Pepperoni crowned Brits' fav topping for National Pizza Day
The rankings were revealed by Foodhub, a leading online food ordering platform, in celebration of National Pizza Day which falls today (Wednesday 9 February). Analysts crunched more than 8m pizza orders to discover the most popular topping.
Pepperoni-topped pizza knocked out last year’s winner, the margherita, to bag top spot, accounting for 7.3% of all pizza orders. The classic cheese and tomato was ordered second most while meat feast rounded off the top three, accounting for 4.5% and 3.8% of orders respectively.
Pizza topped with donner meat maintained a ‘pizza the nation’s heart’ in fifth place at 2.1% of orders while newcomer veggie pizza soared into fourth place, accounting for 2.2% of all pizza orders.
A nation of pizza lovers
Foodhub spokesperson Ardian Mula said: “We’re a nation of pizza lovers in the UK and nothing beats sharing the classic cheesy Italian dish with family and friends so toppings often have to appeal to more than one person.
“It’s fascinating to see how the nation’s taste has changed compared to last year’s orders – pepperoni trumping the classic margherita in 2022. We can’t wait to see what this year brings – who knows, a vegan option may take the top spot – crazier things have happened.”
The announcement comes fresh off the heels of Veganuary, with a boom in plant-based diets showing one quarter of Brits swapping meat with plant-based alternatives since the first Covid lockdown.
In light of this, the meat-dominated list might seem surprising. Yet, a recent poll by The Morning Advertiser (MA) revealed the majority of operators (60%) would not consider switching to a plant-based menu.
Meat is here to stay
Karl Green, chef at top gastropub the Unruly Pig in Suffolk, told the MA: “The bottom line for us is vegan customers constitute less than 0.6% of our revenue so it would be, at very best, economically questionable for us to offer a fully plant-based menu.
“In truth, it is not an easy task as the labour resource expended has, for us, never equated with proportionate revenue delivered, but with COP26, and the need to reduce methane, the need to offer vegan options is unlikely to reduce.”
Brits’ top five pizza toppings ordered through Foodhub:
- Pepperoni (7.3%)
- Margherita (4.5%)
- Meat Feast (3.8%)
- Vegetarian (2.2%)
- Donner Pizza (2.1%)
