It seems Crust Gourmet Pizza Bar is tapping in on the share plate trend, with the company recently introducing a degustation menu.

Its entire menu, which is designed for sharing, now spans five different categories – starters, pizzas, pastas, salads and desserts.

Starters include lamb ribs and Vietnamese salad with wagyu, and pizza toppings have expanded to include smoked salmon, falafel and Italian sausage, among others.

For the first time, four different pasta varieties are also available – spicy Spanish seafood, prosciutto blanco, Bolognese Verdi and pasta vegetarian.

New dessert offerings, such as a black forest crumble dessert pizza and ice cream flavours including salted caramel, peanut butter, chocolate, vanilla and blood orange have also been added to the menu.  

Nic Brill, marketing manager, Crust says the menu provides customers with the opportunity to share multiple different items. “Customers can purchase more than one item, take them home to their family and friends and have a good quality meal at home where everyone can enjoy, experience and taste a little bit of everything.

“It is about adding a variety of foods to the menu so it appeals to everyone,” he explains.

While he has noticed other pizza franchises introducing new products more often than not, Brill insists the new products Crust implements are customer rather than competitor driven.

“For us it is more about what our consumers want, and we talk to them personally on a store by store basis and really get to know them and understand them.”

This is achieved through the company’s VIP program, and there is also a strong reliance on franchisees, as they are the ones who converse with customers and find out what it is they like, dislike and want more of.  

“We talk a lot with our franchisees and we get a lot of feedback from them because they are the businesses were support,” he explains.

Brill says the company is always looking to develop new products as this attracts already existing and new customers to stores, which benefits both franchisees and the company.

“We are always keeping up to date with what food trends are, so there will definitely be things happening in the near future,” he says.

He explains the company’s head pizza maker; Peter Augoustis plays a pivotal role in educating franchisees and their staff about new products. “He runs state based workshops to impart his passion and love for pizza making and food onto each store.

“All operational challenges are also covered in these pizza workshops to ensure that every store is well versed in expanding this foodie intuition to all our customers and at the end of the day, ensuring a reliable pizza experience,” says Brill.

Franchisees are looking to invest in a brand that is able to thrive in an increasingly competitive marketplace, and Brill says Crust achieves this via product innovation.

“We will continue to strategise and work out ways that we can continue to differentiate ourselves form our competitors and this differentiation will always be through our products.

“We compete by providing customers with something that no one else can,” he explains.