Jeremy White
Editor-in-Chief
Pizza Today
jwhite@www.pizzatoday.com

How do you personally feel about third-party delivery? Pizzeria operators I speak to on the issue seem quite divided. It’s very much a “love it or hate it” scenario. I know shop owners who do not offer delivery and say the ancillary income they receive from third-party delivery is a blessing. I know others who believe they end up having their pizza served to new customers in less than optimal conditions. “My product doesn’t travel well, which is why we don’t deliver in the first place,” they say. “Our pizza needs to be consumed right away.”

Regardless of how you feel about it, though, one thing seems pretty certain: it’s here to stay. So the question really becomes, how do you work with it? Veteran pizzeria owner Mike Bausch has a very intriguing perspective. In talking about viewing his business from a customer’s perspective in order to better evaluate it, he brings up having a third-party service deliver your own restaurant’s food to you from time to time. You know, so that it’s a blind ticket and the kitchen has no idea it’s preparing food for the business owner.

It’s amazing what you might discover about your food products if you give that a go. It’ll also give you insight as to why so many consumers are using these services and how you might be able to better partner with them moving forward.

To those of you who despise third-party delivery, I can’t say that I do not see your frustrations. Believe me, I understand. But it is not going anywhere. Just like pineapple (also culled from Bausch … this time on pizza topping trends).

On another note, I’d like to offer a HUGE THANKS to everyone who put business and life on hold to spend a couple of days with us in Atlantic City for Pizza & Pasta Northeast. I hope you enjoyed the show as much as I did!

We definitely want to hear about your PPNE experience, as well as your insights into third-party delivery. Please put your thoughts in an e-mail to me at the address below my photo to the left of this page.

Best,

Jeremy White
Editor In Chief
JWHITE@PIZZATODAY.COM