March 16, 2009, Ont. - Topper’s latest Build A Pizza contest drew an enthusiastic response, with over 700 entries received from across Ontario. Customers and staff were encouraged to create new and exciting pizza combinations.

The recipes were narrowed down to five customer and five staff entries with a panel of judges conducting the final taste testing. The categories they used to determine the winners were appearance, aroma, how appetizing it was, taste and the overall experience.

The winners had the highest scores in all categories. The customer pizza contest winner was Mark (who prefers to go by his first name only) from Ottawa for his Chicken Club Pizza, which is a thin garlic butter crust pizza, topped with roasted red peppers, nut-free red pepper pesto sauce, mozzarella cheese, chicken strips, red onions, tomatoes and bacon. The staff pizza contest winner was Gerry Cayen of Timmins for his Chicken Fajita Pizza, which is a thin crust pizza topped with salsa sauce, mozzarella cheese, seasoned chicken strips, onions, red onions and green peppers. Both winners received a $500 gift certificate at a retailer of their choice and free pizza for a year for their efforts. In addition, these two winning pizzas will be launched as specials on the Topper’s menu until March 22.

“While the goal of the contest is to encourage the customers and staff to play a more active role in helping to determine what’s on the menu, the benefits are really much more far reaching,” observes Emaan Toppazzini, research and product development manager for Topper’s Pizza. “Tastes change – one year it can be all about hot and spicy, while the next year it can be all about freshness and quality. This contest gives us an excellent opportunity to listen to our customers and what they want, and adjust our menu accordingly. Engaging our staff is also vital. They know our ingredients and products so well and often come up with very creative combinations, so leveraging their ideas and opinions is invaluable.”