Zpizza from Newport Beach was named the Ultimate Food Fanatic Award winner in the first-ever Food Fanatics Awards program for their Nice zSlice anti-bullying program. The judges selected Zpizza to earn the Food Fanatics Big Heart Award from nearly 1,000 entries and then a public vote determined they won the top award.
The Zpizza team was in St. Helena, Calif. Last Friday to accept the award at the reThink Food Event at The Culinary Institute of America’s Greystone campus. In addition to a five-foot Food Fanatics spoon trophy, they won a $10,000 US Foods credit for a pantry or kitchen makeover. Along with the Zpizza team, other category winners attended the event such as Robert Vick, who won the “Hero” category and has been legally blind for 30 years. He opened Vick’s Vittles and uses food as a way to work with charities, military and service organizations.
The artisan pizza chain recently launched Nice zSlice in recognition of October’s National Bullying Prevention month. Teachers from more than 200 schools nationwide partnered with local Zpizza restaurants, rewarding student kindness with a complimentary slice of pizza. Zpizza also hosted pizza parties and provided materials for the educators.