The Resurgence of Pizza

After several years of sagging sales, pizza chains are registering growth once again.

April 30, 2015

TOLEDO, Ohio – Any way you slice it, pizza has scrambled out of its sales slump to post positive growth once again. The pie continues to be popular with Americans, and traditional pizza chains are proving they are still the best in the business, Nation’s Restaurant News reports. Publicly traded pizza chains posted average same-store sales growth of 6.4% and higher during the fourth quarter of 2014 —and that performance appears slated to accelerate in 2015. For example, Domino’s Pizza has had its best domestic sales numbers in 16 years with 14.5% sales growth during the first quarter of 2015.

Privately held chains also have been feeling the love. Hungry Howie’s same-store sales have soared 10% thus far in 2015, and Marco’s Pizza saw sales jump 41% in 2014. Pizza makers point to the food’s convenience and the ability to feed families and groups inexpensively. “Whether it’s family, friends or neighbors, we add to the value equation and have food everybody can share,” said Bryon Stephens, president and CEO of Toledo-based Marco’s.

Six years ago, some were writing off pizza as a has-been. Everyone had gotten into the pie game, with supermarkets and grocery stores selling pizza, as well as a plethora of pizza restaurants, from chains to mom-and-pop operations. During that time, pizza chains hunkered down to revise their businesses and revamped menus in an attempt to find the sweet spot in terms of value and convenience.

What’s helped immensely has been the industry’s embrace of technology. Papa John’s and Domino’s both receive at least half of all orders via digital channels — some of the first foodservice purveyors to capitalize on smartphone ordering. Even the smaller players find that online ordering is taking a bigger chunk of the pie. Marco’s Pizza receives about 17% to 20% of sales digitally. “The pizza category is one of the first to get on board and embrace the whole tech revolution,” said Stephens.

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