I honestly don't know the last time I had Pizza Hut, Dominos, or Papa Johns.
There are about 3 or 4 local Pizza shops close by me, and I just call them and stop by to pickup pizza when I want it. The last chain I've visited is... Little Caesars, but I don't even bother ordering from them because most of the time they have one "Hot and Ready" for me. So there's no need for me to order ahead.
Like, I got this one Indian / Italian fusion restaurant that gives me Chicken Tika Masala Pizza. And the other way, there's _ANOTHER_ Indian/Italian fusion Pizza restaurant that cooks every Pizza on Nan-bread. Why would I go to a boring ol' chain when there's crazy stuff like that nearby?
> “Pizza Pizza” … where are’t thou? Little Caesars really is that little compared to its giant rivals
Do... they even understand Little Caesar's business model and/or offering? There's literally no need to ever order ahead. Of course there's no "online sales" of Little Caesar.
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Oh right: and my work, when we do Pizza days, uses Costco Pizza. Based on my experience at Costco, I'd say that they're pretty busy.
Starting off the article so incredibly incorrect about the Pizza market / industry makes me less-likely to believe the rest of the article.
> Do... they even understand Little Caesar's business model and/or offering? There's literally no need to ever order ahead. Of course there's no "online sales" of Little Caesar.
Even this has changed, but in a way that still invalidates the author's analysis. They have an app now that lets you order ahead, and they'll put your pizzas in a heated locker that you can open with a QR code, just like an Amazon Locker. I swear I'm not a shill, but I love skipping the line while a dozen people are waiting. The app seems to be intentionally completely disconnected from the rest of the delivery app platform ecosystems.
It only took one DDG search to stumble on this industry report from 2020 that claims Little Caesar's is the 3rd biggest pizza chain based on total sales, which seems like a much better way for the author to make those claims than stitching together partial and biased datasets from various delivery app platforms: https://www.pmq.com/pizza-power-report-2020/
Absolutely, I'll admit to being a too-frequent customer of Little Caesars because I walk in, hand over cash, and get a pizza that is waiting
> Absolutely, I'll admit to being a too-frequent customer of Little Caesars because I walk in, hand over cash, and get a pizza that is waiting
And I feel terrible each time. Its not even... very good Pizza. But hot damn, its just ready and I'm in-and-out immediately.
I think my friends make a joke that Little Caesar's Pizza takes like... Pizza that's been sitting under a heat-lamp for an hour. Because... that's pretty much what you're getting most of the time.
They definitely hit that "impulse buy". Honestly, the only reason I even go there is because its next to the grocery store, and I don't feel like cooking after doing grocery shopping (ironically).
I mean, you can do this at 7-11 too. But I don't. Because it's 7-11. It's pizza that's been sitting under heat lamp for anyone's guess. Do I even need to go on about the whys?
People eat all sorts of things "because". Doesn't mean it's good let alone good for you. Making it fast and easy to eat garbage is the ultimate in the American way. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of shitty food fast and cheap. Just like the founding fathers envisioned not so long ago.
I am by all accounts a culinary elitist who has only been to Little Caesar’s once in their lifetime but even I think it’s several steps above the gas station special.
The latter is mostly toilet paper and cardboard while the former ostensibly has something resembling dairy cultures.
> Pizza that's been sitting under a heat-lamp for an hour.
That's another reason to use their app, if you order anything other than the standard ready pepperoni or cheese pizzas (like thin crust or even extra pepperoni), you'll almost always get a fresh baked one.
I’m not sure the claims are incorrect. I live in a great downtown with lots of unique local pizza places. But just 30 minutes in any direction are suburbs that have only chains. My situation is rare in terms of total pizza dollars spent.
> But just 30 minutes in any direction are suburbs that have only chains.
That would be weird if true. I've lived in many suburbs, and there were always quite a few smaller pizza restaurants. I live in a suburb now, and let me check Doordash... 39 places where I can get a pizza, not counting Dominos, Little Caesars, MOD pizza, Papa John's, or Pizza Hut (which are also options).
Interesting. The suburbs by me are thick with independent pizza restaurants. And small towns seem way more likely to have a mediocre independent pizza place than a chain. Unlike Subway or McDonald’s which do show up in pretty rural locations, I’ve never seen a Pizza Hut in a town of 500 people.
But the data is apparently about Online pizza sales, so the independents, who you just call on the phone, wouldn’t be included no matter what.
> But just 30 minutes in any direction are suburbs that have only chains.
The article isn't anti-chain. Just anti-major chains.
As for suburbs, my suburb is full of pizza stores that are not Papa John's, Dominos or Pizza Hut. The majority are something else - either local or smaller chain.
Little Caesars does online delivery and pickup ordering, so whether or not that’s their core business model it’s an offering. A bigger issue is that the data is from Feb 2020. You might not be able to find a time in history where people ordered more pizza deliveries from apps. (Edit disregard feb comment - lost track of Covid time)
I live in a Scandinavian country. The pizza market is still to a major part small scale / family businesses and not chains. Locally owned, similar but unique in character. The burger market has more chains, but the oligopoly trends are much more visible in stores. I don't know why no pizza chain has got a stronghold. Pizza Hut exist, but I would guess it has less than 5 - 10 percent total market share. I don't think any particular chain has much more than that. But someone may prove me wrong.
Even in America the pizza chain restaurants really don’t have that much dominance. There are half a dozen mom and pop pizza parlors in every town and most of them serve a significantly better product than any of the chains. The chains are cheap though.
I was thinking the same thing. Happen to be in the Italian neighborhood of a major PNW city? There is better pizza within walking distance to me than I've had anywhere else.
> From the crust, to the toppings and sauces, independents dominate the market with a 56% share, serving their own takes on the classic pie. The large chains, despite their ability to offer multiple styles, multiple price points and delivery are only in second place with a 30.5% market share.
Yeah, that's what I thought. USA's pizza market is DOMINATED by smaller independent shops.
There are about 3 or 4 local Pizza shops close by me, and I just call them and stop by to pickup pizza when I want it. The last chain I've visited is... Little Caesars, but I don't even bother ordering from them because most of the time they have one "Hot and Ready" for me. So there's no need for me to order ahead.
Like, I got this one Indian / Italian fusion restaurant that gives me Chicken Tika Masala Pizza. And the other way, there's _ANOTHER_ Indian/Italian fusion Pizza restaurant that cooks every Pizza on Nan-bread. Why would I go to a boring ol' chain when there's crazy stuff like that nearby?
> “Pizza Pizza” … where are’t thou? Little Caesars really is that little compared to its giant rivals
Do... they even understand Little Caesar's business model and/or offering? There's literally no need to ever order ahead. Of course there's no "online sales" of Little Caesar.
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Oh right: and my work, when we do Pizza days, uses Costco Pizza. Based on my experience at Costco, I'd say that they're pretty busy.
Starting off the article so incredibly incorrect about the Pizza market / industry makes me less-likely to believe the rest of the article.