2025 Real California Pizza Contest features more finalists, new categories and $30,000 in total cash prizes
Tracy, Calif. – The California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) launched the seventh annual Real California Pizza Contest, a nationwide search for the best pizza recipes that showcase Real California cheese and dairy products. The contest, open to professional chefs and culinary students across the U.S., will award $30,000 in total prize money for the most innovative uses of cow’s milk cheeses from California.
The online entry submission period opens March 20, 2025, and closes May 16, 2025. Twelve finalists will be selected for an all-expense-paid trip to compete head-to-head at a bake-off event July 29, 2025, in Napa, Calif.
This year’s contest spotlights three new pizza recipe categories:
- On the Menu: An inventive pizza recipe that contains two or more Real California cheese or dairy products that is already included on the entrant’s restaurant or pizzeria menu.
- The Big Cheese: A creative take on America’s favorite pie – the cheese pizza – that features Real California Mozzarella and at least two other Real California cheeses.
- Innovative Wildcard: This pizza recipe is a chef’s chance to “wow” the judging team with an original cheese-centric recipe that includes Real California Mozzarella and a healthy helping of kitchen creativity.
“Our contest is focused on highlighting the best in pizza from around the country that showcases how California cheeses and dairy ingredients can elevate any restaurant or pizzeria menu,” said Mike Gallagher, Business and Market Development Consultant for the CMAB. “The judging team looks forward to seeing submissions in new, fresh categories that celebrate California’s leading foodservice cheese, Mozzarella, as well as other cheese varieties.”
All online entries will be evaluated, with the top four recipes in each category selected as finalists. The 12 finalists will travel to Napa to compete in the bake-off event at the Culinary Institute of America at Copia.
Each category winner will receive $5,000. The overall highest-scoring pizza will be named the Grand Prize Winner, earning an additional $5,000. Finalists who do not win a category will each receive $1,000.
The contest will be judged by an esteemed panel of award-winning pizza chefs, including 13-time world pizza champion Tony Gemignani, renowned Italian and pizza chef Glenn Cybulski, and international champion pizza chef and restaurant owner Laura Meyer.
Professional chefs and culinary students can review the contest details, official rules, and submit entries at https://realcaliforniamilkfoodservice.com/pizza-contest/. This year’s entry form includes pizza name, photograph, ingredient list, and a brief description detailing the recipe concept and use of Real California cheese and dairy.
With over 250 varieties and styles, cheeses that carry the Real California Milk seal are made with sustainably sourced milk from more than 1,000 family dairy farms across the state. These cheeses bring exceptional flavor and quality to any pizza recipe.
About Real California Milk / California Milk Advisory Board
The California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB), an instrumentality of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, is funded by the state’s dairy farm families who lead the nation in sustainable dairy farming practices. With a vision to nourish the world with the wholesome goodness of Real California Milk, the CMAB’s programs focus on increasing demand for California’s sustainable dairy products in the state, across the U.S. and around the world through advertising, public relations, research, and retail and foodservice promotional programs.
The Foodservice Division of the CMAB supports foodservice operators and distributors that use Real California dairy products. The CMAB offers marketing and promotional support for foodservice operators that purchase dairy products with the Real California Milk seal, which means they are made with milk from California’s more than 1,000 family dairy farms, using some of the most sustainable dairy practices in the nation.
For more information on sourcing cheese from California, contact the foodservice team at 209.883.6455 (MILK), businessdevelopment@cmab.net or RealCaliforniaMilkFoodservice.com, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
