The classic combination of mozzarella, basil, and tomato sauce accounted for 29.5 percent of analyzed purchases at pizzerias, narrowly beating capricciosa, which includes ham and mushrooms, with 28.2 percent.
World Pizza Day is one of the key celebrations of Italian cuisine and is rooted in longstanding traditions.
In Italy, the day has been celebrated for over half a century, coinciding with the feast of Saint Anthony the Abbot, the patron saint of bakers and pizza makers.
Legend has it that Saint Anthony stormed the gates of hell to steal fire and give it to humanity. Historically, Italian bakers would take the day off on January 17. Today, pizza is promoted in over 40,000 pizzerias across Italy and internationally.
The significance of pizza was officially recognized in 2017, when UNESCO added Neapolitan pizza, characterized by its use of tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, olives and oregano, to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Authentic Neapolitan pizza must be baked in a wood-fired oven. In Italy alone, 8 million pizzas are sold daily, generating annual revenues of approximately EUR 30 billion.
In Poland, salami pizza ranked third in 2024, but trailed significantly with just 12.3 percent of orders.
Hawaiian pizza, featuring ham and pineapple, secured fourth place with 9.7 percent, climbing from fifth place in 2023 despite its somewhat divisive reputation, as pizza purists consider adding pineapple tantamount to sacrilege.
Antonina Grzelak from PanParagon commented: "Although pineapple on pizza remains controversial among traditionalists, its fan base is growing, as evidenced by Hawaiian pizza's climb in the rankings."
Other notable choices included wiejska, or rustica pizza, topped with kielbasa and pickles, which accounted for 3.1 percent of purchases, and farm-style pizza, with kielbasa, onion and red pepper, at 2.9 percent.
Pepperoni pizza dropped to 2.7 percent, kebab pizza accounted for 2.5 percent, and funghi, a mushroom-based pizza, held 2.3 percent. Vegetariana fell to 10th place, down from sixth in 2023.
Cheese pizza, previously ranked in the top 10, dropped out entirely.
Grzelak said that while experimental toppings like kaszanka (blood sausage), fries or even chocolate occasionally appear, Polish consumers overwhelmingly favor classic Italian flavors.
Garlic sauce was the most purchased additional topping, appearing on 11 percent of receipts, while tomato sauce appeared on just 4 percent, though many pizzerias provide complimentary sauces with larger orders, which may not be reflected in the data.
PanParagon analyzed 1.5 million monthly purchase records from January to August 2024 to compile this ranking.
(rt/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, polskieradio24.pl