Pizza delivery takes on a whole new meaning as 30,000 pizzas are delivered from the USA to Afghanistan making it the largest pizza delivery in history.

Pizzas 4 Patriots, a non-profit organisation in the USA in 2012 wanted to deliver pizzas to US troops serving in Kandahar, Bagram and Camp Bastion in Afghanistan.This delivery, covering a distance of over 11,000km within 36 hours, was officially recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records in April 2013 as the ‘largest pizza delivery’.

DHL Express donated the services of its global express shipping network, delivering 30,000 Chicago-style deep-dish pizzas from Chicago, Illinois to the troops in Afghanistan.

Ken Allen, CEO, DHL Express, said: “Being credited in the Guinness Book of World Records represents a very proud moment for all 100,000 employees of DHL Express worldwide. Every day, they strive to prove to our customers that there ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ for DHL, taking on challenging assignments and working together across 220 countries and territories to provide secure, on-time delivery to even the most remote corners of the world. We are very grateful to Pizzas 4 Patriots for giving us this opportunity to showcase the capabilities of DHL’s global network and the ‘can do’ spirit of our international specialists.”

The delivery process involved packing 30,000 ready-to-bake pizzas weighing over 23 tons onto a Boeing 777 freighter and transporting them from the DHL Express Americas hub in Cincinnati to the DHL Express air hub in Bahrain. From there, the massive shipment was on-forwarded by DHL to the U.S. military’s operational bases in Afghanistan in time for U.S. Independence Day celebrations on July 4. In order to maintain the quality of the pizzas, a perishable product, during transit, they were packed in 11 tons of dry ice. DHL Quality Control Centres closely monitored the consignment throughout the journey.

Pizzas 4 Patriots is the brainchild of retired military officer Mark Evans and his son, Kent, who founded the non-profit organization in order to send pizzas to U.S. service personnel stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq for major holidays and celebrations, such as American Football’s Super Bowl or U.S. Independence Day. To date, DHL has delivered over 120,000 pizzas to Afghanistan and Iraq for Pizzas 4 Patriots.

Evans says, “DHL Express has been a great community partnerand through their support we have been able to make a positive difference in the lives of U.S. servicemen and women around the world by bringing them wonderful care packages from home to lift their spirits.”