Pizza trivia, by the numbers

• Over 5 billion pizzas are sold all over the world each year.

• Kids aged 3-11 prefer pizza over all foods for lunch and dinner.

• It is estimated that over three billion pizzas will be eaten next year in the U.S. alone. 93% of Americans eat at least one pizza per month. That’s approximately 100 acres of pizza each day, or 350 slices per second— an average of 46 slices (or 23 pounds) per year for everyone in America.

• Super Bowl Sunday is top day for pizza consumption in the US.

• In the US, 83% of pizzerias offer delivery and 91%t offer take-out.

• Women are twice as likely as men to order vegetable toppings on their pizza.

Pizza trivia: some history

• Though pizza became a popular food in the U.S. in 1945, after World War II, it was brought to America by Italian immigrants 50 years earlier.

• Pizza was being prepared by people of Pompei when the volcano erupted and buried the city.

• Pizza Margherita was given its name by an Italian tavern owner, Don Raffaele Esposito who assembled tomatoes cheese and basil, the colours of the Italian flag. He named the pizza after Margherita Teresa Giovanni, calling it the “Margherita” which is still popular in pizzerias with wood-fired ovens.

• The Hawaiian pizza was invented in the 1960s by Sam Panopoulos after adding pineapple to a pizza at the Satellite Restaurant in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada.

• Pizza as we know it could not have evolved until Europeans overcame their fear of a New World discovery – tomatoes. Native to Peru and Ecuador, tomatoes were introduced to Europe in the early 1500s. Brought back by Conquistadors to Spain. The tomato was thought to be poisonous and was viewed with suspicion.

• Gennaro Lombardi opened the first licensed American pizzeria in 1905 —Lombardi’s Pizzeria Napoletana in New York City.

Preferred crusts and toppings

• Regular thin pizza crust is the most popular crust, preferred by 61% of the population. Thick crust and deep dish tied for 2nd, at 14%. Only 11% of the population prefers an extra thin crust.

• In Japan, eel and squid are favourites

• Russians like red herring on their pizza

• Australians go for pineapple and shrimp

• Coconut is popular in Costa Rica

• In France a popular pizza is called the “Flambee”, topped with fresh cream, bacon and onions.