From the Editor’s desk: December 2013

I had a blast on Oct. 29. A lot of days are a hoot, but this one was a rarer type of fun.

I had a blast on Oct. 29. A lot of days are a hoot, but this one was a rarer type of fun. It is not often that I get to see so many members of the Canadian pizza industry gathered in one place to exchange ideas and hear the wonderful sound of a buzzing room. It got me right into the Christmas spirit of camaraderie before Halloween had even passed.

Canadian Pizza magazine hosted the Canadian Pizza Show at the International Centre this year, and I would be remiss not to pause here and extend a heartfelt thanks to all those who helped make it a great day for the 106 attendees and 38 exhibitors. We appreciate the continued support of our sponsors: PizzaMaster distributed by Alfa Cappuccino (platinum), Stanislaus (gold), Saputo Foodservice (gold) and
Santa Lucia (bronze). Thank you for being a big part of making the largest networking opportunity dedicated to pizzerias in Canada possible. Thank you to all our exhibitors!

Thank you also to Diana Coutu, Rocco Agostino and Dr. JoAnne Bennett Mirsky for their time and insights on the stage. It wouldn’t have been quite the same event without our special guest, Diana’s 10-month old son Sebastian, who undoubtedly charmed his way into many hearts that day. 

And, thank you to all our attendees, to whom this event was dedicated. We hope you found value in the Canadian Pizza Show and look forward to seeing what the third year of this event’s
evolution may hold. As a business operator, it’s really important to find yourself amongst likeminded people for a day. Running a business can feel like working on a remote island. You may wonder whether what you are doing is really best practices, or perhaps just the best solution you could come up with at the time. It’s easy to get burned out or to hole up on that private beach with your head down and lose sight of larger things happening in the restaurant industry. Fighting day-to-day fires can make you wonder when the blazes you are going to get time to work on your business. These are all reasons we are excited to offer the pizza industry an opportunity to get together, share the Canadian perspective, and hopefully share a few laughs too!

This edition, we share the story of your fellow operators, the Muntain family of TJ’s Pizza in Melfort, Sask., who are this year’s Saputo Foodservice Pizza with Purpose award winners. The Muntains are an inspiration because of the way they genuinely bring their community together. They make it look effortless, but we suspect it is most definitely not so! We hope you enjoy reading about all the unique things they are up to in the Prairie province and find some ideas to take back to your own pizzeria. 

As the holiday season draws near, I hope you find yourself refreshed, reflective and ready for 2014. Canadian Pizza magazine would like to wish you and yours a wonderfully merry season and offer a toast to a Happy New Year.