Pizza Expo 2019: Viva Las Vegas

The International Pizza Expo 2019 held early this month in Las Vegas was the biggest industry gathering in the show’s 35-year history! Over 10,000 attendees, 500 exhibitors and 100 instructors were present. Marra Forni is proud to have participated and to have sixteen of our ovens showcased, not only at our own booth – but on the competition stages for the Pizza Expo Traditional and Neapolitan Competitions and at the booths of Atalanta Corp, Menu srl, Mangia Inc, Roland, Grande Cheese, Ardent Mills, Caputo Flour, Le 5 Stagioni, Sogno Toscano, and Polly-O.

We would like to extend our gratitude to all the talented pizzaioli, friends, partners, suppliers, collaborators, and competitors. This year’s attendees included pizzeria or pizza-concept restaurant owners, operators and managers, as well as distributors and food brokers. Other exhibitors included pizza ingredient and flour suppliers, point-of-sales systems, ovens, kitchen equipment, marketing, and promotional materials and many other pizza-industry companies.

Open to industry professionals only, competitions and awards are also an important feature of the show. Pizza Today and Pizza Expo recognize talented young entrepreneurs with Pizza Today’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Annual competitions at Pizza Expo include the International Pizza Challenge (bake-offs in front of judges in five divisions, with Pizza Maker of the Year finals) as well as World Pizza Games (skills competition in five divisions). It gave us great satisfaction to see our ovens on the competition floor!

Since 1985, Pizza Expo has been putting owners and managers of independent and chain pizza restaurants in touch with manufacturers and service providers to the pizza industry which produces an estimated $43 billion in annual sales. The expo is also a great avenue for education. Workshops include School of Pizzeria Management (advanced courses in running a profitable pizza restaurant company); Making Pizzas with Tony Gemignani (in-depth sessions on making starters, dough and pizzas); and Scott’s Las Vegas Pizza Tour which give evening bus tour of three outstanding local pizzerias.

At this year’s expo, we were pleased to have Maestro Pizzaiolo/Chef Enzo Coccia  who has been dubbed the “Master of Pizza Napoletana” by the Michelin Guide, join our partners at the Pizza University & Culinary Arts Center as a Guest of Honor. We were also honored to have our team, partners and award-winning pizzaioli Ali Haider, Daniele Gagliotta, Felice Colucci, John Arena, Jonathan Goldsmith, Antonio Langone, Glen Cybulski, Dan Moroso, and Ciro Iovine. Other educational programs included keynote addresses, seminars, panel discussions and pizzeria menu demonstrations during the event. Inspired by new industry trends, exchanging ideas with our colleagues, and witnessing the pizzaioli in action, we are excited to create even more innovations this year!