Who Invented Pizza?

When was the last time that you ate pizza? A poll conducted by restaurant chain CiCi’s Pizza estimates that the average American eats 6,000 slices of pizza during their life.^[1] You can find pizza served by school cafeterias, pre-packaged and frozen at the supermarket, on the menus of all kinds of different restaurants, and you can get it delivered to you.

Even though this is a food that is very recognizable in the U.S., the pizza originated in the region of Italy known as Campania where the city of Naples is located. The flat bread with toppings was an inexpensive food that could be eaten very quickly by workers as early as the 1700s. Eventually, pizza became more popular in other parts of Italy but it did not arrive in the U.S. until the 1940s when immigrants from Naples started making their pizzas in New York and other cities where they settled. Pizza became increasingly popular until it was not viewed as an ethnic food but a fun, fast food.^[2] While pizza wasn’t invented in the U.S., American companies like Domino’s and Pizza Hut have successfully expanded internationally. Domino’s alone has over 18,000 stores all over the world.^[3] All of this is just one aspect of globalization, the integration of the world’s economies that involves the exchange of culture, ideas, and beliefs in addition to international business.

What type of pizza and what toppings are the best can be hotly debated. Should the crust be thick or thin? Is pineapple an acceptable topping? Is it still a pizza if the crust is gluten-free and made from cauliflower? Your opinion is based on your personal preferences which are shaped by your own experiences and culture. In other countries, locals are likely to have different preferences based upon their culture and what foods are common in that region. Businesses like Domino’s have to adjust to those preferences if they want to be successful globally. For example, in Japan, an island nation where seafood is very common, some of the most popular toppings are squid and shrimp.^[4] In contrast, in the African country of Nigeria, you can order plantains as a topping.^[5] These cultural differences are just one of the many factors that make global business so complex.