KANSAS CITY — Better-for-you (BFY) pizzas will never be top sellers, but they offer a path to incremental sales. Atoria’s Family Bakery, for example, recently created a Cauliflower & Coconut keto-friendly pizza crust, and it’s rolling out Mini Naan Upcycled Multigrain, which may be topped to create pizzas and is made from grains rescued from the end of the beer brewing process.

“Upcycling is a newer idea around the US, giving it plenty of opportunity to rise,” Lilea Eshoo, Atoria’s chief operating officer, told Baking & Snack for its August trends report.

The BFY market, however, is a constantly shifting landscape.

“In the frozen aisle, interest in no-carb pizza products continues to see higher traction among consumers, while select offerings, such as gluten-free, for example, seem to have slowed down and have potentially reached a peak,” noted Sean Darrah, president, Pace Processing.

Overall, BFY pizzas remain a small segment because of their premium price and sometimes questionable taste. In fact, most consumers prefer mainstream pizzas unless they medically need gluten-free alternatives, they’re highly dedicated to a keto diet or the BFY pizza makes them feel better about themselves, suggested said Joe Delduco, vice president of sales and marketing, Molinaro’s Fine Italian Foods.

“They may like the idea of gluten-free, but nobody has yet perfected the taste that makes a gluten-free pizza taste like a really good pizza,” he explained. “At the end of the day, people want an indulgent meal. They aren’t watching their weight. They’re saying, ‘I’m cheating today. I’m eating regular pizza.’”