PEPPUP’s Luca tastes success in growth of pizzas made by home cooks

Italian foodie Dr Luca Montorio recently secured a significant contract that will see his authentic Italian pizza sauce from Newtownards on sale in major grocery stores here and further afield.

The deal was announced last week on World Pizza Day.

Born in Turin, Luca owns PEPPUP, a small food business that’s been creating widely acclaimed Italian style sauces, relishes and dressings for customers here and in the Irish Republic since 2014. He has become the leading artisan producer of authentic Italian sauces, the recipes for which he develops in Newtownards.

And Fermanagh’s Crust and Crumb bakery, already a major supplier of pizza bases and topped flatbreads to major supermarkets especially Aldi, the leading German discounter, is to launch its products in the Middle East at the big Gulfood Expo, one of the world’s biggest food show that’s held annually in Dubai.

Crust and Crumb is now Ireland’s largest manufacturer of ambient, chilled, frozen flatbread and garlic bread products. The family business produces pizza bases, topped pizzas, flatbreads, garlic baguettes/slices, and tortillas alongside an extensive range of gluten free and vegan dough-based products.

An east Belfast pizza shop, Flout!, has just won acclaim from the UK’s number one food reviewer, Food Review Club, scoring a perfect 10 out of 10 from the reviewer.

They are at the forefront of a taste revolution that’s attracting local food companies to develop ingredients for pizzas for both processors and home cooks.

Pizza, of course, has a long history. Flatbreads with toppings were consumed by the ancient Egyptians, Romans and Greeks. But the modern birthplace of pizza is Italy’s Campania region, home of Naples. Neapolitans required inexpensive food that could be consumed quickly. Pizza - flatbreads with various toppings, eaten for any meal and sold by street vendors or informal restaurants - fulfilled this requirement.

Luca, a registered nutritionist now resident in Portaferry with wife Liz and their two sons, is a direct bridge to the world of authentic Italian pizza and other foods.

The latest deal for PEPPUP with Henderson Wholesale in Newtownabbey will see his unique pizza sauce on sale in most Eurospar stores here. Luca’s products are also on sale in hundreds of farm shops, independent groceries, delis and butchery outlets here and in the Republic. He has also supplied sauces and relishes to supermarkets in Britain.

Passionate about good food and a talented cook, Luca says: “The new business with Eurospar is an immensely important development for us and will increase awareness of our pizza and other sauces throughout Northern Ireland. Italian foods are now immensely popular especially with home cooks. I’ve created recipes for pizzas and other Italian dishes which I’ve shared widely – and continue to do so – with people here.”

Among other local companies contributing to the pizza trend are: Kennedy Bacon in Omagh, a producer of dry-cured bacon bits for toppings; Corndale Farm Charcuterie in Limavady, a supplier of chorizo and other cured meats. Burren Balsamics in Richhill provides a range of oils developed by chefs Susie Hamilton Stubber, founder of the multi-award winning business, and development chef Bob McDonald.

And Karen Boyd switched from running her own pizza takeaway business to producing pizza base kits that enable local people to make their own pizzas and toppings at home. Karen set up Pizzado in Portavogie to make bases. She gained numerous awards for her DIY pizza bases and also supplied a range of outlets including Aldi, the leading discount grocer in the Republic.

Indie Fude, the popular deli in Belfast and Comber, has also linked up with Italian cheesemaker David Thani, the owner of Velocheese in Belfast, to create a range of Italian-style cheeses for pizzas. A native of Sardinia, David was the first in Northern Ireland to make his mozzarella, the favoured pizza topping. Their small business in Belfast, Indie Fude x Velocheese, is now creating classic Italian-style cheeses for pizzas including ricotta and burrata.

Flout! Pizza, based in Portview Trade Centre in east Belfast, was recently acclaimed by the Tik Tok food reviewer with 600,000 followers. Along with getting a perfect score, Food Review Club said the New York-style cheese pizza he tried rivalled Lucali’s, a Brooklyn outlet considered by many as the best pizza in the world.