Cauliflower has seen its star rise considerably over the past few years thanks to a handful of key contributing factors, including a progressively expanding desire for better-for-you food options and the ongoing persistence of the gluten-free diet.

But a primary trait driving the ascent of cauliflower’s star is its versatility. It’s a nutritious blank slate for new R&D paint. Survey the vast array of cauliflower recipes online, and you’ll bear witness to the supreme flexibility of this cruciferous vegetable.

CAULIPOWER, our 2021 SF&WB “Bakery of the Year,” keenly embodies cauliflower’s amazing versatility. This entrepreneurial brand led by Gail Becker is barely four years old. During that short period, it has already achieved astounding success with its frozen pizzas, pizza crusts, tortillas, and more, all of which shine a spotlight on its primary substrate, cauliflower. Not only is CAULIPOWER the No. 1 gluten-free pizza on the market, it’s the No. 10 brand in the entire pizza category—an amazingly competitive space dominated by well-known, global, legacy brands. And CAULIPOWER has entered a number of other product categories where it continues to make disruptive strides in truly better-for-you eating.

While CAULIPOWER’s success has several lessons for us, one key takeaway is its approach toward transformative innovation. Through astute culinary innovation, CAULIPOWER has transformed how we look at vegetables. Through CAULIPOWER’s lens, vegetables become pizza crusts, tortillas, stand-ins for toast, and more. Indulgent foods become permissible—even desirable—from a nutritional standpoint. And CAULIPOWER is far from done with its category-disrupting work.

As we look toward the future of better-for-you product formulation in the snack and bakery market, what will be the next transformative ingredient to energize consumers across the board, and how are you approaching “out of the box” experimentation in this potentially lucrative space? This is a market poised for dramatic growth. Don’t get caught in the wake of someone else’s innovation. SF&WB