Event marks kickoff of 7th annual call for innovative pizza recipes using California cheese,
3rd International Pizza competition
Tracy, Calif. – (March 17, 2025) – Innovative products, on-trend applications and an international pizza bake-off are elements of the California Milk Advisory Board’s (CMAB) presence at the Pizza Expo March 25-27, 2025, in Las Vegas.
Long-time Pizza Expo sponsor, CMAB, will again highlight pizza concepts inspired by the Real California Pizza Contest, the annual call for innovation in pizza using California cheeses and dairy products. Attendees can visit CMAB booth #1579 during Pizza Expo for additional details and to sign up for the 2025 Real California Pizza Contest, now in its 7th year.
In the CMAB booth, Chef Barbara Alexander, Executive Chef at the Culinary Institute of America and Chef Lui Hussong, of Hussong’s Cantina will be crafting artisan pies. These include Fungi and Truffle Pizza, Caramelized Onion, Pear and Hot Honey Pizza, Buffalo Chicken Pizza, and a Sausage, Greens and Calabrian Chili Pizza. These culinary creations will feature sustainably sourced specialty cheeses made with milk from California dairy families.
Products from California processors also will be sampled in the CMAB booth include items from Angelo & Franco, Leo Leo Gelato, Marin French Cheese Co., Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co., Rumiano Cheese Company, Scott Brothers Dairy, and Villa Dolce Gelato.
Past champions of the Real California Pizza Contest, Leah Scurto of PizzaLeah in Windsor, Calif., and Lars Smith of State of Mind Public House and Pizzeria in Los Altos and Redwood City, Calif., will join the CMAB booth as guest chefs on March 26 to showcase a lineup of original, mouthwatering creations, including:
- Margherita-style pizza – Red sauce and minced garlic, finished with fresh basil, olive oil, and California stracciatella.
- Roasted Maitake Mushroom Pizza – Complemented by shredded California mozzarella and truffle brie.
- California Cheese Pizza – A celebration of local flavors featuring shredded California mozzarella, Pizzarella, and Dry Jack.
- Potato & Leek Pizza – Topped with washed-rind triple crème California brie.
For the first time, CMAB will host a Real California Pizza Contest Alumni Happy Hour in the CMAB booth also on March 26, welcoming finalists from the past six years of the competition, a gathering of 47 talented former contestants.
Real California Milk Chef Ambassador Lars Smith, will lead a special class on March 27, focusing on using specialty cheeses in pizza, highlighting an array of California’s finest original cheeses.
For the third time CMAB will bring professional and amateur chefs from China, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam to Las Vegas to compete in a custom International California-Style Pizza Competition Division, part of Pizza Expo’s International Pizza Challenge.
“The Pizza Expo brings together two important markets for California dairy products: pizza and international,” said John Talbot, CEO of the CMAB. “As the leading producer of mozzarella as well as originals like Monterey Jack, the continued growth of the international pizza markets are essential ingredients to our success.”
California is a reliable, consistent source of sustainable dairy products used by chefs and enjoyed by consumers throughout the world. As the nation’s largest dairy state, California boasts an impressive lineup of award-winning cheesemakers and dairy processors that are helping to drive dining innovation.
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About Real California Milk/The California Milk Advisory Board
The California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB), an instrumentality of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, is funded by the state’s dairy farm families who lead the nation in sustainable dairy farming practices. With a vision to nourish the world with the wholesome goodness of Real California Milk, the CMAB’s programs focus on increasing demand for California’s sustainable dairy products in the state, across the U.S. and around the world through advertising, public relations, research, and retail and foodservice promotional programs.
The Foodservice Division of the CMAB supports foodservice operators and distributors that use Real California dairy products. The CMAB offers marketing and promotional support for foodservice operators that purchase dairy products with the Real California Milk seal, which means they are made with milk from California’s more than 1,000 family dairy farms, using some of the most sustainable dairy practices in the nation.
For more information on sourcing cheese from California, contact the foodservice team at 209.883.6455 (MILK), businessdevelopment@cmab.net or RealCaliforniaMilkFoodservice.com, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.