By Charlie Pogacar
Is the pizza segment set up for a big 2026? It depends who you ask. The Wall Street Journal is trying to convince everyone “pizza has peaked.” It’s worth noting that the Wall Street Journal story focuses mostly on pizza chains. In that way, it does contradict our own Pizza Power Report, which declared chains may be in trouble—which would put independent pizzerias in the “catbird’s seat.”
This tension colored our recent webinar diving into the 2026 Pizza Power Report. Recorded Tuesday—you can watch it on demand—it featured PMQ Pizza’s-editor in-chief, Rick Hynum, Ilir Sela of Slice and Huy Do of Datassential. The three speakers brought different perspectives to the table and explored the idea that while pizza has never been more popular, there’s also never been more competition.
But competition, Sela posited, is not what kills most independent pizzerias. In his mind, closures are often “self-inflicted wounds.” Operators get distracted, chase a shiny fix or let standards slide.
WATCH ON DEMAND NOW: Are Pizza Chains Running Out of Steam? Reviewing The 2026 Pizza Power Report
He said he’s seeing plenty of shops trying to jump “from 0-to-100 overnight,” hoping a viral moment, a splashy social campaign or a visiting influencer will change the shop’s trajectory. And sometimes those things really can help drive sales. More often, however, they become a detour from what actually builds a durable business: consistent product, consistent service and the kind of day-to-day discipline customers can feel.
“Inconsistency is the death of any business,” Sela said during the webinar. “If you order from a shop and the product is one way tonight, and then you order next week and it’s a totally different way and now you don’t even know what you’re going to get anymore—that consumer will stop ordering from that location.”
A recurring theme of the webinar was expectation management—an underrated lever that separates “busy” shops from “healthy” ones. Sela offered a simple example from Slice’s data: tell a customer 30 minutes and deliver in 40, and they’ll be annoyed. Tell them 45 and deliver in 40, and they’ll be pleased. Nothing changed except trust. (Notably, this notion that customers want realistic expectations more than they want a speedy delivery is reinforced by the recent 2026 PMQ Pizza DELCO Report).
The idea that operational consistency should be paramount snapped into a focus through a mantra, shared by Rick Hynum, that was coined by Master Pizza CEO Michael LaMarca: “Win every order.” Hynum explained it as a mindset that treats each transaction as a referendum on whether the customer comes back. It’s the little things that feel big to the consumer: making sure online ordering isn’t confusing, that food arrives hot, that the pickup handoff feels organized and that teams don’t try to reinvent the process every Friday night. In short, customers want clear and concise purchase paths and transactions. Does your shop offer those things consistently?
Even when the conversation turned to pricing and the value wars, the panel resisted easy answers. Chains can discount aggressively in ways independents can’t. Do suggested independents think in terms of perceived value rather than trying to mimic a $5 deal. Sela warned against letting pricing drift away from quality, especially when fees start stacking up and customers feel nickel-and-dimed.
If there was a throughline, it was this: The independents who win in 2026 won’t be the ones searching for a secret weapon. They’ll be the ones who build trust on purpose—and keep it.
WATCH ON DEMAND NOW: Are Pizza Chains Running Out of Steam? Reviewing The 2026 Pizza Power Report
