PIZZA, THE PLANET'S MOST POPULAR FOOD, GETS A MAKEOVER THAT IS FRIENDLIER FOR THE PLANET

News provided by

17 Feb, 2022, 15:03 GMT

Knorr® launches Plizza – a planet-friendlier pizza from crust to toppings for World Eat for Good Day

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands, Feb. 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pizza, one of the most popular foods around the globe, just got a new twist that is friendlier for the planet in celebration of World Eat for Good Day on 19 February. Knorr, the global food brand known for bringing flavour to tables all over the world, is launching Plizza – a planet-friendlier pizza. The global food brand has reinvented the classic dish to be plant-based with ingredients that are better for people and the planet - from crust to toppings. Approximately five billion pizzas are sold every year around the world, so by changing pizza to be planet-friendlier we can collectively have a significant positive impact when we make swaps to ingredients that are better for the planet.

This image opens in the lightbox — Knorr® launches Plizza - a planet-friendlier pizza from crust to toppings for World Eat for Good Day

The Plizza will be available for free on World Eat for Good Day in six cities around the globe - created fresh and delivered hot via the local food delivery app. Participating cities in the United States, Mexico, Indonesia, South-Africa, Thailand, and China will offer a limited number of Plizzas to be ordered and delivered on 19 February. For those who miss the Plizza delivery opportunity, the recipe and cook along video will be available at knorrplizza.com.

Knorr developed the Plizza to show how easy it is to make delicious swaps in everyday meals that can decrease foods' negative impact on the planet while increasing its positive impact on health. Currently, our food system is a key contributor to climate change^2,3, species loss, water scarcity, and soil loss and damage. 75% of the global food supply is made up of just 12 plant and five animal species⁵ making the food system fragile to the potential impacts of diseases, pests, and climate change. The good news is that 'Food is the strongest lever to maximize human and planetary health on Earth'⁴. Eating a wider variety of plant-based foods helps safeguard the future of food while providing more nutrients and reducing the use of the planet's resources. Launching Plizza is part of Knorr's commitment to get food that is good for people and the planet on seven billion plates by 2025, globally.

The first-ever Plizza, created by renowned Knorr chefs, is plant-based and packed with Future 50 Foods – foods that are better for people and the planet¹. The recipe itself becomes a Plizza with three simple swaps including making the dough with wholegrain spelt flour, adding a Knorr flavoured sauce made with sustainably sourced ingredients paired with soil-enriching, high fiber beans and replacing the toppings with nutrient-packed veggies like fast-growing spinach and self-sowing watercress.

What makes the Plizza planet-friendlier?

It is plant-based. More than 30% of greenhouse gas emissions (main contributor to climate change) come from food agriculture – of which more than 60% comes from animals^2,3. Decreasing the number of animal-based foods we eat lowers food's impact on climate change.
It has a wide variety of ingredients. 75% of the global food supply is made up of just 12 plant and five animal species⁵. This is causing a loss of species – making the food system fragile to pests and climate changes. The Plizza includes a variety of Knorr and WWF's Future 50 Foods¹ to help build a more resilient food system that can feed our growing population.
Knorr products contain ingredients that are grown with care. For Knorr it is important that our ingredients are grown with care for people and the planet. 95% of Knorr vegetables and herbs are grown sustainably, globally and will grow 80% of key ingredients (vegetables, herbs, spices, grains) following Unilever Regenerative Agriculture Principles by 2026. With experts predicting there is less than 30 years of water left⁶ and 90% of soil (where our food is grown) will be degraded by 2050⁷, there is an urgent need to grow food in ways that sustain and regenerate nature.

April Redmond, Global Brand Vice President, Knorr: "Food is a delicious force for good and we're on a mission to get food that's better for us and the planet on everyone's plates. With Knorr's authentic flavour paired with the Future 50 foods we are showing the world just how irresistible eating for good can be. Together we will change the world by changing what's on our plates."

Dorothy Shaver, Global Food Sustainability Director, Unilever: "On World Eat for Good Day, we want to help everyone understand the impact our food system has on our planet and our health and provide a delicious way to make a positive change. Knorr is on a mission to help everyone eat a wider variety of plants that are grown in sustainable and regenerative ways for our health and the health of the planet. Through this campaign, in addition to our products, programs, and partnerships we are inspiring everyone to Eat for Good."

Join Knorr on World Eat for Good Day and change the world by changing what's on your pizza! Full details on the Knorr Plizza story, including the delivery app, recipe, and recipe video can be found at knorrplizza.com. #Knorr #Plizza #WorldEatForGoodDay #EatforGood

¹Future 50 Foods | Knorr UK
²https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/03/1086822
³https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-021-00358-x
⁴The EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet, Health - EAT Knowledge (eatforum.org)
⁵What is Agrobiodiversity? (fao.org)
⁶United Nations world water development report 4: managing water under uncertainty and risk - UNESCO Digital Library
⁷Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services | IPBES secretariat

About Knorr Global
Knorr's passion for better cooking and eating goes right back to the brand's beginnings in 1838. Knorr is proud to be the 8th most chosen FMCG brand in the world (according to Kantar World Panel) and Unilever's largest food brand. Knorr products are sold in more than 90 countries around the world and the products are chosen 3.1 billion times per year, in 379 million homes annually. The recipes on Knorr websites and in programs inspire millions of people each year to eat food that is better for them and the planet. Knorr's purpose, globally, is to reinvent food for humanity with the ambition to get food that is good for people and the planet on 7 billion plates by 2025. The Future 50 Foods themselves are the unlock to food that is good for people and the planet – key to 'good food'.

Knorr, together with WWF, launched Future 50 Foods on 19 February 2019, identifying 50 foods that we should eat more of for our health and the health of our planet and is central to Knorr's products, programmes and partnerships. The Future 50 Foods Cookbook is available for free download and is sold on Amazon UK.

For more information about Knorr's purpose visit knorreatforgood.com and for more about Knorr Future 50 Food visit knorrfuture50foods.com.

About Unilever
Unilever is one of the world's leading suppliers of Beauty & Personal Care, Home Care, and Foods & Refreshment products, with sales in over 190 countries and products used by 2.5 billion people every day. Unilever has 149,000 employees and generated sales of €50.7 billion in 2020. Over half of our footprint is in developing and emerging markets. The company has around 400 brands found in homes all over the world. – including iconic global brands like Dove, Lifebuoy, Knorr, Magnum, OMO and Surf; and other brands such as Love Beauty & Planet, Hourglass, Seventh Generation and The Vegetarian Butcher.

The Unilever Compass, our sustainable business strategy, is set out to help us deliver superior performance and drive sustainable and responsible growth, while: