Ardent Mills joined more than 6,000 pizza industry leaders at the 2016 International Pizza Expo held earlier this spring in Las Vegas. The Ardent Mills’ booth provided attendees a taste of what’s next in pizza dough innovations. Pizza restaurant owners, operators and baker-chef attendees sampled a range of flavors and doughs developed by Ardent Mills’ technical and culinary teams and fueled by industry-leading consumer insights.

“We see pizza dough as another great opportunity when it comes to innovating pizza tastes and textures. At the Pizza Expo, we offered samples of pizza made with doughs that highlight the great nutrition and complex flavors of different whole grain flours, like ancient grains, ground rye and sprouted wheat. We paired creative dough recipes with complementary toppings that support different cuisines and culinary styles. These pies also fall in line with eating styles diners want right now: simple, clean ingredients, better health, heartiness, unique flavor profiles and some indulgence,” described Don Trouba, Ardent Mills’ marketing director.

Ardent Mills’ pizza flour portfolio includes Kyrol, Hummer, King Midas, Primo Mulino 00-Style Pizza Flour and custom blends and ancient grain mixes.

Samples featured at the show included:

Rye and Reuben Pizza with ground rye-pumpernickel, quinoa and Ardent Mills Kyrol High Protein Flour crust topped with pastrami, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Russian dressing

Sprouted Beets Pizza featuring crust made with Ardent Mills Kyrol High Protein Flour and Sprouted White Spring Whole Wheat Flour and topped with candy cane beets, roasted green onions, goat cheese, fig reduction and béchamel sauce

Neapolitan Style Funghi Pizza featuring Italian style Primo Mulino Flour, white béchamel sauce, mixed mushrooms, smoked mozzarella, Gruyère and thyme

Salad Pizza featuring Arden Mills Kyrol High Protein Flour and red quinoa

“The salad pizza evolved when our chef realized that people go out to pizza in groups. Inevitably, some members of the group want a lighter option,” said Trouba. “This pizza is more like a salad, with quinoa, braised greens, tomatoes and vinaigrette. The dough is made with Kyrol flour, a premium high protein pizza flour that has exceptional elasticity and extensibility.”

Ardent Mills also sponsored and contributed Kyrol High Protein pizza flour to the event’s World Pizza Games competition, which crowns the best pizzaiaolo in several competitive events. The winner of the Freestyle Acrobatic Dough Tossing Games was Hyeonsoo Joo of Mr. Pizza. Clocking in at just over 24 seconds, Mitch Rotolo Jr. of Rotolo’s Pizzeria was the fastest dough maker. Carlos Mangana of Pizza My Heart stretched the largest dough at 105.65 centimeters.

“These rigorous games demand a consistent, high performing flour,” says Michael Shepard, pizza industry expert and one of the games’ founders. “The dough stretching and triathlon events require soft, flexible dough, and the acrobatic spinning events require a harder, tough dough that can take a pounding. We’ve relied on Ardent Mills Kyrol pizza flour for years because it delivers both with the consistency and the flexibility we need.”