General Mills Foodservice is stepping up its presence at this year’s International Pizza Expo, taking place March 28-30 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. In addition to expanding access to its popular Pizza Crust Boot Camp featuring the Doughminators, its dedicated dough experts, the company will feature dough demonstrations throughout the expo (booth #807) and showcase its newly acquired line of high-quality frozen pizza crusts from TNT Crust (booth #1353).

General Mills and its Doughminators, a distinct group of individuals with a deep knowledge of flour and technical baking expertise, have been a staple at the Pizza Expo for more than 25 years. Pizza Crust Boot Camp is a free seminar featuring both technical and practical information covering ingredient functionality, formulation, signature crusts, troubleshooting and dough-making steps and methods. In addition to Pizza Crust Boot Camp, the Doughminators will host free dough demonstrations at the General Mills’ booth and be available to help operators identify the best flour options for their needs.

“We are excited to have a much bigger space to host Pizza Crust Boot Camp this year, which will allow us to interact with more pizza makers and discuss common dough dilemmas and how to achieve the perfect crust—the foundation of any great pizza,” says Tom Santos, who serves as a Doughminator. “Our entire team will also stand ready to serve pizzerias and pizza makers at our booth throughout the expo, helping identify the right flour for consistent results every time.”  

Pizza Expo attendees who stop by the General Mills’ booth will find information, resources and expertise, including:  

• Details on a wide variety of pizza flour options, from untreated/clean label and organic flours to Di Prim’ Ordine Farina, a European-style flour available in operator-friendly, 27.5-pound bags.  
• Information on the Pizza Professional program—An immersive, hands-on, three-day event taking place in September, for those who are passionate about taking their pizza to the next level and want to connect with pizza makers from around the country.   
• A new interactive component that allows attendees to scan QR codes onsite to access extensive information on flour and troubleshooting resources at their fingertips.   
• The Pillsbury Doughboy will be onsite throughout the expo along with a variety of giveaways including bowl scrapers, pizza cutters and fun Pillsbury Doughboy swag.   

Doughminators will provide dough-making demonstrations on Tuesday, March 28 and Wednesday, March 29 at 12:30 pm and 2 pm. They will be available to dish about dough, conduct demos and answer questions.

Pizza Crust Boot Camp will have two parts, taking place Tuesday, March 28 from 9:30-11 am and Wednesday, March 29 from 3:30-5 pm. During Part I (technical), attendees will learn about basic dough formation along with the interfunctionality of ingredients and applications of specialty ingredients. Part II (practical) covers the dough-making process and discusses various dough-processing methods as well as how to make “emergency” dough.