It’s time for a price hike. Inflation is free-flowing and rampant, and the cost of everything you touch is increasing. From a grocery store chicken breast for your summer grill to a tube of toothpaste to gasoline — and everything in between — consumers are feeling a pinch. 

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

You can’t survive on $10 pizza sales. I repeat … YOU.CAN.NOT.SURVIVE if a $10 pie is still your calling card. That ship sailed well over a decade ago, yet here we are.

I get it. Your customers are being squeezed everywhere they turn. You don’t want to give them a reason to say you’re too expensive. 

What about your costs? Has your landlord lowered your rent out of the goodness of her heart? Has your Internet supplier called and said: “We love you so much that we’re gonna charge you less than everyone else on the planet just because”?

What are you paying for proteins? Labor? Your staffing levels back to par? How’s delivery insurance treating you? What about health insurance? You throwing extra handfuls of cheese on every pizza that goes out the door because prices are so low?

Your customers understand. They buy gas for their cars, clothing for their kids and $7 concession stand nachos at their grandkids’
soccer games.

And, right now, they expect it. You know the drill: some won’t even notice you’re charging $2.75 for a fountain soda. Some won’t care your 14-inch pepperoni pie is $1 more than it was last month. And others will complain. But they’ll be in the small minority, and they’ll understand before they even send that “you’re ripping me off!” message.

If you haven’t evaluated your costs and priced your menu accordingly for a while now, you’ve done your business a disservice. But you’ve gotten away with it, so good for you. But you’re now at the point where you can’t afford to avoid raising prices. To put it as lovingly as I can to my pizza crew — get your a$$ in gear now or get it handed to you.

Jeremy White
Editor In Chief
jwhite@pizzatoday.com