---
title: "When It Comes to Crafting The Perfect Pizza, Toppers Takes Mozzarella Cheese Seriously"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/7b7c49bf-5f89-434d-b094-f22113f60ab1
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/when-it-comes-to-crafting-the-perfect-pizza-toppers-takes-mozzarella-cheese-seriously-5875
category: "Pizza"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Pizza"
published: 2016-09-22T14:09:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T12:59:47.708Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/e62b69bf890ec861dc8e34e819be708d3212160920092540.jpeg
---

# When It Comes to Crafting The Perfect Pizza, Toppers Takes Mozzarella Cheese Seriously

**TL;DR:** Toppers Pizza uses 100% real Wisconsin mozzarella cheese, aged to perfection, to differentiate itself from competitors like Pizza Hut and Domino's. The brand's founder and CEO, Scott Gittrich, believes that using high-quality ingredients makes all the difference in their pizzas.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2016-09-22. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/when-it-comes-to-crafting-the-perfect-pizza-toppers-takes-mozzarella-cheese-seriously-5875).*

## Story

But for Toppers Pizza, it’s a time to reflect on what makes their product great—and that’s 100 percent real Wisconsin mozzarella cheese, aged to perfection and never frozen. That’s a rarity, according to Toppers’ founder and CEO Scott Gittrich, and it’s helping the brand stand out from the sea of greasy, cookie-cutter pizza chains.

A simple Google search yields telling results. Pizza Hut’s cheese contains modified corn starch. Domino’s uses “pizza cheese,” which is part mozzarella cheese, part modified corn starch. And Papa John’s says their cheese also contains modified corn starch—among other things.

“One reason that some people put Modified Food Starch in their cheese is so they can freeze it. No wonder some pizza places sell $5 pizzas—they’re buying cheap cheese and freezing it in big warehouses until they need it,” Gittrich said. “It honestly makes me shudder to think about pallets full of frozen cheese. It’s a travesty.”

Gittrich is a firm believer that going the extra mile—like using only the best and purest ingredients—makes all the difference. He recalls visiting a Toppers store in the South Loop of Chicago when a customer came up to him, raving about how different the brand’s cheese tasted. He couldn’t believe how much better it tasted when compared to other brands, and he asked Gittrich what the secret was.

“I told him that rich-tasting cheese is made from only real mozzarella cheese—the kind that’s made in the time-honored way that produces the pull and the melting characteristics that pizza purists and pizza lovers demand,” Gittrich said. “When you eat another pizza, like Domino’s, you’ll immediately taste the difference.”

Toppers has long prided itself on being different than some of the industry’s biggest pizza chains. They’re able to compete against—and surpass—the big-box pizza chains by offering the same perks of speedy delivery and convenience while simultaneously offering a higher-quality product that people can feel good about. This unique niche has put Toppers in a position to vie for a chunk of the market share that would otherwise go to places like Domino’s or Pizza Hut. And today, Toppers is one of those brands that customers are proud to call *their* pizza place for that very reason.

“Chains like Domino’s and Pizza Hut have great business models, but the product that they’re delivering isn’t so great,” Gittrich said. “You get what you pay for. I’m prouder than ever of how we do it at Toppers. We respect pizza, and so do our loyal customers. We started Toppers 25 years ago with a simple idea: Killer pizza focused on bold, innovative and high-quality toppings, delivered fast by friendly, passionate people. Twenty-five years later, we’re still delivering. And that’s what it means to Never Settle.”

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- Domino's (company)
- Pizza Hut (company)
- Papa Johns (company)
- Toppers Pizza (company)
- pizza quality (topic)
- menu ingredients (topic)
- competitor differentiation (topic)

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Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/when-it-comes-to-crafting-the-perfect-pizza-toppers-takes-mozzarella-cheese-seriously-5875). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/7b7c49bf-5f89-434d-b094-f22113f60ab1).