Sigh, pepperoni pizzas are sneaking out of most Indian pizza chain menus

• Domino's Pizza has already removed pork pepperoni pizzas from its menu because apparently, the good quality meat is hard to come by.
• Pizza Hut too has followed suit by selling the pepperoni pizzas only in select states.
  
• One school of thought believes that this is being done to cater to religious ‘sensibilities’ of those who consider the source of the meat unacceptable.
  

Next time your holler ‘pepperoni’ when asked what kind of pizza you’d like, you may be in for a rude shock. Most Indian pizza chains are veering away from serving this option.

Domino's Pizza has already removed pork pepperoni pizzas from its menu because apparently, the good quality meat is hard to come by. Pizza Hut too has followed suit by selling the pepperoni pizzas only in select states.

According to a spokesperson for Jubilant Foodworks, the company that owns the franchise for Domino’s Pizza in India, “We are facing a few issues with respect to the supply of right quality materials. Hence, we have had to put this product temporarily on hold. We are actively working on the same and hope to sort it out soon. Earlier, we had even stopped selling cheese burst pizzas but brought it back because consumers were asking for it.”

But it looks this is a perennial problem with miffed customers repeatedly complaining about its unavailability in India.






However, the argument by the spokesperson was countered by Vicky Ratnani, culinary director for Pizza Express who told the Times Of India, “We haven’t faced any problems with supply of pork pepperoni.”

Then there is the ‘cost’ argument where, according to Ratnani, the quality of pepperoni that is imported surpasses the Indian version and thus is much more expensive and that translates to a lesser margin. Therefore, big chains choose to go with cheaper chicken variants of the pizzas that are more profitable.

While supply and cost may be a reason for the removal from the menu, one school of thought believes that this is being done to cater to religious ‘sensibilities’ of those who consider the source of the meat unacceptable.

Perhaps it’s time for pepperoni lovers to make peace with ‘chicken’ pepperoni or lamb ‘pepperoni’. And FYI, by definition, pepperoni is beef or pork sausage seasoned with pepper, chicken or lamb doesn't make the cut.