Lesaffre opens Pizza Innovation Center

Lesaffre has announced the opening of its new Pizza Innovation Center in Lisle, Ill., near Chicago, in partnership with master pizza instructor Leo Spizzirri, who has earned certification in all five styles of Italian pizza making from the Scuola Italiana Pizzaioli.

The new facility aims to bring the latest technology, equipment and expertise to the benefit of Lesaffre’ s baking customers in North America, said a news release from Lesaffre, which designs, manufactures and markets yeasts and fermentations.

It has been launched in conjunction with the North America Pizza & Culinary Academy. The North American Pizza and Culinary Academy, an arm of the Scuola, is the second official pizza school in the United States and one of 20 such exclusive schools worldwide. The school certifies pizza chefs and has certified about 100 masters worldwide. 

The Pizza Innovation Center features a range of pizza ovens covering many technologies and styles, several types of mixing and dough handling equipment, a dough preparation room that can replicate any “real world” climate, a commercial kitchen, an innovative kitchen instructional area, Lesaffre said in the release.

“This new facility gives us more opportunity to innovate with key pizza clients who want to create new products, troubleshoot their process, or train their people” said Tom Benner, president and chief executive officer of Lesaffre Yeast Corporation. “We are proud to work with such high caliber talent as Leo Spizzirri and the entire team at the Pizza & Culinary Academy.”

“I am thrilled to be working with a partner like Lesaffre, who brings top quality ingredients focused on the art of great pizza,” Spizzirri said. “They will bring their research and development team on site, and we can work at levels unrivaled in the industry. There’s a lot of expertise coming together here.”

Lesaffre Yeast Corporation and Red Star Yeast company are part of the Lesaffre group.

For more information, contact Bill Hanes, director of marketing and strategy for Lesaffre Corporation, at 404-661-6502 or by email at bill.hanes@lsaf.com.