Hot honey, exotic spices pushing pizza into new flavors

March 22 (UPI) -- At the International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas, pizza lovers looked at new technology, sampled international toppings and found out what's trending for 2024.

Customers are searching out a mix of sweet and spicy ingredients and toppings. Sauces like hot honey, ranch and garlic sauce are making their way onto pizzas, topped with items like ribbon pepperoni, linguica, hot peppers, shaved parmesan and greens like basil, arugula and spinach.

Colby Strilaeff, brand manager of Foodservice at Hormel Foods, said global flavors are growing in the pizza market. Familiar profiles like Mexican, Cuban, Greek and Indian have joined new favorites -- ingredients like chimichurri, gochujang and miso.

At the Venus II restaurant in Marshfield, Mass., owner Steve Drosopoulos has been making pizza for more than 30 years. Drosopoulos said he's found success with new sauces like hot honey and infused-ranch dressing, creating items like hot honey pepperoni pizza and Cattleman's Chicken Bacon pizza.

"Both items started out as specials, but they've made it onto the regular menus more recently due to popular demand," he told UPI.

On average, according to a study by Pizza Hut, Americans eat pizza about three times a month, leading to annual consumption of 288 slices per person. According to a recent survey by Pizza Hut, sweet and spicy pairings on menus have jumped up 38% in the last year and hot honey is projected to outpace nearly all other culinary and beverage flavors by 2027.

Respondents have been leaning toward savory (52%), hearty (34%) and spicy (27%) flavor profiles when they dine out, according to the study.

Pizza lovers also said they were willing to try several unusual fruit and veggie toppings on their pizza, including pineapple (44%), chili peppers (21%), artichokes (16%), potatoes (15%) and pickles (14%).