Gourmet chocolates, a dozen red roses, or anything packaged in a small little jewelry box is what immediately comes to mind when I think of Valentine’s Day gifts. But it seems a heart shaped pizza for your sweetheart may be this year’s popular gift item, according to CNNMoney. “Sarches on Google for 'heart-shaped pizzas' have soared 230% since January, according to Google’s research tool Insights for Search."
The heart shaped pizza has been around for years. It may have been Lou Malnati's, a family-run pizzeria chain in Chicago, that created the first heart-shaped pizza, more than 20 years ago. Rick Malnati's, the founder's son, thought it would be clever to create a heart-shaped pizza and initially tried to make it with a cookie cutter. Eventually, he found a heart-shaped pan, and those pans are still used today.
Papa Murphy’s now sells thousands of the heart shaped pies. Today, pizza chains, large and small, are capitalizing on this trend. This year, Papa John’s expects to increase sales from 60,000 to nearly 75,000 pizzas. Pizza chains report Valentine’s Day as being “popular with families who celebrate Valentine’s Day together.”
Maybe I’m too much of a traditionalist, but a heart shaped pizza, in my opinion, does not say, “Sweetheart, I love you.” Heart shaped pizzas may be “hot” for this Valentine’s Day, but I’d prefer for my sweetheart stay out of the kitchen!
