Kale has surged in popularity over the past decade, emerging as a popular choice for salads, smoothies, and slaws. Its rise began in 2011 when publicist Oberon Sinclair launched a fake campaign for the non-existent “American Kale Association,” using guerrilla marketing to place kale on menus throughout New York City. By 2012, Bon Appetit declared it “the Year of Kale,” and in 2014, Beyoncé wore a kale-themed sweatshirt in a music video. These moments, combined with kale’s nutritional benefits, helped propel the vegetable to fame.
However, before kale became a staple in health diets nationwide, it had a more mundane role: decorating Pizza Hut‘s salad bars. Until 2013, Pizza Hut used kale as a garnish to enhance the visual appeal of its salad buffets. In 2012, the company purchased nearly 14,000 pounds of kale, making it the largest kale consumer in the U.S., despite the kale not being served to customers. Instead, it was used to cover the ice that kept the salad ingredients cold. In 2013, Pizza Hut switched to refrigerated salad bars, reducing the need for kale.
Since their split, Pizza Hut’s salad bars have disappeared from the U.S., though they remain at some locations in Canada, the U.K., and Australia. The shift away from salad bars, accelerated by the pandemic and decreasing demand, reflects Pizza Hut’s focus on its core product: pizza. Last year, the chain set a record with a 68,000-slice pizza, reaffirming its dedication to pizza rather than kale.
Kale, meanwhile, has evolved from a mere garnish to a celebrated ingredient. It now stars in various salads, hearty recipes like lasagna and Portuguese soup, and even inspires restaurant names like Kale My Name in Chicago. Thanks to its nutritional benefits, including anti-cancer compounds and potential cholesterol-lowering properties, kale’s popularity has soared. The market saw 145 million pounds of kale in 2012, and by 2017, this number had risen to 335 million pounds. For those who haven’t tried kale yet, it’s worth sampling—and if it’s not to your taste, it still makes for an attractive decoration.