Hormel Foods Expects to Wow Crowd at International Pizza Expo with Ribbon Pepperoni
Hormel Foods takes its role as a leader in the pizza and foodservice industries seriously, the company said in a release. Those attending the upcoming International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas will get to witness this expertise firsthand with the unveiling of HORMEL Ribbon Pepperoni, the latest food-forward innovation from the pizza-topping experts at Hormel Foods.
Inspired by the pizza stylings of Windsor, Ontario — where shredded pepperoni is a staple — Hormel says Ribbon Pepperoni will be a gamechanger for American foodservice operators, allowing for quicker pizza preparation while ensuring a taste of pepperoni in every bite.
“We are always looking for ways to create solutions for our operators, and we believe HORMEL Ribbon Pepperoni does just that,” Colby Strilaeff, Hormel Foodservice brand manager, said in a release. “It’s a unique product unlike anything else in the market, and we are very excited to showcase it at the International Pizza Expo. We think it’ll be the talk of the show.”
Solving operator pain points is always a top priority for the Hormel Foodservice team, and in assessing pizza, specifically pepperoni, two main issues were identified:
1. Round slices of pepperoni take a long time to portion evenly on a pizza pie.
2. Round slices aren’t always the best format of pepperoni for non-pizza applications, like pastas and salads.
For the Hormel Foodservice team, these pain points presented an opportunity for innovation, the release said.
“We asked ourselves, what if pepperoni could be handled and applied like shredded mozzarella cheese?” Blake Flores, innovation team lead for Hormel Foodservice, said in a release. “We tested pepperoni spirals, we tested different thicknesses of pepperoni, but in the end, ribbons emerged as the solution that best addressed these operator pain points, and we’re already seeing the results. The response to this product from our foodservice customers has been overwhelmingly positive.”
Coleman All Natural Meats Launches Rebrand To Grow Branded Consumer Retail and Expand Foodservice
Coleman All Natural Meats announced a new rebranding effort on March 13 to support the company’s strategic shift into more branded consumer retail and expand nationally into foodservice outlets. The move comes in response to positive customer feedback as well as growing consumer desire for claim-based meats.
“In recent years, consumers have become increasingly more knowledgeable about where their food comes from and in turn, demand greater transparency and clarity with food package claims,” Patricia Bridges, Coleman’s Sr. Director of Marketing and Communications, said in a release.
Coleman said it conducted a series of consumer focus groups, in-depth interviews and a national online survey that tested design elements, packaging attributes and claims as part of the rebranding efforts. As a result, the brand said it “will unveil a new logo and packaging that celebrates the brand’s family farm heritage and commitment to all-natural, humanely raised crate free pork sourced from American farmers, with no antibiotics ever, no added hormones and fed an all-vegetarian diet.”
