01/17/08 What's pizza without the cheese?

We're down to the final four NFL teams and two will go onto the Super Bowl. Pizza will be a favorite for many football fans this coming weekend and on Super Sunday but it's also driving the demand for US dairy products. The dairy checkoff has worked to partner with major pizza chains to foster innovation and develop promotions that drive pizza sales. That strategy is paying off says Larry Jensen, president of Leprino Foods, one of the largest mozzarella cheese makers in the US. JENSEN "A single ounce of cheese on pizza consumed in the United States is equivalent to about 250 million pounds of annual demand for cheese." Jensen says the dairy checkoff's strategy of innovation and partnership is the key to continued cheese sales growth in the pizza category. Last year Domino's Pizza offered two innovative pizza options according to Dairy Management Inc's Chris Moore. MOORE "One is cheesy garlic bread pizza. It was available at Domino's and their 54 hundred outlets. Domino's used in excess of a million pounds of incremental cheese during that four week promotional period. " Moore says the dairy checkoff also helped Domino's develop a crispy melt pizza which uses three kinds of cheese and is working with other major pizza chains to drive pizza innovation and cheese sales. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott