Local

COVID forced many of us indoors for the bulk of the year, resulting in higher than usual delivery service and a drive to buy local to help mom and pop pizzerias stay afloat. There was an influx of regional pizza fare this year, and from Chicago’s deep dish to New York’s thin, hand-tossed style to the square fare of Detroit, consumers stayed close to home both literally and in their pizza choice — more times than not driven by the type of crust.

The Two Cs and Gluten-Free
Cauliflower and chickpea crusts had a breakout year. In the spring, Food Business News reported that cauliflower pizza crust sales were up, along with pizzas that offered gluten-free crusts. Scott McNair, chief executive officer of TNT Crust, told Food Business News that its expanded product line of organic, gluten-free and plant-based crusts have seen “tremendous growth.” 

“(We) have seen substantial increases in customer demand for better-for-you pizza crust alternatives,” McNair said.

It’s a Toss Up
Plant-based not only trended big in 2020 on the pizza ingredient list, but also in crusts. Everything from zucchini, sweet potato, broccoli-cheddar and other types of vegetables made the list for alternative crusts for consumers to try out not only for taste but dietary needs. Caitlin Davy, manager of brand communications at Conagra Brands, said they specifically sought out sweet potatoes for crust formulation “because they provide flavor and sweetness to the crust and add an extra dimension to the pizza.”

Other unusual crusts found across the nation from the LloydPans team included sesame seed sourdough, a 5-inch biscuit-crust for a breakfast pizza, non-dough sausage crusts (shout out to Keto lovers) and crusts that offer more fiber, fewer carbs and less sodium.

Ready to innovate your pizza’s bottom layer with an unusual ingredient? Don’t forget LloydPans pizza pans when you’re ready to get doughy — or non-doughy.