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New pizza formats for snacking and dining out: Maestrella at the forefront of trends

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Explore the latest pizza trends with Maestrella. Discover how to innovate your menu with premium mozzarella that guarantees professional results every time.
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Pizza: new trends not to be missed with Maestrella

Pizza has always been popular, but today it is undergoing a real revolution in terms of formats and consumption patterns. Between urban snacking and traditional catering, mozzarella is establishing itself as the star ingredient, guaranteeing deliciousness and authenticity in these revisited dishes.

Snacking: convenience and creativity

In the snacking sector, demand is focused on convenient, portable, and quick-to-consume formats. Portable formats, convenient portions, and on-the-go packaging are strategic, as modern lifestyles (limited time, mobility, short breaks) favor these uses.

According to “Sales of Snacks in Europe,” the European snack market is estimated at $189.4 billion in 2025, with projected growth of 4% (CAGR) by 2035, reflecting the strong momentum of this “on-the-go” consumption pattern. The rise of these formats is accompanied by a dual trend: conviviality/instant pleasure and practicality/speed.

  • Pizza slices: served in individual portions, they appeal for their generous size, convenience, and speed. The mozzarella, melted and stringy, remains the number one pleasure factor.  
  • Pizza rolls and wraps: rolled up, generously topped and designed to be eaten by hand, they reinvent pizza as a portable food. The mozzarella provides cohesion and melt-in-the-mouth texture, ensuring every bite is a pleasure.
  • Mini pizzas and appetizers: ideal for cocktail parties and gatherings with friends, they showcase mozzarella in small, delicious bites.

 

A professional chef in a red apron prepares a gourmet pizza topped with Maestrella cheese, emphasizing high-quality ingredients for food service.

Catering: authenticity and sharing

In traditional and bistronomic catering, pizza is reinventing itself through new formats that encourage sharing and experience.

 

  • Pizza slices: served in individual portions, they appeal for their generous size, convenience, and speed. The mozzarella, melted and stringy, remains the number one pleasure factor.  
  • Gourmet pizzas: crafted like signature dishes, they combine high-quality mozzarella with premium ingredients (truffles, seasonal vegetables, artisanal charcuterie).
Pizza, made with tomato, mozzarella, basil and olive oil.

 Formats to share: maxi-pizzas or tasting platters allow for a variety of toppings, with mozzarella playing a key role as a cross-cutting ingredient.

- Pinsa: the light and digestible pizza

The result is a light texture that is crispy on the outside but soft on the inside.

Mozzarella goes perfectly with it, often combined with grilled vegetables, fresh tomatoes, or cured ham for a gourmet and healthier option.

- Ciabatta & Panuozzo: the pizza sandwich

Ciabatta, an Italian bread with a honeycomb crumb, and panuozzo, a specialty from Campania, are increasingly being used as bases for pizza-sandwich creations.

Topped with melted mozzarella, cold cuts, and vegetables, these convenient formats are perfect for on-the-go snacking. They are particularly appealing to urbanites looking for a quick but high-quality meal.

- Focaccia: pizza without tomato sauce

Soft and oily, focaccia is somewhere between bread and pizza. Often served in restaurants on large platters to share, it can be topped or garnished with mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, herbs, and olives.

As a snack, it comes in individual portions, perfect for quick but convivial consumption. In Europe, focaccia is now considered a staple of fast food and takeaway restaurants. In Italy, it is eaten at all hours of the day. In Barcelona, focaccia is becoming a new type of entrepà (sandwich) that is widely consumed. In France, top chefs and restaurants are including it in their takeaway offerings, positioning it as a high-quality snack.

It combines speed, ease of consumption, and a premium image thanks to its Mediterranean ingredients. This triple dimension of craftsmanship, convenience, and gourmet taste explains its success in today's snack market.

Gourmet square-cut focaccia topped with melted Maestrella mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, and fresh herbs, baked to a perfect golden brown for professional catering.

- Bruschetta: the trendy appetizer

A cross between toast and pizza, bruschetta appeals for its simplicity and its ability to showcase quality ingredients. Served grilled, rubbed with garlic, and topped with mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, or marinated vegetables, it is ideal for bistronomic restaurants or as tapas to share.

As a snack, it comes in small individual slices that are easy to eat.

- Scrocchiarella: the crunchy effect

Scrocchiarella, literally “the crunchy one,” is a thin, crispy dough designed to be topped like a pizza or focaccia. Very popular in Italy in high-end fast food restaurants, it can be easily cut into slices.

Mozzarella acts as a binder, while enhancing the crispy texture of the base.

Fliying pizza dough with flour, on drak background

Key points to remember

New pizza formats meet two requirements: convenience for snacking and authenticity for traditional restaurants. In all cases, mozzarella remains an integral part of this evolution, as it symbolizes both tradition and modernity, pleasure and adaptability.

Shared, rolled, sliced, or enjoyed on the go: pizza is reinventing itself. From snack formats to gourmet versions, one ingredient remains at the heart of all trends: Maestrella mozzarella, which structures, binds, and adds a touch of indulgence to all your creations.

 

Opportunities:

  • Diversification: offer a varied range of formats adapted to different consumption occasions (snacking, sit-down meals, aperitifs). 
  • Promoting quality: highlight the use of premium and classic mozzarella.
  • Culinary innovation: experiment with new toppings, cooking techniques, and combinations to attract a curious and demanding clientele.

 

PIZZA 2RET

Discover our Maestrella IQF mozzarella balls and slices, ideal for toppings on pinsa and bruschetta.

 

To diversify your offering and attract new customers, discover our Maestrella range.

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