PMQ Pizza Media - December 2022

With higher sales and unit growth, independents showed some muscle in 2022. How did your pizzeria stack up against the average chain store?

Grande is championing operators who have an independent spirit and shared passion for excellence. By providing the finest all natural, authentic Italian cheeses, along with an unwavering commitment to quality, we’ll continue to advocate for independents and their love of the craft.

Inflation hit hard, but independent pizzerias still grew in total sales and store numbers in 2022. Here’s a look at what went right (and wrong) and what’s ahead in 2023.

(Illustration by Eric Summers)

By Rick Hynum

Il Canale’s Joe Farruggio Pens Memoir About Life as a Pizza Man

The renowned pizzaiolo hopes his rags-to-riches story will inspire others to follow their passions while increasing their profits.

pmq.com/joe-farruggio-memoir

5 Ways Texting Can Improve Your Pizzeria’s Customer Service

Text marketing opens a whole new world of moneymaking possibilities while helping you better stay in touch with your customers.

pmq.com/texting-and-customer-service

Texas-Style Pizza On the Rise in Dallas/Fort Worth Area

Sauce’d Pizza and BYOB has introduced a pizza crust—developed by the owner’s dad—that’s similar to a garlicbuttered breadstick.

pmq.com/texas-style-pizza

Half of Small Restaurant Businesses Couldn’t Pay Rent in October

The month marked the highest rentdelinquency rate for restaurants this year, and declining traffic is apparently to blame.

pmq.com/restaurants-rent-delinquency

With Q3 Sales Up, Is Domino’s Making a Comeback?

The CEO has “never been more confident” in Domino’s prospects after same-store sales rebounded following two quarters of decline.

pmq.com/dominos-q3-2022

Why “I Know the Owners” Is a Familiar Refrain at O Sole Mio

A former employee of the Stony Brook, New York pizzeria returns to her old workplace to uncover the secrets of excellent service.

pmq.com/o-sole-mio

PUBLISHER

A Publication of PMQ, Inc.

662-234-5481

Volume 26, Issue 10 December 2022 ISSN 1937-5263

Steve Green, sg@pmq.com ext. 123

CO-PUBLISHER

Linda Green, linda.pmq@gmail.com ext. 121

EDITOR IN CHIEF Rick Hynum, rick@pmq.com

ART DIRECTOR

Eric Summers, eric@pmq.com

SENIOR COPY EDITOR Tracy Morin, tracy@pmq.com

DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH

Blake Harris, blake@pmq.com ext. 136

TEST CHEF/USPT COORDINATOR

Brian Hernandez, brian@pmq.com ext. 129

REPORTER

Chris Green, chris@pmq.com

FOOD PHOTOGRAPHER

David Fischer, david@pmq.com

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Shawn Truss, shawn@pmq.com

ADVERTISING

SALES DIRECTOR

Linda Green, linda.pmq@gmail.com ext. 121

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Tom Boyles, tom@pmq.com ext. 122 SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Jerry Moschella, jerry@pmq.com ext. 137

, brandy@pmq.com ext.

JOE FARRUGGIO

EVENTS & PROMOTIONS

WINTER 2023

Industry Events

The Winter Fancy Food Show

January 15-17, 2023

The new year kicks off with a jackpot of the newest and best specialty foods and beverages in 40 product categories at the Winter Fancy Foods Show, taking place at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Thousands of makers, buyers, retailers, brokers, distributors and other industry professionals will be there to forge new relationships, network with peers and participate in a world-class educational program. Learn more at specialtyfood.com.

The NAFEM Show

February 1-3, 2023

The NAFEM Show attracts buyers of foodservice equipment and supplies from across the country. A wide array of products cover food preparation, cooking, storage and table service, making NAFEM a onestop shop for decision-makers. You’ll find products to boost efficiency, strategies to keep customers coming back, and opportunities to make connections that will help you grow your business. Learn more at thenafemshow.org.

Promote This!

January: National Soup Month

Make your customers feel warm and cozy with the ultimate comfort food in January. Offer a soup-of-the-day special with Italian flair, such as a Tomato Basil, Tortellini, Pasta Fagioli, Italian Wedding or Minestrone soup. Or spice things up with a chili special or a chicken noodle soup like your nonna used to make. Bundle the soups with a salad and a side of bread or breadsticks to create value for your guests.

Discover all of the events impacting the pizza industry this year at PMQ.com/calendar Hosting an event? Send your submissions to editor@pmq.com.

February: National Chocolate Lovers Month

Chocolate is the rock star of the dessert world, and you can’t go wrong with chocolate-based dessert pizzas and other post-meal treats. Chocolate desserts are also eminently photogenic and telegenic, so make sure to feature them on your top-performing social media platforms. Use Instagram Reels and TikTok to show how you prepare your desserts, and offer pizza/dessert pairing ideas on your website.

DON’T FORGET THESE NATIONAL FOOD AND BEVERAGE DAYS IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY!

National Spaghetti Day Wednesday, January 4

National Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day Saturday, January 14

World Nutella Day Sunday, February 5

National Fettuccine Alfredo Day Tuesday, February 7

National Pizza Day Thursday, February 9

National Italian Food Day Monday, February 13

National Drink Wine Day Saturday, February 18

Mike’s Hot Honey started out of a pizzeria in Brooklyn 11 years ago, creating a whole new category of pizza topping that has been called a gamechanger by pizza fans and spawned best-selling menu items for pizzerias nationwide. Request a sample today to see what all the buzz is about. www.mikeshothoney.com/sample

A HOWL-O-WEEN HAPPENING

Every dog had its day at the second annual Howl-o-Ween costume contest, hosted by Robert’s Pizza Company in Chicago on October 29. The parade of four-legged cuties included a puppy pirate, Krypto the Super Dog, a friendly alien from a faraway planet, and one dashing canine named Precious who dressed up as the pizzeria’s owner, Robert Garvey himself. Prizes were awarded in three categories: Most Creative, Scariest and Cutest. A pup named Nora Bea won the Most Creative award for a costume that illustrated the expression, “It’s raining cats and dogs.” Sully, the dog from outer space, won Scariest honors, and Precious took the Cutest prize. The event drew 43 contestants and raised funds for two nonprofits, PAWS Chicago and the Anti-Cruelty Society. Prizes included doggy treats from Tails in the City, free 30-minute walks from Millennium Dog Walkers and a $25 gift certificate from Robert’s Pizza.

ANTHONY MANGIERI

ESPRESSO A SHOT

GIVES

When your pizzeria has just been named No. 1 worldwide, what do you do for an encore? Anthony Mangieri, owner/chef of Una Pizza Napoletana in New York City, didn’t get carried away: He just opened an Italian-style coffee shop, called Caffè Napoletana, in his restaurant. In September, Italy’s Top 50 Pizza, an association comprised of Italy’s leading pizza makers, chose Una Pizza Napoletana as the “Best Pizzeria in the World,” hailing it as “a true Neapolitan embassy in the Big Apple.” To celebrate all things Italy, Mangieri opened Caffè Napoletana in October. Open on Saturday mornings, the shop offers shots of Italian espresso, cappuccino and imported Italian sweets, including yogurt topped with Casa Marrazzo apricots, toasted hazelnuts and fresh mint. Mangieri is particularly excited about serving slices of Verona producer Infermentum’s traditional panettone studded with candied oranges and raisins. “Once I tasted it, I just had to figure out how to share it with my guests,” Mangieri said. “It’s the best I’ve ever had and nearly impossible to get here in the U.S., so we worked with them to get a limited quantity shipped to us for the holidays.”

Despite global acclaim, Anthony Mangieri said he “will never rest on yesterday’s results” and plans to “keep learning.”

Caffè Napoletana, now open at Una Pizza Napoletana, serves Italian espresso, cappuccino and imported sweets.

Robert’s Pizza Company hired a professional photographer to shoot every contestant in the Howl-o-Ween contest.

READING BY THE SLICE

As the owner of Dempsey’s Restaurant & Brewpub and Danger von Dempsey’s Pizza + Brewhaus, located in Watertown and Aberdeen, South Dakota, respectively, Sean Dempsey doesn’t have a lot of time to read anymore. (That’s what audiobooks are for.) But he has created a program for the Watertown Regional Library that awards free pizza to young readers from kindergarten through eighth grade for every hour they spend with their noses in a book. For each child, one hour of reading earns one free slice of pizza, and eight hours wins a whole 8” pie. “We started this program in the spring of 2021, and last year we awarded 288 pizzas for 344,000 minutes of reading,” Dempsey said. “Our goal is to double this.” The Read by the Slice program recently earned Dempsey a Friend of the Library award from the South Dakota Library Association. “It’s a pretty sick program,” Dempsey said. “My original goal was looking to expand our community outreach, and since I spent a lot of time as a kid in the library, I thought that would be a great place to do something.”

THE WORLD’S LARGEST PIZZA PARTY?

So what if it’s not certified by Guinness World Records? Home Run Inn (HRI), headquartered in Chicago, kicked off National Pizza Month by throwing what they called “the world’s largest pizza party,” and as far as they’re concerned, it’s official. Shortly before the Cubs’ October 1 game against the Cincinnati Reds, 1,086 guests gathered outside the HRI store adjacent to Wrigley Field and enjoyed at least one slice. HRI donated one whole pizza for every slice that was eaten at the event to the city’s Department of Family and Support Services and fed 12,000 Chicagoans in need. The family-owned chain has been dishing out pies and helping community causes in Chicago for 75 years, noted Gina Bolger, a fourth-generation HRI family member and the company’s senior vice president. “To pay tribute to our brand and the city we serve, we wanted to mark this anniversary in a monumental way that celebrates both our tradition and a cause dear to us,” she said. “This exciting moment will be a brand-long reminder of our sturdy heritage and our adoration for the City of Chicago.”

Read by the Slice participants Olivia Solum and Issac Solum enjoy some tasty pizza at Dempsey’s Restaurant & Brewpub.

Home Run Inn drew a total of 1,086 people to the event on October 1.

Gina Bolger, Home Run Inn’s senior vice president of marketing, and CEO Dan Costello welcome the crowd to the “world’s largest pizza party.”

Sean Dempsey, who’s also a member of the U.S. Pizza Team, accepts his award from the South Dakota Library Association.

CAREN HANTEN, TIMELESS PHOTOGRAPHY AND DESIGN

DRESS TO IMPRESS

BY BILLY MANZO JR.

Ladies and gentlemen, get ready for a rant. And I don’t want to hear any of that “OK, Boomer” nonsense. You need to hear this. Imagine that you’re looking for an investor for a new pizzeria location. You’re meeting with two prospects at an industry trade show and have reserved two separate hours in a conference room.

Pizzeria owners should quit dressing like slobs and start looking like the business professionals they are.

Prospect No. 1 shows up 10 minutes late. He’s wearing skateboarding shorts and a washed-out company T-shirt that’s a few sizes too big. His Vans sneakers are so dirty, they look like they’ve been stomping grapes, and there’s still dough under the guy’s fingernails. He has no briefcase, just a backpack left over from college. He hands you a laminated business card and brags that he’s the perfect partner for you because he owns five locations in the industry that are doing “well,” he knows “tons” of people, and he would love to work with you. This is his seventh time at the trade show.

Prospect No. 2 shows up early. He’s wearing pressed khaki pants, suede Derby shoes, a sport coat and a clean, white button-down shirt with the top button open and no tie. He’s carrying a laptop case with a bound prospectus of his business plan—with a copy for you, too. He has worked in the pizza industry for years and says he’s a hard worker—working his way up at his current employer—but hasn’t owned a restaurant. He has been saving his money, is ready to invest, and would love to work with you. This is his first time at the show.

Now, be honest: Who are you likely to schedule a second meeting with? I’d pick Prospect No. 2 in a heartbeat. Why?

Based on Prospect No. 1’s appearance, I’d be highly skeptical of his claims. I’d wonder how his restaurants could be doing “well” if he can’t even run his own closet. I’d wonder about these “tons” of people he knows, whom he probably met in a mosh pit at a Green Day concert. Prospect No. 2 may be greener, but he clearly takes pride in his appearance and his demeanor, he’s prepared, and he’s showing initiative. All of that goes a long way in business.

I know it may not be politically correct to judge a book by its cover, but sometimes that’s all you’ve got to go on. As they say, you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.

I bring this up because I’m appalled by what I’m seeing in our industry. Adult men and women, who are supposedly successful and own multiple restaurants, are walking around the trade shows looking like kids about to tackle the nearest halfpipe. Promo T-shirts. Skateboarding shorts. Vans sneakers. That’s a really bad visualization of the respect that you

should have for yourself and the brand that you’re supposedly representing.

“Why is it like this?” I ask myself. There’s a lot of talk nowadays about the casualization of the workplace—you know, casual Fridays and all that. But I think it’s more than that. I think people in this business have a poor attitude about their appearance. And I have a theory why.

In Italy, for example, pizzeria owners look classy. They dress like they have self-respect and dignity—because they do. Most of them wanted to be a pizza maker or pizzaiolo since they were kids. In the United States’ pizza industry, we don’t have that. I come across mostly two types of people: 1) those who lost their job and really don’t know what else to do, or 2) those who are retired and wanted to do something interesting with their 401(k). In other words, a pizzeria was not their first choice of business. Maybe that has something to do with why they look like vagrants most of the time. I don’t know. But I don’t care. And I don’t like it.

GETTY IMAGES

Adult men and women, who are supposedly successful and own multiple restaurants, are walking around the trade shows looking like kids about to tackle the nearest half-pipe.

You gotta look respectable for the industry that you represent and that represents you. I’m not saying you need a personal designer making your clothes for you—you don’t have to wear a three-piece Isaia suit—but when you go to trade shows, do public speaking and have meetings, you need to dress to impress.

Come on, guys. Step up. You’re representing one of the biggest industries in the world. Did you know that American pizzerias use almost 75% of the cheese manufactured in the U.S.? We are a dominant, powerful group. But we don’t respect ourselves. And we need to. Because it reflects poorly on our industry.

The pizza industry has become the Rodney Dangerfield of the restaurant business: We get no respect. We’re considered a bunch of hacks who do late-night pizza—or drunk pizza—and, from what I see, I can’t blame people for looking at us this way.

People have an outward visualization of what success is. The days of wearing “dress shoes” and a tie may be gone, but if you’re a businessperson or entrepreneur, you should have some form of style to separate yourself and look professional.

At industry events: Would it kill you to put on a buttondown? Or a sport coat? Remember, no sneakers. No T-shirts. No shorts. (If it’s hot, at least wear linen or cotton, and you’ll survive.) Run a comb through your hair. Wash your hands. Brush your teeth. Pretend you’re going on a date.

At your pizzeria(s): Whatever you want to wear is fine, but make sure it’s neat and clean. Don’t walk around with

an apron that has sauce all over it. If your employees see you acting and dressing unprofessionally, they’re not going to take care of themselves, either. They take their cues from you. Professionalism starts from the top down.

Listen, I get that I’m a very odd duck in this industry. I wanted to be in the pizza business. I adore what I do, because it’s fun. And I don’t expect anyone to dress the way I dress. I have stuff made for me in Italy (partly because I’m only 5’5”, and it’s difficult to find clothes off the rack). But I’m very aware of the way I should look and truly believe that the way I present myself has given me the opportunities that I’ve gotten.

It’s only when pizzeria owners can view themselves in a more positive light and respect themselves that we can dig ourselves out of this bad reputation. Or maybe it has to happen the other way around.

Either way, as far as I’m concerned, no shirt, no shoes, no success. I may be a Boomer, but I ain’t wrong.

Billy Manzo Jr. is a veteran restaurant operator and the owner/chef of Federal Hill Pizza in Warren, Rhode Island.

GETTY IMAGES

We are a dominant, powerful group. But we don’t respect ourselves. And we need to. Because it reflects poorly on our industry.

If your employees see you acting and dressing unprofessionally, they’re not going to take care of themselves, either.

The Pri¢e of SUCCESS

BY NIKO FRANGOS | PHOTOS COURTESY RASCAL HOUSE

The last two years have presented many challenges to restaurant operators, and the latest is inflation. With the cost of ingredients going up significantly and labor costs still high, most restaurants have been forced to raise menu prices. Good pizzeria operators evaluate prices consistently year over year to see if anything needs to be changed. It’s not uncommon for prices to fluctuate a little bit every year or two, depending on the situation. But today we are seeing significant increases in costs across the board. Here’s what you need to know to raise prices in a strategic way.

1Look closely at current prices and costs. Before inflation started affecting every industry, you may not have adjusted your prices in a while. During normal times, restaurants often go one and sometimes up to two years without increasing prices. Before you can start being strategic about what items need to be raised and by how much, you should take a close look at your current menu mix and prices.

You also must know your costs. If you look at the cost of each of your ingredients, it will be obvious if you need to raise prices across the board or if you can pick and choose which items have been the most affected by supplier increases. Don’t forget to look at the trend, too. Some items may have just gone up in price once, while others keep rising and will likely continue to do so. Others may be fluctuating or leveling off in one place.

The president of Cleveland-based Rascal House shares 7 tips for raising your prices without upsetting customers.

2Talk to your suppliers.

It’s important to think beyond where prices are right at this moment. You will also need to know where things are headed. You can’t predict the future, but it’s important to get a picture of what might happen. You can do that by talking to your manufacturers or suppliers. They can give you an idea if things are softening and relief may be coming, or if more increases are expected.

increases your profit margin.

3

Be strategic about the increases. There are three options when increasing the price of your pizza. You can either increase the base price, increase the price of toppings or both. Customers may have less sensitivity to smaller increases for toppings— especially when you’re only raising the price by 10 or 20 cents—but it still

With the effect of inflation on the price of cheese and wheat, it would be hard for any pizza restaurant to avoid increasing their base price as well if they haven’t already. I recommend raising your base price less often, but with the inflationary pressures we’re seeing today, it is basically unavoidable.

If there is a menu item you don’t mind selling less of, you should consider increasing the cost of that item at a higher rate. You may sell slightly fewer of that item, but with a higher profit margin because of the increased price,

that can work out for your restaurant. For example, the price of chicken wings has skyrocketed. If wings aren’t a core product for your restaurant, it makes sense to raise that price more aggressively than you would for pizza or breadsticks. Smaller, less expensive items may also need to be increased at a higher percentage than the standard 10% to 12%. For example, you may increase a dip cup’s price by 20 cents, which is a bigger increase percentagewise, but still acceptable from a customer’s point of view.

Customers may have less sensitivity to smaller increases for toppings—especially when you’re only raising the price by 10 or 20 cents— but it still increases your profit margin.

chicken wings may have even been removed from some menus as the price has become too high. This can help guide your price increases and ensure you aren’t going too far too fast.

4Get creative. There are ways to increase your profit margins without raising prices. Some restaurants may switch to lower-quality ingredients, but I recommend against that. You need your product to stay consistent. Instead, look at things like packaging. For example, could you use a 3.5-ounce dip cup instead of a 4-ounce dip cup for sides like barbecue sauce? This isn’t changing the quality of your product, but it is a way to continue to offer quality and value at the same time.

Also, look at your menu mix and where things are placed on your menu. This is especially great if you have a digital menu board, but you can also rearrange your standard menu board, paper menus, box toppers and more. Move things with good margins that sell well to the top of the menu. This may be items like breadsticks or pretzel dip sticks. If you have an item for which costs have gone so high that it’s no longer that profitable, move it to the bottom of the menu. It’s still there for loyal customers who want it, but hopefully more people will add on the items you can sell at a higher profit margin instead.

5

Check the competition. It’s good to always know who your competitors—both large and small—are and how they’re pricing their food. When you see the big chains raising prices and taking away deals, it’s a great indicator that cheaper ingredients are not coming back. Also, look at the prices of your competition’s secondary menu items. Items like

6

Test the waters. If you have more than one restaurant, you can also test the price increases before rolling them out systemwide. This is a good way to make sure there is no customer backlash before you implement something everywhere. If you are a single-unit operator, you can raise prices a little here and there to see if there is any reaction. You will see your regulars often enough that you should get a sense of their reaction pretty quickly.

Large brands sometimes spend tens of thousands of dollars on market studies for pricing annually. With the nature of the current supply chain and inflation, they could increase that to quarterly. While most smaller brands do not have the budget for these resources, you can gain valuable insight by testing your price increases at one location, tracking your competition’s prices and talking to suppliers about long-term trends.

7

Be prepared to communicate changes. Obviously, you don’t want to advertise that your prices have increased. That said, the cost of groceries, houses, cars and more have all increased significantly in the last year. People are used to it. They understand. It’s important to be transparent if a customer comments on the increase and be ready to justify the increase if necessary. Make sure your management team is aware of the situation and can explain it to customers.

Right now, customers are expecting prices to increase because they are seeing it everywhere they shop and on the news. Operators are forced to deal with these changes as they happen. Your restaurant must be profitable to stay in business, so evaluate your costs and increase prices where necessary to sustain your profit margin.

Niko Frangos is president of Rascal House, a Cleveland-based elevated quick-serve restaurant franchise serving pizza, burgers, wings and more.

It’s important to be transparent if a customer comments on price increases and be ready to justify the increase if necessary. Make sure your management team is aware of the situation and can explain it to customers.

Independent

grew in both total sales and units in the past year, but food costs soared. Here, we look at the trends of 2022 and what the future holds for the industry.

BY RICK HYNUM

When you’re cast in the “villain” role on a reality TV dating show, haters, as they say, gonna hate. But riled-up romance fans are the least of Peter Izzo’s problems. The co-owner of Peter’s Pizzeria, with two locations in South Florida, and cast member of ABC’s Bachelor in Paradise and The Bachelorette, has other worries on his mind—namely inflation. “That’s really what keeps me up at night,” Izzo said. “Food costs are continuing to skyrocket. It doesn’t seem like there will be any relief anytime soon. And it’s putting us in a difficult situation.”

pizzerias

Restaurants that offer online ordering said an average of 34% of their revenue comes from those channels. Fifty-four percent added or expanded options to accept online orders over the past year.

Although Izzo is known to millions as a brash Italian stallion looking for love on all the wrong TV shows, he is, in real life, an earnest—and likable—pizzeria operator going through the same struggles as most PMQ readers. “Do we continue to keep our quality the same and raise our prices, pushing the costs on to our customers who have been loyal to us?” Izzo said. “Or do we lower our quality and keep our prices the same, but now our customers aren’t going to get that product they expect anymore?”

Izzo and his brother/business partner, Bobby Pokora, finally made a decision: They raised their prices so they could keep using top-shelf ingredients like Grande cheese, San Marzano DOP tomatoes and Caputo flour. “We’ve gotten some pushback from our customers,” Izzo said. “We tell them we’re just as upset as they are. We don’t want to do this just as much as they don’t want us to do it. We don’t have a choice.”

Inflation has been the story of the year for the pizzeria industry. As food costs keep soaring, menu price hikes have been a must to stay afloat. But we’ve uncovered another, more

promising story for 2022: Despite a challenging economy, independent pizzerias like Peter’s are making a comeback unlike any we’ve seen in years. And the chains? Well, overall, they didn’t fare quite as well, but they’re holding their own.

After two years of just about everything going wrong— COVID-related shutdowns, supply chain issues, inflation, the so-called Great Resignation—something went surprisingly right for independent operators as the pandemic eased over the past year. Industry-wide sales rose significantly for independents, and there are more independent pizzerias now than we’ve seen in the past 10 years. But the good news comes with caveats: After a slight uptick in 2021, average sales per store for independents dropped by 1.7% this year, most likely due to declining foot traffic as consumers tightened their belts to cope with inflation. And higher menu prices driven by inflation likely account for a big chunk of independents’ overall higher revenue.

For the record, the chains took a bigger hit in average sales per store, with a decline of nearly 2.2%. Which brings us to the question posed on this month’s cover: How did your sales compare to the average sales of one of the big chain stores? You know you’re curious, so check out the chart on page 41 to gauge how well you’re competing with that Domino’s or Papa Johns location down the street. Then come on back and let’s dive into the overall industry numbers.

A Mini-Boom for Independents

Generally speaking, the pizza industry has bounced back after a rough patch, according to research firm CHD Expert. From October 2021 through September 2022, total U.S. pizza sales— for both independents and chains—climbed 3.08% to a total of $46,988,006,871. That’s something to cheer about, considering we saw an overall sales decline of about 1.6% from October 2020 through September 2021.

Independent pizzerias carried a lot of the weight this year, logging an overall 10.24% jump in sales, from $17,940,959,384 last year to $19,777,571,275 this year. The chains (companies

with more than 10 units) saw a slight drop of 1.5% in their total sales, from $27,645,018,457 between October 2020 through September 2021 to $27,210,435,596 in the same period of the past year.

So what happened? Independents added a lot more units compared to the chains during that period. The number of independent pizzerias rose from 39,808 last year to 44,644 this year—that’s 12.15% growth in total units. The chains, on the other hand, saw relatively flat growth in terms of units, from 35,309 last year to 35,531 in 2022, an increase of just 0.63%. In other words, we saw a mini-boom in openings of independent pizzerias. More than 4,800 new independent stores opened, compared to just 222 new chain units.

It seems many folks wanted to get into the pizza business over the past year. Of course, some of that growth could be accounted for by multiunit independents (those with less than 10 units) opening new stores. What’s clear is that the

Peter’s Pizzeria owner Peter Izzo, portrayed as a troublemaker on Bachelor in Paradise, is far more likeable in real life, as the nurses at Boca Raton Regional Hospital can attest.

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chains added relatively few new units compared to the so-called “little guys.”

Do these corporate chains know something the independents don’t know? Are they closing less profitable stores in anticipation of a recession? And can these new independents survive in a saturated U.S. pizza market? There’s some reason for concern. According to a November 2022 report by Alignable, an online network for small business owners, 49% of small restaurant businesses in the U.S. couldn’t pay their rent in full and on time in October. That compares to a 36% rent delinquency rate in September.

A late July report by the NPD Group might shed a little light on restaurants’ rent problem. That report found that physical and online restaurant traffic declined by 2% in the second quarter of 2022 versus one year earlier, and by 6% from the same (prepandemic) quarter in 2019. “Consumers continue to deal with rising inflation and higher prices,” noted David Portalin, the NPD Group’s food industry advisor. “They trade down to lowerpriced items, cut back on the number of items ordered, or reduce restaurant visits altogether.”

STATE

DOMINO’S

AVERAGE

BELOW

Nevada 752 2,758,930 2.71 Florida 5,215 19,317,570 2.69 Michigan 2,643 9,883,360 2.66 Montana 267 1,005,140 2.65 Illinois 3,381 12,875,260 2.63 Maine 344 1,329,190 2.59 Kansas 738 2,885,910 2.55 Kentucky 1,115 4,380,420 2.55 Arkansas 747 2,949,130 2.53 Missouri 1,519 6,021,990 2.52 Nebraska 466 1,855,530 2.52 Wyoming 144 576,410 2.50 Maryland 1,446 5,884,560 2.45 Minnesota 1,296 5,379,140 2.42 Virginia 1,971 8,185,870 2.41 Oklahoma 911 3,814,820 2.38

Colorado

Oregon 915 3,899,350 2.36 North Carolina 2,304 9,752,070 2.35 Tennessee 1,508 6,456,240 2.34 South Carolina 1,093 4,723,720 2.33 Utah 637 2,855,290 2.22 Wisconsin 1,268 5,726,400 2.21 Washington 1,480 6,897,010 2.15 Texas 5,542 26,059,200 2.14 Arizona 1,381 6,553,260 2.11 Alaska 148 731,450 2.02 California 7,728 38,041,430 2.02 Georgia 1,955 9,919,950 1.99 New Mexico 384 2,085,540 1.83 Alabama 841 4,822,020 1.74 Mississippi 515 2,984,930 1.72 Louisiana 776 4,601,890 1.68 Hawaii 191 1,392,310 1.36

Chains:

According to one expert, when menu price increases exceeded 10% to 13%, restaurant traffic started to severely decline.

Independents: $19.77 billion in sales 44,644 locations

The Price-Hike Limit

Look, customers know what’s going on. According to Bluedot’s September 2022 “State of What Feeds Us” report, 91% of consumers have noticed price increases at restaurants. And they aren’t wrong. Per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index, food-away-from-home (restaurant) prices increased 8% from August 2021 to August 2022. Most restaurant chains raised prices at least once over the past year, reported Nation’s Restaurant News (NRN), particularly fast-food chains like Burger King, Wendy’s and McDonald’s.

In response, the Bluedot report found, 83% of consumers are cutting back on restaurant visits, and 73% are ordering off value menus to save money. They’re looking other places for deals, too. Fifty-one percent are using restaurant apps, which should tell you something. In fact, nearly 7 out of 10 consumers are downloading more apps or joining more loyalty programs for discounts and freebies. Additionally, 43% are checking out those coupons that come in the mail, and 29% are looking to social media for high-value offers.

Do you have an ordering app yet? Have you fine-tuned your loyalty program lately? What are you waiting for?

According to Portalin, restaurateurs must deliver value and top-quality food for the inflated prices they’re forced to charge. But, he added, they should also remember that “value doesn’t always translate to the lowest price.”

So, when it comes to price increases, how much is too much? Analyzing price percentage increases and how they

correlate with traffic, Restaurant Management Services (RMS), a consumer behavior firm, made an interesting discovery. “When price increases went beyond 10% to 13%, traffic started to severely decline, negating some or all of the net sales benefits,” Scott Foxworth, RMS’s director of consulting services, told NRN.

Most restaurants have held the line at price hikes around 9% to 10%, NRN says. That’s a good thing—if it’s enough to keep your doors open. But hitting that “sweet spot” on pricing, coupled with labor woes, will continue to be a tricky challenge in 2023.

Speaking of Labor Woes...

When one of the country’s most acclaimed pizzaioli has to cut his restaurants’ hours due to lack of workers, you know things have gotten out of whack. Chris Bianco, owner of the six-store Arizona chain Pizzeria Bianco, announced reduced hours for his stores in an Instagram post on October 18. He noted that “at least one of our restaurants will be open” Sunday through Saturday, but some stores would be closed for two days each week as he and his team looked for ways “to adjust to the world we now live in.”

Bianco received the 2022 James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurateur, a career high point, to be sure. But that wasn’t enough to keep his pizzerias fully staffed. “It breaks my heart to cut hours, but overworking the good people we have is not a long-term solution,” Bianco stated on Instagram.

32 PMQ PIZZA MEDIA | PMQ.COM

According to Square’s 2022 Future of Restaurants report, 73% of restaurants said they’re dealing with a labor shortage, and 21% of restaurant positions were unfilled. “Across the industry, staffing continues to be the No. 1 challenge restaurants face,” said Bryan Solar, general manager of Square for Restaurants. Worse, this could be the new normal for the industry, even as states continue to raise the minimum wage.

Simply put, employees want better jobs than they had before the pandemic. And, no, that doesn’t mean they’re lazy. “First, put yourself in the mind of your candidate,” Thad Price, CEO of Talroo, a company that helps businesses find the right job candidates, wrote in an October article for PMQ.com. “What do they want? What are their concerns? Some concerns include quality pay and

growth and security to settle the score of a teeter-tottering economy.”

And the industry is making strides. A January 2022 survey by the Independent Restaurant Coalition found that 84% of all restaurants reported raising wages, and 37% reported adding paid sick leave for employees. Twenty-one percent also began offering paid vacation for their employees.

“Salary isn’t the only piece of the pie,” Price noted. “Addressing issues like childcare, health insurance and tuition chips away at the disparity that hourly workers have faced for years. Include these added benefits and you will far surpass the competition by recognizing the needs of your hourly staff.”

That’s easier said than done, as every restaurateur knows. But Solar agrees it’s the best approach. “This means that labor costs may go up, and restaurants may need to find ways to operate with more efficient labor,” he said. “This is where we believe restaurants can lean on tech—to help them better utilize their existing staff, manage their labor costs and maintain delightful customer experiences.”

“With rising cost of goods and paying good wages, putting people deep into overtime is also not sustainable.”

TALROO

Is Automation the Future?

To ease her staff’s workload, Linda Black, co-owner of Tilda’s Pizzeria in Rochester, Minnesota, is leaning on BellaBot, a robotic food runner from Pudu Robotics. BellaBot started at Tilda’s in early 2022 and has freed up servers to spend more time with their customers instead of hustling food and drinks to tables in a timely manner.

“Sixteen thousand dollars is a lot, and [Bella] could have been a bust,” Black told the Post Bulletin in early November. “But I would have rather tried it out with little success and learned from the experience than not at all.” Black couldn’t quantify the cost difference between acquiring a robot and hiring another part-time person, but BellaBot is a hit with her customers. “People love being served by Bella,” she said. “Kids run up to give her a hug when nothing is being carried…. Sometimes people are a little sad when they don’t get served by her, but still have a good time interacting [with the robot].”

Robots are still far from the norm in restaurants, but automation made headway in the pizza industry this year. Slice Factory, with 12 locations in the Chicago area, plans to

Bellabot, a robotic food runner, delights customers and makes employees’ jobs easier at Tilda’s Pizzeria.

Beyond The Dough

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• You’re such a great Mom/Dad!

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• I love your positive energy!

• I’m thankFULL for you!

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• You always have a smile on your face!

• I love you so much!

Merry Christmas and Be Incredible!

To learn more about Perfect Crust’s pizza liners and other products, visit perfectcrust.com or email Eric Bam at Eric@perfectcrust.com

About Eric Bam:

A Boston native now living in Tulsa, OK, Eric Bam is VP of sales and marketing for Perfect Crust, with 20 years of experience in the foodservice industry. A powerful force in the workplace, Bam uses his positive attitude and tireless energy to encourage others to work hard and succeed. He has three children and loves helping the men and women of the pizza industry grow their businesses.

install an automated chef/kitchen called Pizzaiola at its new stores and has an aggressive expansion plan built around the tech from Nala Robotics. Pizzaiola, which can be leased for $7,000 a month, reportedly makes up to 50 pies an hour in a variety of styles, including Slice Factory’s specialty jumbo pizzas. “This partnership…will help us improve production exponentially as we expand locations and service areas,” Slice Factory founder/ president Dom DiDiana said in July. “What’s really exciting is that we now have the capability to run fully autonomous pizzeriastyle restaurants with lots of menu items” while maintaining consistency at all locations.

PizzaHQ in Totowa, New Jersey, has even grander ambitions. It’s currently just a one-store operation with human pizza makers working alongside an automated pizza station from Picnic. But co-founder Jason Udrija said Picnic will become PizzaHQ’s “automation backbone” as more locations open in the region. With the Picnic system, Udrija said, “we can automate pizza assembly and free up our staff to do important jobs around the kitchen while focusing on the customer experience.”

PizzaForno, a pizza vending machine manufacturer, is taking a different approach. In cities like New Orleans and Houston, PizzaForno’s licensees have been positioning these automated pizzerias in high-traffic areas such as college campuses, hospitals and entertainment complexes, PizzaForno cofounder Les Tomlin said. “There are so many great places for a PizzaForno [machine], because there are three options, from the smallest unit (60 square feet) that’s about the size of an ATM—perfect to add to an existing business—to an indoor kiosk (75 square feet), which is perfect for dining halls, cafeterias, hospitals and dorms, to the outdoor mobile unit (80 square feet) that is virtually

Presented By

The future of food delivery could depend on self-driving robots like this one from Serve Robotics.

SERVE ROBOTICS

Check out our Q&A with Les Tomlin of PizzaForno at PMQ.com/les-tomlin-pizzaforno.

indestructible and can be placed absolutely anywhere outdoors and be moved with a flatbed truck.”

True, many old-school pizzaioli will give you a dirty look if you mention crafting pizzas with a machine. “Change is hard for some people,” Tomlin said. “With most innovations, you have early adapters, like those that wait in line for the newest iPhone. Then, there will be those that buy in later as they see the [growing] success. And you’ll always have the good ol’ mom-and-pop pizzeria and, I’m sure, those that think an automated pizzeria is sacrilegious.”

Even so, Tomlin adds, “We are seeing versions of automation entering the larger chains, so the evolution has begun.”

Women in Pizza

On the human side of the equation, we’re also seeing women moving to the forefront of the pizza industry— both in the major chains and among independents. And it’s about time. For a few examples, look at fast-casual chain

Blaze Pizza, headed up by CEO Mandy Shaw, or Little Caesars, where Paula Vissing has risen to chief operating officer. At Papa Johns, Amanda Clark serves as chief development officer, while Jane Grote Abell runs the entire show at Donatos as chair of the board.

For decades, men have been celebrated as the best chefs in the

world. Yet male pizzaioli often credit their mothers and grandmothers for their recipes. Alexandra Mortati, co-founder of the Women in Pizza movement—which includes a website spotlighting female entrepreneurs in the pizza business, a strong presence at major industry events and more than 5,100 followers on Instagram—would like to see more women in leadership roles. “Women in Pizza is a movement

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON

No less an authority than Scott Wiener of Scott’s Pizza Tours has hailed Last Dragon Pizza in Queens, New York, as “every pizza lover’s dream.” Owner Nicole Russell got the inspiration for her pizzeria from the 1985 kung fu flick The Last Dragon, which featured a pizzeria owned by a black family. Russell, a marketing professional, started making pies at home after Hurricane Sandy and handing out free slices to friends and neighbors. They were such a hit, local construction workers wanted to pay for whole pies. By 2016, Russell was shipping her frozen pizzas to 48 states. Since founding Last Dragon Pizza—an online pizzeria for

In her quest to become the world’s greatest pizza maker, Nicole Russell hosts First We Feast’s Pizza Wars on YouTube.

This PizzaForno machine was installed recently at the VA Hospital in New Orleans.

What are the advantages of pizza vending machines?

PIZZAFORNO

that empowers women in the pizza industry to share their stories, display their talents, inspire innovations, and connect with one another and the world,” Mortati said. “Whether you’re a pizza maker, manager, proprietor, distributor, manufacturer or importer, you are a woman in pizza, and your role is crucial. Our goal is to give a voice to the underrepresented female segment of the industry and to inspire more women to follow their pizza passion.”

Mortati, who’s also the creative director at Orlando Food Sales in New York City, knows women have always played a crucial role in the pizza industry. “Just because they may not have been the person you saw behind the counter doesn’t mean they haven’t been a part of the industry,” she said. “Many women have worked behind the scenes and are the reason businesses have kept their doors open. They’ve been the inspirations and people behind the recipes for generations.”

“I think that women are sick of being pushed aside and are more than happy to put their elbows up and fight for

their well-deserved spot alongside their pizzaiolo allies,” agreed Stephanie Swane, publisher and editorial director at Modernist Cuisine, which released the three-volume Modernist Pizza earlier this year. “Women are now able to get small-business loans and have the backers to create capital to open their own businesses. COVID-19 created a new paradigm for many people to shift from what they were doing in the corporate world to self-employment, especially if you look at how many start-ups began from [the owners’]

homes and ventured into pop-ups, test kitchens and food trucks. Women are finding ways to build a business model that works while juggling family responsibilities, too.”

pickup orders only—she has been profiled in The New York Times and other news outlets. As a pizzaiola, Russell borrows flavors from across the planet for pies like the Kiss Mi Converse (spicy jerk chicken), the 7th Heaven (tandoori chicken) and the Sho ’Nuff (Philly cheesesteak). “I’m on a quest to be the master of pizza,” she told Essence in 2021. “Like Bruce Leroy [in The Last Dragon] was on a quest to reach the final level, I am on a quest to reach the final level of pizza.”

Another bright sign: Women took center stage in several episodes of Hulu’s 2022 pizza making competition series, Best in Dough. They included U.S. Pizza Team member Leah Scurto, co-owner of PizzaLeah in Windsor, California; Shealyn Brand Coniglio of Coniglio’s in Morristown, New Jersey; pop-up entrepreneurs Miriam Weiskind of The Za Report in New York and Jhy Coulter of Devoured in Kansas City; fine-dining chef Amanda Morris of Spago in Las Vegas; and sushi chef Yoko Hasebe of Morihiro in Los Angeles. Among the judges presiding over the competition: renowned New York chef Millie Peartree.

Fittingly, the Best in Dough series kicked off with a trio of Italian grandmothers slinging dough and making classic pizzas from the Old World. “Nonnas are the best pizza makers,” competitor Nonna Carmela said in the episode’s opening. “Even on a bad day, nonnas know best.”

Italian mamas and nonnas have been a driving force behind the U.S.

Learn more about the Women in Pizza movement, including Q&As with Alexandra Mortati and Stephanie Swane, at PMQ.com/ women-in-pizza.

Stephanie Swane of Modernist Cuisine and Alexandra Mortati of Orlando Food Sales want to inspire female pizza makers with the Women in Pizza movement.

COURTESY ALEXANDRA MORTATI

pizza industry since the early 20th century. Now, as more women—including many of color—step forward as pizzeria owners and chain executives, Swane makes sure they get noticed with an Instagram Live streamcast called “Women in Pizza.” These pizzaioli will influence future generations, Swane believes. “Men are looking at other current female pizzaioli as inspiration,” she said. “I don’t hear women saying that their recipes are from their fathers or grandfathers; instead, women identify in the present with inspiration.”

Make Time for TikTok

Is your social media strategy all about Facebook? Not that long ago, Facebook was the dominant social media force. It still is, but the platform has been bleeding younger users for years. Where have they gone? TikTok, mostly, although Instagram keeps going strong, thanks largely to its short-form videos,

called Reels, which are modeled after—you guessed it—the TikTok format.

According to Brandastic, a Costa Mesa, Californiabased marketing agency, TikTok was the most popular app downloaded worldwide in 2020 and 2021. Its users are younger—60% are between the ages of 16 and 24, and almost 50% are under 34—and many find the platform downright addictive.

And here’s the thing: They turn to TikTok as a search engine, as The New York Times reported in September 2022. More importantly to pizza marketers, they’re often searching for good places to eat. “In our studies, something like almost 40% of young people, when they’re looking for a place for lunch, they don’t go to Google Maps or Search,” a Google executive said at a July technology conference, per the Times. “They go to TikTok or Instagram.”

That means TikTok is becoming a key tool for restaurant marketing. If your pizzeria doesn’t have a TikTok strategy, it’s time to give it some careful thought. Invite TikTok microinfluencers in your market to dine with you, and shoot your own videos featuring satisfied customers at your restaurant. Create video campaigns centered on new menu items and special value deals that would appeal to the younger crowd. And don’t forget to share behind-the-scenes clips and interviews with your team members. Like Instagram Reels, TikTok offers a great opportunity to give your pizzeria a face and a personality. Just keep it authentic!

Leah Scurto, owner of PizzaLeah in Windsor, California, showed her pizzamaking stuff on Hulu’s Best in Dough series.

Younger people now use TikTok as a search engine to discover new restaurants.

COURTESY HULU

GETTY IMAGES

LaRosa's Pizzeria $2,675,257.58

Giordano's $2,464,285.71

Oregano's Pizza Bistro $2,400,000.00

Mellow Mushroom $2,316,763.01

Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza $2,214,754.10

Uno Pizzeria & Grill $2,072,289.16

Brixx Wood Fired Pizza $2,019,230.77 12 Bertucci's $1,832,692.31 13 Shakey's Pizza Parlor $1,638,000.00 14 Paisano's Pizza $1,542,105.26 15 Domino's $1,317,286.59 16 Pizza Ranch $1,311,140.85 17 Donatos Pizza $1,279,289.94 18 &pizza $1,176,000.00 19 Ledo Pizza $1,174,311.93 20 MOD Pizza $1,166,007.91 21 Pizza Guys $1,139,906.67 22 Papa Johns $1,135,682.68 23 Lou Malnati's $1,131,944.44 24 Mr. Gatti's Pizza $1,125,806.45 25 Blaze Pizza $1,107,987.22

SALES RANK CHAIN NAME

AVERAGE SALES PER UNIT

26

Mountain Mike's Pizza

$1,082,890.24 27 Toppers Pizza $1,081,428.57 28 Pieology Pizzeria $1,033,043.48 29 Little Caesars $1,012,556.80 30 Round Table Pizza $1,011,963.94 31 Cicis $955,518.39 32 Monical's Pizza $940,322.58 33 Jet's Pizza $935,532.99 34 Hungry Howie's Pizza $897,288.93 35 Marco's Pizza $896,836.33 36 Mazzio's Italian Eatery $843,589.74 37 Pizza Hut $841,325.60 38 Pizza Factory $809,287.13 39 Rosati's Pizza $801,923.08 40 Imo's Pizza $794,736.84 41 Papa Gino's Pizzeria $769,135.80 42 Chuck E. Cheese $659,748.43 43 Papa Murphy's Pizza $652,579.84 44 Sbarro $633,656.96 45 Peter Piper Pizza $563,440.86 46 Giovanni's Pizza Power $522,330.10 47 Pizza Inn $519,059.26 48 Fox's Pizza Den $497,422.68 49 Godfather's Pizza $457,333.33 50 Simple Simon's Pizza $365,128.21

Delivery Dilemma

Finally, let’s talk about delivery. To deliver your own pizza or not to deliver your own pizza? That is the question. And if Hamlet were a pizzeria operator, he’d doubtless agonize over the answer, too. Third-party platforms pose an increasingly vexing dilemma for the pizza industry. According to Technomic’s 2022 Pizza Consumer Trend Report, 24% of pizza delivery orders were placed via third-party platforms versus the restaurant itself in 2021—that’s up from 16% in 2020.

Outsourcing delivery can be expensive—and risky. But reliable workers aren’t exactly lining up outside your door these days. Aye, there’s the rub. In a perfect world, pizzerias could afford to maintain an in-house delivery team and fully control the delivery experience. But third-party delivery, coupled with increased demand for delivery of all types of food during the pandemic, changed everything. Thanks to thirdparty platforms, customers now have more delivery options— tacos, burgers, you name it. Unfortunately, restaurant owners using third-party delivery might lose control over when and how their food gets into the customer’s hands. And that’s problematic.

According to Service Management Group, a customer experience management platform, a customer who has a poor third-party experience will often blame the restaurant, whose online review ratings can decline by as much as 1.5 stars. It’s your reputation that’s on the line, not DoorDash’s. Moreover, the Square report found that 68% of customers would rather order delivery through a restaurant’s own website or app, not via third parties.

So what’s a struggling pizzeria operator to do? Creating your own app would help. Partnering with a local restaurant delivery service (RDS) is another solution. The key word here is “partnering.” Sit down with your local RDS and hammer out a deal. Negotiate commissions and fees, lay down some ground rules for how your brand can and cannot be marketed online, and ensure that your local delivery partner has a team that will quickly respond to customer complaints. And protect your customer data! With in-house delivery, all of that valuable data is yours and yours alone, to do with as you will. If someone orders from your restaurant through a third-party partner, you want that data for your POS system so you can market directly to the customer, offer specials, encourage dine-in visits and control your branding message.

Before you choose a third-party partner, try out their service several times on different nights—slow weeknights and busy Fridays or Saturdays—while seeking objective input from friends or family members who have used it. Was the delivery driver courteous, prompt and professional, or did he look sloppy and harried? Did your food arrive hot and fresh? What happens if they get the order wrong—who does the customer call, and will someone answer the phone?

If your community doesn’t have a local RDS, you can still try to cut a deal with a national service. But when both the restaurant and the RDS are deeply embedded in their community, cross-promotional opportunities abound. You scratch their back, they’ll scratch yours.

Brooklyn Pizza, located in Birmingham, Michigan, is a single-unit independent pizzeria testing delivery robots built by Magna International.

BROOKLYN PIZZA

Food for Thought

Looking forward to 2023, one thing’s for certain: Not much is for certain. Will there be a recession? Will inflation ease off or keep soaring? Will the labor market finally settle down? Will all of those new independent pizzerias survive and thrive? We don’t know. But we do know this: Pizza is perennially golden. Technomic reports that 83% of consumers ate pizza at least once a month this year, and 24% ate it more than once a week.

In a 2022 survey conducted by Censuswide for Deliverect, which specializes in online food delivery management, 47% of consumers said they’d order pizza anytime, regardless of inflation. To persuade them to order it from you, keep these tips in mind:

• Polish your online ordering game. Make online ordering as smooth and seamless as possible. Use your ordering system to create customer profiles, capture their preferences, upsell them and offer them deals. Get them in and out fast—without mistakes.

• Stick with video on social media. We’ve already mentioned TikTok, but Instagram Reels is still hot, too. And YouTube. And, to a lesser extent, Facebook. Figure out the platforms that are working best for you and lean hard on video marketing to show off your amazing food,

servers, cooks and guests. Adding a video to your website can even improve your SEO ranking—just make sure it’s SEO-optimized, with captions and descriptions that use keywords relevant to the content.

• Treat your employees as well as you treat your customers. Just ask Michael Lastoria, CEO of the fast-growing Washington, D.C., chain &pizza. For years now, he has been something of a prophet, calling on restaurateurs to implement people-first policies that include higher wages and better benefits. And guess what? Not only has &pizza cracked Technomic’s list of the top 50 pizza chains for the first time, the company also ranked No. 18 in average sales per store (see page 41). We’ve quoted Lastoria before, and we’ll quote him again: “I believe that if you treat workers with dignity, they will be more invested in the success of the company. A satisfied workforce is the key to a successful business, because if they feel their work is valued, they will put more into the job, which results in happier customers and a strong sense of brand.”

Hynum is PMQ’s editor in chief.

Rick

GETTY IMAGES

Rise &

The most common species of yeast used in pizza baking applications is Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

BY TRACY MORIN

Yeast may not get all of the glory given to its pizza making counterparts, like flour and cheese, but it’s an essential part of the process. In fact, according to Luca Varuni, owner and maestro pizzaiolo at Varuni Napoli in Atlanta, it was once considered downright magical. “Humans have always used yeast—Egyptians used it 5,000 years ago and, because they were unaware of the fermentation process, they thought the chemical reaction was a miracle,” he recounts. “By 1996, the first complete genome of yeast was mapped.”

Experts answer your most pressing questions about the unsung hero of the pizza making process: yeast.

Clearly, in today’s world, yeast needn’t remain so mysterious. We tapped some bona fide baking experts to tackle all of the basics—and plenty of the intricacies—behind this key dough ingredient.

Q: What is the function of yeast, and what are the different types available?

Ralf Tschenscher: Yeasts are single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus family. In the pizza industry, the most common yeast species used is Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a key ingredient in pizza baking. It derives its name from Latinized Greek, meaning “sugar fungus,” because it converts sugars and starches into alcohol and carbon dioxide during the fermentation process. The main function of yeast in pizza dough is to allow for leavening; allow the pizza dough to mature and improve the gluten structure; and enhance the flavor and aroma of the pizza crust.

Paul Bright: There are two different types of bakers yeast: fresh (or wet) and dry. Fresh yeast is comprised of compressed or block yeast, sold in 1- to 5-lb. blocks. Dry yeast is available in active dry and instant forms.

OUR EXPERT PANEL:

PB: Choosing the right yeast depends on the pizzeria’s process and the dough maker’s preference or comfort level with using a particular yeast type. As fresh, active dry and instant yeasts are forms of the same species, they will all produce similar fermentation flavor, gassing activity and end-baked pizza texture when used appropriately. Here is a quick breakdown:

Q: How should a pizza maker choose the right type of yeast for his operation?

“As fresh, active dry and instant yeasts are forms of the same species, they will all produce similar fermentation flavor, gassing activity and end-baked pizza texture when used appropriately.”

— Paul Bright, AB Mauri

Paul Bright, senior innovation manager, AB Mauri North America, St. Louis, MO

Ralf Tschenscher, baking business development manager, LeSaffre Yeast Corporation, Milwaukee, WI

Luca Varuni, owner and maestro pizzaiolo, Varuni Napoli, Atlanta, GA

LESAFFRE

AB MAURI

One function of yeast is its imparting of flavor and aroma to the pizza crust.

Fresh yeast can be sold as compressed or block yeast in 1- to 5-lb. portions.

• Fresh yeast can be used at any water or dough temperature and is the easiest to use of all yeast types. A negative of fresh yeast is that it has the shortest shelf life and generally needs to be used within weeks of purchase.

• Active dry yeast (ADY) must be rehydrated for five minutes using a small portion of warm water (100° to 110°F) before adding to the flour. Once hydrated, the rest of the dough water can be at any temperature to achieve the desired finished dough temperature. If ADY is not rehydrated prior to adding to the mixing bowl, the yeast particles will not dissolve into the dough after mixing, resulting in a slow-proofing yeast. Unopened ADY has a two-year shelf life. Once opened, it should be transferred to an airtight container and stored under refrigeration for up to two months.

• Instant dry yeast (or IDY) is designed to be added directly to dry ingredients and blended prior to the addition of water. Prehydration of IDY will result in a loss of gassing activity and slower-proofing doughs. Cold or ice-water temperatures should not be used for this type of yeast, as maximum yeast-activity water temperatures are 80°F or higher. IDY has similar shelf-life characteristics as ADY.

RT: To answer this, ask yourself: What are your objectives— are you running a single-unit pizzeria or chain, working in a wholesale operation, involved in frozen dough production? What will your weekly usage be? Are you able to order yeast every week? This is almost essential if you are using fresh yeast.

From my experience, in North America, the majority of pizzaioli are using either IDY or ADY. One reason is usage level—compared with fresh or compressed yeast, IDY usage is 2/3 less, and ADY usage is half. Another reason is that IDY and ADY provide a much longer shelf life than fresh yeast.

Luca Varuni: The type of yeast and the amount you choose depends on what type of fermentation, timing and digestibility you want to give to your dough. At Varuni Napoli, we use what we call in Naples “lievito madre,” or “mother yeast,” which is a sourdough yeast. The mother yeast is essentially an acidic dough obtained by mixing flour and water. Fermentation can be triggered by leaving the flour and water exposed to the air and a whole series of exogenous bacteria and yeasts. Our mother yeast was originally made nine years ago, when I opened my first Varuni Napoli location. We also use a very small amount of fresh yeast along with our mother yeast to help the fermentation and the rising of the dough.

For beginners, I would suggest ADY or IDY, but fresh yeast produces pizza dough with a little more flavor compared to dry yeast. If you are willing to take the challenge, you can give it a try with sourdough yeast, which will give flavor to your dough and produce a crust that’s slightly crispier on the outside, while the inside stays light and airy for a great texture experience.

PB: When making formulation changes from one yeast type to another, use the following conversion rates

Q: What are some things to keep in mind when working with different yeast types?

to achieve

“The type of yeast and the amount you choose depends on what type of fermentation, timing and digestibility you want to give to your dough.”

— Luca Varuni, Varuni Napoli

VARUNA NAPOLI/ANDREW THOMAS LEE PHOTOGRAPHY

Varuna Napoli’s Neapolitan-style pizzas benefit from the use of a sourdough mother yeast and a small amount of fresh yeast.

similar gassing activities: 1 lb. of fresh = 0.5 lb. of ADY = 0.4 lb. IDY. When changing from fresh to dry yeast, increase water to make up for the water loss from fresh yeast. For example, if your formulation requires 2 lb. of fresh yeast and the pizzeria is changing to IDY, the conversion will be 0.8 lb. of IDY + 1.2 lb. of additional dough water.

Fresh yeast should always be stored at temperatures below 45°F. Also, fresh yeast should never sit unrefrigerated in the pizza shop for more than 30 minutes, as its warming will have a negative impact in yeast gassing activity, resulting in slow proofing times.

RT: If you decide to produce frozen doughs and your objective is to achieve a very long freezer shelf life, we suggest using fresh yeast—it provides the best results in frozen pizza dough production. Also, there is another type of yeast, deactivated yeast or inactive yeast, which has gained significant popularity. What’s unique about deactivated yeast is that it reduces the mixing time and creates more extensible dough, which allows pizzaioli in training to stretch the pizza dough much more easily without tearing the pie. Note: The addition of conventional yeast is still required.

LV: The mixer should not impact what yeast you decide to use. At Varuni Napoli, we use only spiral mixers, which are gentler on the dough and prevent dough from overheating. But, depending on the type of yeast you use, you need to be careful of the way you add it to the mixer. For example, yeast does not love salt, and salt in direct contact with yeast will kill it. This will reduce the ability of the yeast to properly ferment the dough. Be focused when adding the yeast and the remaining ingredients to the mixer. If you add water, salt and yeast, then leave to have a glass of wine and come back later to add flour, your dough will not rise properly!

Tracy Morin is PMQ’s senior copy editor and the editor of PizzaVegan.com.

“Deactivated yeast…reduces the mixing time and creates more extensible dough, which allows pizzaioli in training to stretch the pizza dough much more easily without tearing the pie.”

— Ralf Tschenscher, LeSaffre Yeast Corporation

PIZZAIOLI SHINE IN GALBANI

Congratulations to the Winners of the 2022 Galbani Professionale Pizza Cup & Acrobatic Trials!

The 2022 Galbani Professionale Pizza Cup took place on November 9 at the Pizza Tomorrow Summit in Orlando, Florida. Taking top honors and the 2022 Galbani Cup Champion mantle was Jose Flores of Crust Lovers Pizza in Sanford, Florida. Coming in a close second was Craig Allenbaugh of Sauced Pizza & Catering in Fairview Park, Ohio.

McKenna Carney of The Nona Slice House in Safety Harbor, Florida, was the winner of the Freestyle Acrobatics Finals. Carney also won the Chicago U.S. Acrobatic Trials in August and, with her victory in Orlando, claimed the title of 2022 USPT Acrobatics Champion and the chance to compete in the World Pizza Championship next year in Parma, Italy. In the Orlando semifinals, Carney was closely followed by Wilhelm Rodriguez of Papa’s Pizza in Puerto Rico and Kevin Knott and Travis Siebens, also of Nona’s, respectively.

Fastest Pie Maker: David Whisker, B.C. Pizza

Freestyle Semifinal Winners (from left): Travis Siebens (3rd), Hernandez, Wilhelm Rodriguez (1st) and Kevin Knott (2nd)

Largest Dough Stretch: Jerry Zampella

Fastest Pie Maker finalists (pictured with Brian Hernandez): David Whisker (1st), Joey Streeter (2nd) and Kevin Knott (3rd)

Giovanni Labbate of Tievoli Pizza prepares his pie for the competition.

Jose Flores won the Galbani Professionale Pizza Cup with this pie.

GALBANI CUP & ACROBATICS FINALS!

Congratulations to ALL competitors of the 2022 Galbani Professionale Pizza Cup & Acrobatic Trials:

Non-Traditional Pizza Semifinals:

Oven #1 Winners:

1. Jose Flores, Crust Lovers Pizza, Sanford, Fla.

2. Kevin Knott, The Nona Slice House, Safety Harbor, Fla.

3. Wilhelm Rodriguez, Papa’s Pizza, Puerto Rico

Oven #2 Winners:

1. Craig Allenbaugh, Sauced Pizza & Catering, Fairview Park, Ohio

2. Joey Streeter, The Nona Slice House, Safety Harbor, Fla.

3. Michael Athanasopoulos, The Lamb & The Wolf, Yuba City, Calif.

Freestyle Acrobatics Semifinals:

1. Wilhelm Rodriguez, Papa’s Pizza, PR 2. Kevin Knott, The Nona Slice House, Fla. 3. Travis Siebens, The Nona Slice House, Fla.

Largest Dough Stretch:

1. Wilhelm Rodriguez—25.45” 2. McKenna Carney—24.875” 3. Jerry Zampella, PJ’s Brick Oven Pizza, Springhill, Fla.—24.525

Fastest Pie Maker:

1. David Whisker, B.C. Pizza, Boyne City, Mich. —46.37 seconds 2. Joey Streeter, The Nona Slice House —63.09 seconds 3. Kevin Knott—63.32 seconds

Freestyle Acrobatics Finals champion: McKenna Carney

Largest Dough Stretch finalists (from left): Jerry Zampella (3rd), Wilhelm Rodriguez (1st), Hernandez and McKenna Carney (2nd)

Oven 1 finalists (from left): Wilhelm Rodriguez (3rd), Kevin Knott (2nd), and Jose Flores (1st) with USPT culinary coach Gino Rago; Oven 2 finalists: Joey Streeter (2nd), Craig Allenbaugh (1st), Michael Athanosopoulos (3rd) and Rago

Wilhelm Rodriguez, McKenna Carney and Brian Hernandez

DANA NIEMEIER PHOTOGRAPHY

DANA NIEMEIER PHOTOGRAPHY

DANA NIEMEIER PHOTOGRAPHY

SVEBA

The electric Sveba 932°F pizza oven bakes pies in seconds. The combination of highly efficient heating elements and the Italian Biscotto di Sorrento pizza stones deliver fast and even heat distribution in the stainless-steel, fully welded oven chamber. The ceramic glass door and robust design makes this oven one of the most energy-efficient and reliable high-temperature ovens on the market. Easy to use, it bakes pizzas to perfection.

SVEBA.COM

Watch the video at PMQ.com/sveba

CAPTAIN

Captain is a leading delivery management software for big chains and restaurants that captivates customers with a sleek, modern delivery service. From point-of-sale to order preparation, driver assignment and delivery, Captain’s cutting-edge technology empowers restaurants to manage, optimize and automate each stage of their delivery process, eliminate inefficiencies, and capture customers and profits. It’s an all-in-one solution.

CAPTAIN.AI

Watch the video at PMQ.com/captain

BUNN

Just two years ago, it was a shocking 1 in 4. Today, 8 in 10 food delivery workers admit to eating customers’ food, while 85% of customers say a tamper-proof system is needed. The Bunn Tying Machine could give you what your restaurant’s customers are asking for—tell them to look for the Bunn Knot! It’s been around for 100 years and is 100% cotton and environmentally safe! Ask yourself: Who’s your last taste tester?

800-222-2866, BUNNTYCO.COM

Watch the video at PMQ.com/bunn-tying-machine

bMOBILE ROUTE SOFTWARE

bMobile Route Software is a pioneer in the direct-storedelivery space that brings precision to your distribution process with cutting-edge solutions. Their range of solutions gives best-in-class control by connecting the dots in real time to optimize DSD operations and service customers more quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively. bMobile is particularly suited for the food and beverage space, and its consultants are industry experts.

BMOBILEROUTE.COM

Watch the video at PMQ.com/bmobile-route-software

Stan and Steve Cook (top left) have weathered ups and downs over 51 years, but they still love the pizza business. “It’s a lot of hard work,” Steve says, “but it keeps us out of trouble.”

COOK’S PIZZA

Two brothers barely out of high school tried their hand at the pizza business. In 2021, that teenage dream celebrated 50 years of success in small-town Indiana.

BY TRACY MORIN

Brothers Stan and Steve Cook were lucky to have an aunt and uncle in the food biz—they owned an ice cream manufacturing plant and a soda fountain sit-down restaurant where the boys learned the ropes throughout high school, washing dishes, manning the grill and running short wholesale routes. “It gave me the confidence to think, ‘Maybe we could do this,’” Stan recalls. “There was an ice cream delivery place in Wakarusa, the building we’re in now, and I saw how much business they were doing. One day, on a delivery, I said, ‘If you ever want to sell this, call me,’ and they called a week later.”

The teen brothers (Stan was 19; Steve, 17) started small in 1971, with their aunt and uncle contributing financial help and coolers for the 1,200-square-foot space where they remain today. After starting with ice cream, milkshakes and a soda fountain, plus a jukebox and video games, they added pizza a couple of years later. “We were raised in an Italian neighborhood in Elkhart, and it got in our blood—plus, we realized selling ice cream in February wasn’t going to work,” Stan says. “We didn’t have the money initially, but then we got an oven to experiment with recipes.”

Though Stan admits the first decade in business was a feeling-out process, Steve credits an early employee for getting people in the door. “The first lady we hired was 42 years old and knew everyone in town,”

he says. “So, when she ran the store in the daytime, people always came in to see her. She really drummed up business in the beginning.”

Today, Cook’s Pizza, with only seven tables, still thrives on carryout and delivery, as well as close community ties in a tight-knit small town 100 miles east of Chicago. Stan, now 70, notes that they’ve hired three generations of kids to learn the value of hard work at the pizzeria, and he still loves seeing youngsters walk over from the nearby middle school, clutching a few bucks to eat or drink before a local ball game. Steve adds that the pizzeria prioritizes supporting those efforts, such as youth basketball and football. “Our biggest problem now is handing off the baton to the next generation,” Stan says. “Our kids make more money and work less hours!”

For now, though, the brothers are still going strong at Cook’s, a true community touchstone. “It worked out much better than we could have expected,” Steve admits. “We had a lot of trial and error and a lot of sleepless nights. We still lived at home when we started, but we had to figure it out fast. And I’m still learning today!”

Tracy Morin is PMQ’s senior copy editor and the editor of PizzaVegan.com.

Has your pizzeria been in business for 50 years or longer? If so, contact

Brothers