Key Points:
- Summer is the ideal time to experiment with locally sourced ingredients at your pizzeria.
- Local ingredients don’t have to mean produce – you can experiment with local meats, cheeses and flour as well.
- The farmers market is a good place to get an idea what is available in your region.
A local sourcing formula to fit your brand
Simple, quality ingredients have always been the driving force behind my menu. With a plethora of vibrant fruits and vegetables hitting their peak, the warmer months are the perfect time to showcase produce in its purest forms. This can mean running a few specials or diving all the way in with a seasonal menu. With so many enticing items available, sometimes the larger question isn’t what you’re going to make, but where you’re going to source your ingredients from.
What you buy from local farms, mills, stores and distributors will depend on where you live, what is produced there and your brand identity. Some states are fortunate to produce everything from the wheat berry to the toppings, while others have sparser offerings. Whether you use a bevy of local suppliers or just one large one, here are a few tips to help guide your decisions.
What Does Local Mean for Your Brand?
The first step is to define what “local” means for your brand. Is it just buying products from the United States? From the state where your store is located? Or is it within a certain radius of you?
For me, it’s a combination of the above. Being in Colorado, I source our tomatoes and mozzarella from other states. Our flour is a mix of locally grown and milled wheat, as well as wheat from another state. We’re lucky to have a lot of great produce in our area, and I run weekly specials according to what’s in season
Top-shelf Ingredients
There are pluses and minuses to using hyperlocal purveyors. A lot of it comes down to what your brand is about and what your customers are looking for. One of the biggest upsides of buying from local farms is the absolute superior flavor, freshness and quality of the products. Buying seasonally is a trend for a reason, since there is no comparing an ingredient grown and harvested at peak season to another grown in a hot house.
Produce always seems like the most obvious choice to buy locally, but it really depends on where you live. Some places don’t have the right climate or natural terrain for growing vegetables. Lean into what flourishes in your area. Is there a great cheese monger or butcher nearby? Showcase their products on a pizza or in an appetizer. What about different grains or fruits?
Creating a special that highlights your regional offerings can be a huge draw for new and returning customers. Another great thing about local grains, meats and cheeses is that they are not as seasonally limited, meaning they can stay on your menu year-round.
Summer Pizza Favorites
While each season has things I look forward to putting on pizza, the summer produces a few of my favorites. The Western Slope in Colorado grows some of the best peaches out there, and you’d better believe they make multiple appearances on our pizza specials.
Corn is another one. I’m not sure why everyone is so hung up on pineapple when we should really be normalizing corn on pizza. Every year, one of our local farmers drops off a giant bushel of the sweet and creamy ears. With its multitude of uses and pairings, corn is by far one of my favorite toppings.
Once you decide what’s important to you to buy locally, the next step is finding the right purveyors and establishing relationships with them built on mutual trust and aligned goals.
Sourcing locally requires the balance between superior ingredients and the logistical realities of smaller supply chains. If you’ve only ever used one large distributor but want to explore local options, start with small changes. Begin by sourcing a few ingredients before overhauling your entire menu.
Farmers Market Goals
If you’re unsure where to find local products, the farmers market is a great place to start. Yes, a lot of farms mark up their items for the market, but many offer a wholesale price, and most will even deliver to your restaurant.
If you don’t have the time or interest to visit the weekly farmers market, reach out to the producers directly. Most are more than happy to discuss their inventory, send over a price list and guide you through the process of setting up orders. It’s helpful to establish relationships with multiple vendors until you find the ones you like best. This way you can compare quality, price and overall seasonal production.
Another great thing about sourcing from smaller producers is that you are supporting your community and creating relationships that can be mutually beneficial. If you’re using locally grown or produced ingredients, don’t be shy about highlighting them on your menus. The marketing practically writes itself, and you and the purveyor can promote each other to attract more customers.
By buying locally, you also are contributing to environmental sustainability by shortening the distance your products have to travel and reducing carbon emissions.
Challenges to Sourcing Locally
There are, of course, more challenging aspects of local sourcing. The most obvious is that it is usually more expensive. Some customers are willing to pay more for a locally derived product, but it is not always sustainable in our economy.
Consider mixing local staples with conventionally sourced base ingredients. For example, you could use local ingredients for high-impact seasonal specials while buying staple items from your larger distributors and broad-line sourcing. One way to streamline your ordering while buying local is to see if the suppliers you use carry items from local producers. Another option is looking at regional distributors that specialize in farm-to-table logistics and ingredients.
Product Availability
Another challenge is availability. Even if you are buying seasonally, harvest yields can be inconsistent due to weather and other factors. If you are expecting a certain product, you might have to pivot either by limiting the amount you offer or going in a different direction all together.
Using multiple purveyors is a lot to keep track of on an organizational level. The products and results must be worth your time and effort, since we all know how limited extra minutes in the day can be.
Just like the process you use to make your dough, where you source your ingredients from is a personal decision that should reflect your brand, support your goals and stay within your financial projections.
As with most things in life, it’s all about balance and staying true to the core of your concept. Even if you can’t source produce, meats and cheeses locally all year, the summer is a great time to dip your toes in.
AUDREY KELLY owns Audrey Jane’s Pizza Garage in Boulder, Colorado.
Photo by Denise Greer; design by Katie Wilson
Read the July 2026 Issue of Pizza Today Magazine
This issue of Pizza Today magazine is dedicated to the employee experience. From our cover story – “Secrets of the Best Workplaces” – to columnist Nick Bogacz’ first-person account of debuting employee programs, we cover everything from creating employee pay scales to restaurant technology that makes your staff’s lives easier. Plus: We dive into the practice of teaching dough-making, local sourcing and pesto. It’s a delicious issue from start to finish.
Check out the full Digital Edition – Pizza Today July 2026.
