I gotta hand it to England, for they have been serving up some deliciously eccentric food stories lately. First there was the Great British Cheese Heist, wherein 22 tons of the finest artisanal English and Welsh cheddar was stolen in a scam food order placed to a London dairy, prompting chef Jamie Oliver to beseech people to be on the lookout for “lorryloads of very posh cheese.” Then there was the Great British Christmas Pie Thievery, that saw pilferers steal a van that, unbeknownst to them, was packed to the gills with 2,500 freshly-baked savory Christmas pies prepared by Michelin-star chef Tommy Banks. While Banks implored the thieves to donate the pies, the perishables had sadly, well, perished by the time police located the vehicle. And now this entry. The good news is that nothing has been stolen! Unless you count your money, after deciding to order the Hawaiian pizza at Lupa Pizza in Norfolk. See, the owners of Lupa despise pineapple on pizza so much, that they begrudgingly added it to the menu… for £100 a pie. Gentlemen, I salute your conviction.
Lupa Pizza in Norfolk is charging £100 ($122) for their Hawaiian pizza in hopes of encouraging customers “to make better choices when it comes to their pizza” after not being fans of the controversial dish.
“We’re not fans of pineapple over here and we don’t think that anyone else should be either,” Francis Woolf, owner and chief fruit consultant at the restaurant, tells PEOPLE.
“However, if people do desperately need pineapple on their pizza — then they should be prepared to pay £100 for it,” he says.
Lupa Pizza opened in June and sells the rest of its pizzas for $12–$20, per the U.K. newspaper The Times.
Their pricey Hawaiian pizza is listed on the food delivery app Deliveroo, with customers able to get 20% off on Thursdays as stated on the restaurant’s Instagram — offering some sort of silver lining for fans of the topping.
The caption for the pizza on the app reads, “Yeah, for £100 you can have it. Order the champagne too! Go on you Monster!” The dish was added to the restaurant order list following several requests, per The Times.
“It’s obviously a contentious issue,” Woolf tells PEOPLE of the pineapple-on-pizza debate. “Everyone’s very polarized on the matter, but obviously [our restaurant] is taking it quite seriously.”
And the decision to raise the price point for their pineapple pizza has clearly worked, as Woolf says “nobody has forked out £100” yet for the order.
“We think that pineapple is not a viable pizza topping and it shouldn’t be on there,” says Woolf. “Tropical fruits don’t belong on pizzas and I suppose we wanted to make our stance clear by charging £100 for it.”
You know what I say to this? It’s about damn time! I am 100% spiritually and gastrically with Lupa on their stance — pineapple as a pizza topping is an abomination!! And how will people ever learn unless they’re monetarily penalized for committing culinary acts of poor judgment? Really, Lupa is providing a public service, and I hope restaurants the world over take a page out of their cookbook. And as if these chefs hadn’t already endeared themselves to my mozzarella-loving heart, owner Francis Woolf sealed the deal by quoting his title to People Mag as “chief fruit consultant.” And People wrote it up like straight reporting, without any kind of a wink! Well done, Woolf (yet not burnt). Regretfully, unless I fall into an unexpected windfall, I will not be traveling to the UK anytime soon to give my regards to Lupa in person for standing up for what’s right. In the US, however, this happens to be National Pizza Week. Many chains are running promos, including California Pizza Kitchen. Or as my friend likes to call them, angling for a more upscale vibe, Capiki. (Get it?)
Happy eating everyone! Except for you pineapple pizza-loving heathens. Have you no shame?!
Restaurant Lists Pineapple Pizza for $122 to Stop Diners from Ordering One: 'We're Not Fans' https://t.co/8W8RryC27V
— People (@people) January 14, 2025
Photos credit: Parker Hilton on Pexels and via Instagram/Lupa Pizza, videos via Facebook/Times Radio and Norwich Evening News
Sorry, historically pizzas do have fruit. https://carpediemtours.com/blog/the-history-of-pizza/#:~:text=The%20ancient%20Romans%20wouldn't,figs%2C%20nuts%2C%20or%20vegetables.
Tomato (a fruit!) is only a fee hundred years old as a topping, since it’s indigenous to the Americas. And dates and figs with veg and cheese (never mind the honey) very much seems in keeping with fruit on pizza. Lupa employs food barbarians.
My friend went to Italy with me and was on a mission to find pineapple pizza in every restaurant we went to.. it was surprisingly easy and she took lots of photos to prove it. So if the Italians can embrace pineapple I say give people pineapple..
I’d be curious to know if Italians did it the way these doofuses do–whole rings of pineapple. I’ve only ever seen it diced–and small chunks, at that. Maybe that’s their problem, they don’t know how to properly make a Hawaiian pizza.
Thank you for providing that link, ML.
One of the food writers at the Guardian tried to recreate a pizza after a fresco found in Pompeii.
A “pizza” with figs, pomegranate, coriander, among other ingredients.
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2023/jul/01/how-i-recreated-the-pompeii-pizza-smelled-like-toffee-apples
A marine biologist friend, who was on a diving expedition in Hawaii, sent us photos of a pizza with kiwis! So much to whatever that is known as Pizza Hawaii!
Yes!
I love pineapple on pizza. It’s doesn’t make the pizza sweet, it’s a great compliment to the salty meat!
Give them all the points for commitment LOL. Lemme stay in my lil Caribbean country – Trinidad – where we have pineapple on pizza and curried mango and enjoy my day.
I don’t understand. Why put it on the menu if they don’t like it? Even if they get asked for pineapple, they can still say no.
There’s been a long-standing debate, about who “invented” what’s referred to as Hawaiian pizza. If nothing else, there is a pizzeria in Chatham, Canada that lays claim to at least having popularized it.The owner of the restaurant had come to Canada from Greece. in the 1950’s. The restaurant was called Satellite.
I can only assume this restaurant in England is doing this as a publicity stunt – it’s worked they’ve gotten publicity!
I just had a “Hawaiian cookout“ pizza last night – pizza sauce, cheese, bacon, ham, and pineapple. It was awesome and I have leftovers for tonight!
Yep! Look at all of the attention they are getting! I love pineapple on pizza with red sweet peppers, Yum.
Yum! 🍍 🌶
Pineapple on pizza always. I love foods that combine sweet, salty, savory, sour etc. The older I get the more I crave that kind of stuff.
Probably why I’m really into SE Asian food so much.
Working my way though a Thai cookbook this winter.
Thai food is my absolute favorite!
At least in Ireland, they put corn on pizza. I believe they do in the U.K. as well. So I’m not sure anyone from the British Isles should be gatekeeping pizza toppings.
Yep. Corn and (canned) tuna are UK pizza topping options here. UK should definitely not be gatekeeping pizza toppings.
Canned tuna is a topping in Italy too (usually with red onion).
I go to a place in my neighborhood for pineapple pizza.
I love pineapple pizza, especially with ham or canadian bacon, but even just pineapple by itself – something about the way the sweetness contrasts with the cheese and the crust….delicious. (and i’m not a huge pineapple fan overall, I just love it on pizza.)
This is one of those things where I dont care and don’t understand why others do either. Does pineapple on my pizza make me happy? Yes, yes it does. Does it affect anyone else who does not have to eat said pizza? No, no it does not. I’ll eat my pizza however I like it (which honestly changes depending on my mood and where we are ordering the pizza from) and you can eat it yours how you like it, and we are all happy.
The weirdest thing I’ve ever seen on pizza was in the UK. I spent a semester of college there. I kept seeing corn kernels as a topping on pizza. Ew.
It’s gross. I don’t like corn off the cob anyway, but on pizza? Yuck.
I don’t care, if every pineapple pizza cost £100 then I would pay it. I’d take out a bank loan or sell a kidney, I don’t care. I am having my pineapple pizza.
The country that invented Coronation Chicken does not get to decide if fruits go on/in anything!
Exactly! 👏🏼
I do think that pizza, like sandwiches, salads, even tacos, should contain whatever ingredients you want.
Agree that coronation chicken is atrocious, it may have been invented here but I think it’s gross 😂 however, ham and pineapple pizza is SO good, it’s one of my go-to’s.
Used to think pineapple was the weirdest thing ever until I met my My brother in law. He is known for making really weird pizza combos. Walnuts, fish, spaghetti squash, heck, all types of squash, no red sauce, but he’ll puree a squash, season it, and use that as a sauce, kale, basically whatever he has in the fridge is what he’ll put on it.
I avoid these pizzas as much as possible.
As someone with family roots in Hawaii, the whole ‘Hawaiian pizza” has always bugged me, as has nothing to do with delicious Hawaiian cuisine! Needless to say I hate pineapple on pizza.
BUT I love a prosciutto, fresh fig and arugula pizza, so am definitely not anti-fruit on pizza!
Are they trying to drive away customers? Is this UK humor I’m not understanding? Yeah, I wouldn’t get pizza from this place and I don’t even put pineapple on it.
I love pineapple on pizza. I combine it with pepperoni instead of ham, not a fan of ham on pizza unless it’s an all meat type.
Pineapple and tomato sauce are a good combination and there are a lot of recipes that combine the two, it’s not just a pizza thing.
The weirdest pizza I’ve eaten was probably 20 years ago right after Thanksgiving and it was a turkey/dressing/cranberry pizza. It was really good. IIRK it was at a California Pizza Kitchen before they started their mass production of frozen pizza.
Yes @spankyb! Pepperoni and pineapple ftw! I really don’t know why people get sooo upset about this. Jeez just let us have our pineapple in peace.
(Personally I think shredded chicken is weird on pizza, but if that’s some people’s jam fine).
I don’t get this anti-pineapple thing unless you are opposed to any kind of fruit with pizza. There is such a thing as fruit pizza or dessert pizza. In Canada, ham and pineapple is still a pizza choice, as is a baked ham garnished/served with pineapple. It’s especially popular with the older crowd. Don’t see pineapple paired on a pizza with anything other than ham, though. Pepperoni and pizza would be vile I imagine.
I guess I won’t be going to the UK any time soon because I like ordering a spicy Hawaiian pizza that I came up with which is soppressata and pineapple.
I like my pineapple pizza with ham and hot honey.
Oh! I’ll give that a try. Thanks @Ciotog
Pineapple & green peppers on my pizza for the win! If the Italians who invented it could put tomato (a fruit) on their pizza, then I can put what the heck I want on mine. Besides, English people and their bland and unseasoned food are not the ones to judge.
They should talk. In the UK they put baked beans on their pizza. 🤮🤮🤮
Not a viable pizza topping? Are we pretending pizza is good for you? That greasy puddles of pepperoni are ‘viable’? You want pineapple on your ham or spam pizza (that would be true Hawaiian), go for it!
Don’t knock it till you try it. I don’t like pineapple by itself but on pizza so good. The sweetness mixed with greasy cheese🤤
Pineapple belongs in a drink, or on a cake, NOT on a pizza! I will die on this hill.