Qualitaly_118

AUG. SEP. 2020 VII 20% of restaurants that offer pizza on their menu. And the three cities with the highest number of pizzerias that can be booked online through the catering platform are: Rome, Milan and Naples. It is well understood that the world that revolves around pizza is one of the most virtuous of our economy. This is confirmed by the numbers announced last year by TuttoPizza, the international exhibition dedicated to professional operators in the sector, in Naples at the Mostra d’Oltremare. The same survey informs us that 8 million pizzas are churned out daily in Italy, for a total of over 2 billion pizzas a year. A turnover that is always on the rise, despite the closure of public establishments during the quarantine. PIZZA SUPERSTAR Pizza, therefore, even during rimetterethe months of lockdown was the absolute queen, the most loved product by Italians. It pampered us, spoiled us, kept us company for the whole period. Among the economic difficulties and the new security measures, on 18 May many restaurateurs, those who managed to survive the forced lockdown, maybe even refitting out of their own pockets, finally were able to raise the shutters, rolling up their sleeves, to restart the sector most damaged by the blackout caused by Covid 19. Activities that have been struggling to recover since the reopening after the lockdown, both because of government security regulations and because of people’s fear of attending them. Fortunately, the summer season has shown a good sign of recovery for Horeca outlets with pizzerias performing better than restaurants and bars. The reasons are various: the costs are lower than those of the restaurants, proposals for new pizza dough, the lower expectations for eating and take-away, which is growing thanks to the latest methods adopted by the managers for the transportation of the queen of food. VIRTUOUS EXAMPLES “The reopening has contributed to some innovation,” says Simone Fiesoli, founding partner of the pizzeria Duje in Florence, “The dehor, which we had never had before, and the aperitif, with Neapolitan products and fried street food, including pizza portafoglio, classic Neapolitan that combines what is the trend at the time of the aperi- dinner to a food that represents our identity”. With this spirit, slowly, following the precautions imposed by law and the savoire - faire of the managers of the premises, the pizzerias came alive. “Already since June we have seen the same numbers as those prior to the Covid emergency,” says Andrea Godi, founding partner and pizza chef of Pizzeria 400° in Lecce, “It’s either because we have the advantage of having two dining rooms and a very large garden which, in the summer months has been our strong point, or because people, psychologically, feel that being outside is less risky. We, however, always try to play down by avoiding taking actions that, at the moment, are not required by law, such as, for example, measuring the temperature”. To cope with this particularly critical moment, which continues to affect the catering industry in particular, many operators, even those more reluctant to deliver and take away, have equipped themselves with means of transport to make home deliveries. In addition, many pizza makers have invented new doughs to deliver their soft, crunchy and tasty pizzas to their homes, just like those that are served on their premises. And during the summer period the number of new restaurants that have joined the most famous platforms such as Deliveroo and Glovo has risen significantly. The most popular dishes were pizza, poke and hamburgers. Pizza, however, is always at the top of the list and the cities that made the most use of Deliveroo were Milan, Rome, Cagliari and Florence. “A confirmation,” explains Matteo Sarzana, General Manager Deliveroo Italy, “of how essential our service is, first of all for the catering industry, which is going through a very delicate period. Home delivery through platforms such as Deliveroo is proving to be a real lifeline for hundreds of restaurants which, in this way, have been able to continue their activities, guaranteeing a service to the public and also protecting jobs. We want to continue to support the catering sector and accompany the return to normality of restaurateurs and consumers even at this stage”. The lockdown, therefore, for some managers, especially pizza makers, the most far-sighted, has offered them an excellent opportunity to study, to experiment with new formulas and new strategies for the reopening, considering that customers recently choose the places where to eat pizza based on the quality of igredients used and the dough. Simone Fiesoli goes on to explain: “We used this extension of the closure to do all our technical tests to obtain an excellent pizza, extending our tests to gluten-free as well. We have studied a packaging suitable for our product, where all the ingredients are individually packed with instructions inside”. Duje’s kit, on offer since early July, thanks to an idea born in collaboration with Michele Leo, master of Neapolitan pizza, is achieving great success in the Florentine city. The kit is delivered directly by their staff once a week, on Friday evening, the same day on which the dough is prepared, which, at the customer’s discretion, once received, can be stored in the fridge for 3/4 days or frozen. “The lockdown helped us make a discovery,” the Leccese Godi