Flour is no longer the only choice when it comes to making pizzas as Pizza Hut's Taiwan branch yesterday unveiled its new rice pizzas.
By combining Eastern and Western flavors, the nation's biggest pizza house chain has led the industry in the launch of its creative new product, which will be available in three flavors initially and follows a full year of research and development.
The product will be marketed under the name "米zza," (pronounced "mi-zza.") The Chinese character (米) refers to rice.
With a thin slice of tortilla as the base, roasted rice originating from the Chianan Plain (嘉南平原) in southern Taiwan is then topped with a choice of Mexican hot chicken, Japanese-style mushroom, or the classic "Hawaii" combination of ham and pineapple.
The six-inch rice pizzas are tailor-made to lure office workers, who sometimes feel alternatives for lunch are limited, said Felisa Wu (吳玉屏), marketing director of Jardine Food Services (Taiwan) Co, which operates 125 Pizza Hut restaurants nationwide.
The stunning success achieved by McDonald's Restaurants (Taiwan) Co since the launch of its rice burgers early last year inspired the pizza house to make a bold move and replace dough with rice, said Jess Cheng (鄭守珍), manager of research and development.
As of last month, McDonald's had sold over 10 million rice burgers in Taiwan, consuming 800 metric tons of rice, according to Viya Chen (陳薇雅), the fast-food giant's assistant vice president for marketing and communications.
The innovation has caught the attention of Wall Street analysts. Moreover, McDonald's in Singapore and Hong Kong started offering rice burgers on their menus during the first quarter this year, Chen said.
Singapore has imported rice from Taiwan especially for these products, she added.
Planning to duplicate this operational mode, Pizza Hut said it takes around three months to gauge consumer response. If the made-in-Taiwan invention receives a warm welcome, then the company may introduce new flavors to other nations, Cheng said.
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