Gen Z Fuels Rise of Global Pizza Styles

Gen Z consumers index highly on global pizza styles, according to Datassential’s Pizza report, led by Turkish flatbread lahmacun at 241 relative to the general population.

Vietnamese pizza follows at 202, Sicilian sfincione at 188, Quad Cities-style at 174 and Colombian pizza at 170, all over indexing among Gen Z. Millennials show a similar pull toward international styles, favoring Alsatian flammkuchen (174), sfincione (166) and Turkish pide (163), suggesting the appetite for global pizza extends beyond the youngest generation of diners.

Gen X and Boomers show far less interest by comparison: Gen X’s highest index tops out at 119 (veggie pizza), with only mild affinity for Americanized global riffs like Mexican and Argentinian pizza, while Boomers’ top styles are entirely classic American and Italian-American — thin crust, sausage, deep dish — with no global style cracking their top 15.

The pull toward global styles fits a broader pattern in how younger consumers eat. Datassential’s Global, Redefined report found 40% of Gen Z and 44% of Millennials are more likely to cook globally inspired dishes weekly, compared with 33% of Gen X and 13% of Boomers, while 34% of Gen Z and 32% of Millennials order global dishes weekly or more at restaurants, versus just 4% of Boomers. 

Those habits are reshaping what diners expect from a menu overall. The same report notes that 58% of consumers now expect at least some globally inspired items on most menus, and 37% say a restaurant with no global influence feels outdated, a view most pronounced among Gen Z and Millennials.

The generational pull lines up with Datassential’s Pizza Mega Trends, which places “Global Styles” at the inception stage, the earliest point on the trend cycle.  Pizza is a popular entrée across the globe, and most countries have their own version of the dish, from Argentinean fugazza and fugazetta to French pissaladière and regional Canadian styles, according to the Pizza report.  Those Canadian styles tend to stay close to home, according to the Pizza in Canada report, which flags them as an opportunity for innovation within Canada or even abroad in the U.S.