In the competitive world of pizzerias, it is crucial for establishments to continually seek new and innovative toppings to keep customers’ palates challenged with new flavor profiles.
By offering unique and diverse options, pizzerias can not only attract new customers but also retain their existing ones. Introducing fresh ingredients and inventive combinations not only adds excitement to the menu but also provides an opportunity for customers to explore different flavor experiences.
Culinary innovation sets pizzerias apart from their competitors and ensures customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Many pizzerias and foodservice operators have found that solution with Mike’s Hot Honey. When Mike Kurtz first started making hot honey in 2004, he was a senior in college making batches in his apartment kitchen for personal use and to give out to family and friends.
Now the country’s leading brand of hot honey, Mike’s has come a long way from that college apartment kitchen.
After moving to New York City and trying his hand working in the music business, Kurtz’s passion for making pizza led to an opportunity to apprentice at Paulie Gee’s pizzeria in Brooklyn.
While working at the restaurant at night in addition to his day job, Kurtz brought in a bottle of his hot honey to try on the pizza. It quickly became a hit, and he was asked to start making it for the restaurant.
Soon customers began asking to buy bottles and Kurtz started bottling Mike’s Hot Honey, making bottles available for sale from the bar.
Moving into larger scale production, however, was another game entirely. “Scaling up was probably the most difficult part of the process of growing the company,” Kurtz said.
“There wasn’t a product out there like this at the time, so there was no bottling line that was already equipped to make our product.” He quickly realized the need for someone experienced in honey production and packing.
“A lot of packers wouldn’t work with us because of the risk of cross-contaminating their honey with our chili peppers,” he said.
These days, Mike’s Hot Honey is available in grocery stores and at restaurants around the country.
“At this point the brand awareness is pretty large; we’ve distributed across the country and people recognize the brand, so when they see it on menus they want to try that item,” Kurtz said.
Mike’s Hot Honey is a very simple addition to the kitchen and is usually used as a post-oven topping. This makes it easy to add to pizzeria menus and works well in a wide range of restaurant concepts.
Today, the most successful pizza operators are expanding and adapting their menus to adjust to changing tastes.
“Pizza is a pretty resilient part of food service. It’s universally loved, travels well, can be shared, and is fairly inexpensive,” Kurtz said.
“More recently, we’ve seen a renewed focus on quality and on simplifying menus. There’s been an uptick in New York-style slice shops outside of New York that pay real attention to detail and attention to the quality of their crust. You do yourself a favor when you reduce items and focus on a few high quality ingredients. Mike’s Hot Honey can add a dynamic new flavor to almost any menu item with just a simple drizzle.”
Although Mike’s Hot Honey started out as a pizza topping, it can be used to elevate a wide range of dishes, from fried chicken to salads to cocktails to desserts.
They even have a signature ice cream flavor at Cold Stone. “There’s a value in people seeing a quality, recognized brand like ours on a menu. This brings attention to restaurants who use our product and call us out by name. Restaurants are consistently seeing incremental growth when adding our product to their menus.”
Mike’s Hot Honey is available through most major distributors. Interested buyers can also email wholesale@mikeshothoney.comfor samples and more information, or go to Mikes Hot Honey’s website to learn more.
