Who Invented Pineapple Pizza?

Born in Greece, Sam Panopolous moved to Canada when he was 20.

He used pineapple as a pizza topping in 1962 to attract customers to one of his Ontario-based Canadian restaurants, Satellite.

His restaurant mostly offered American food such as burgers and fries, but eventually experimented with Chinese American dishes and pizza.

Panopolous and his brothers enjoyed the contrast between sweet pineapple and savoury ham.

They named the pizza “Hawaiian,” after the brand of canned pineapple they used.

The Hawaiian debuted on Satellite’s menu, and customers raved about the combination.

Pineapple pizza quickly became a staple, not only at Satellite, but at pizza chains around Canada and the world.

Pineapple Pizza: Dividing All Pizza Lovers

There’s nothing that divides a crowd of pizza lovers more than the controversial pineapple topping, with some loving the combination of sweet and savoury, and others calling it inauthentic and undesirable.

There is no denying that in 2020, GrubHub crowned this Canadian invention as “America’s Favourite Pizza” after finding out it is 689% more popular than in 2019.

Panopolous passed in 2017, claiming to be the first person to use pineapple as a pizza topping.

However, some link pineapple pizza to Australia, and others say it’s a variation of a German dish featuring cheese, toast, and pineapple.

Politicians weighed in on the pizza debate.

The president of Iceland denounced the pineapple topping, sparking Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to respond with a tweet claiming if he has a pineapple, he has a pizza.

And celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay claims “Pineapple does not go on top of pizza.”

And it turns out the people at Pillsbury side with Mr. Trudeau when it comes to Pineapple, Ham, and pizza, with their new Hawaiian pizza pops.

No matter what side of the argument you’re on, pineapple won’t be leaving pizza any time soon.