Lindsey Davis, Carmi Flavors

The International Pizza Expo® continued its headship to the industry in Las Vegas last month by breaking show attendance records and expansion in the educational seminars and Craft Beer Pavilion.

Bill Oakley, Executive VP/Show Manager of the Pizza Expo, said this year’s Expo, March 19-21, was the largest ever in terms of attendance, total booths and net sq. footage of exhibit space and leads.

Oakley reported 6,916 attendees represented all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Canada and 23 other countries. There were 1,005 booths.

The show’s educational program was the largest ever as well, with over 85 seminars, demonstrations and workshops.

Some of this year's growth can be attributed to the expansion of the Craft Beer Pavilion, which hosted more than 8 breweries looking to market their beer in the pizza industry.

John Zappa, Master Brewer at Stevens Point Brewery in Wisconsin, said the awareness of craft beer and its importance along with food, especially pizza, was fantastic at the show.

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Alicia Kelso, PizzaMarketplace.com

Pie Five Pizza Co., sister chain to the 55-year old Pizza Inn, first opened in June 2011. The fast casual concept offers made-to-order, customized individual pizzas baked in less than five minutes.

Recent deals were just signed to expand the Pie Five brand out of its home state of Texas, into markets such as Kansas City, Mo., and Florida. More are on the way, according to Randy Gier, who took over as CEO of parent company Pizza Inn Holdings in November. He described the Pizza Inn and Pie Five brands as "Batman and Robin" in a recent interview with PizzaMarketplace.com.

"As excited as we are about developing Pie Five, we haven't abandoned our focus on Pizza Inn," he said. "We are a pizza company, and we want to get customers more pizza in more ways."

Gier also spoke about Pie Five's specific expansion plans and the relatively new niche of fast casual pizza.

PizzaMarketplace: Why is now the right time to expand Pie Five?

Randy Gier: Pizza is a $40 billion industry. Nobody loves pizza more than Americans. There is never a bad time to expand a pizza concept. We have a couple of years under our belt, and more experience, and we're ready to roll.

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Shelley DuBois, Fortune

At a certain point, we mature past eating food on a dare. If someone describes something by using the phrase, "That's crazy," you generally wouldn't put it in your mouth. But some food companies are making money hand over fist on products that they freely admit you have to be kind of nuts to eat. Why does this work?

First, let's take a look at the masters. Yum Brands (YUM), which owns KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut, has nailed this formula. On April 3 the company introduced its "Crazy Cheesy Crust" Pizza, which it deemed "an explosion." In Pizza Hut's own language from the press release:

"The mere name of the pizza is quite fitting. It's Crazy -- featuring 16 dough pockets at its outer edge -- Cheesy -- each pocket is filled with a blend of five Italian cheeses -- and Crust(y) -- the element of a pizza that Pizza Hut has a rich tradition of revolutionizing all around the world."

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