As the major pizzeria chains invest in online ordering systems and reap the benefits, independent pizzerias are falling behind and losing market share, according to the Wall Street Journal. Domino’s, Papa John’s and Pizza Hut now derive 40% or more of their sales from online ordering, the WSJ reports. Large pizza chains accounted for 52% of all quick-serve pizza orders in 2013, an increase from less than 47% in 2009. Meanwhile, independents have experienced a decrease from 31.5% to 29% in that same time period. Analysts attribute the big chains’ growing market share in part to online ordering, and Domino’s CEO Patrick Doyle agrees. “Most of the small and regional chains who still continue to sell the majority of pizza in the U.S. simply aren’t able to play on these technology platforms with the level of sophistication that we have,” Doyle told investors last month, the WSJ reports.
 

Read more at PMQ.com.

About one-quarter of all American males ages 6-19 will eat pizza today, according to a report issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). In fact, the report finds that, overall, 13% of all Americans over the age of two eat pizza on any given day. The report lends important insights into consumer eating patterns and the nutritional content of pizza.

Read more about the report at The Pizza Insider.

In this month’s Pizza 360, the pizza industry’s only online talk show, host Daniel Lee Perea interviews John Arena, co-owner of Metro Pizza and Lulu’s Bread & Breakfast in Las Vegas. One of the most innovative operators in the business, Arena discusses adding baked breads and other artisan items to create a moneymaking breakfast daypart, all while using standard pizza-making equipment. He also shares insights on pricing pizzas and creating a complete pizzeria experience for guests.

Watch the video at PizzaTV.com. 

Love it or hate it, Yelp is the go-to information source for many restaurant customers, and that probably includes your pizzeria. Just creating a Yelp profile and monitoring it once or twice a week can help combat negative reviews and boost your business.
 

Learn more at Slice of Life.

Little Italy Pizza Company in Sleaford, England, claims to offer the world’s spiciest pizza, so hot that one customer’s tongue reportedly began to bleed after four slices. The pie, called Death By Pizza, is marketed by owner James Broderick, who estimates the pizza measures about 12 million Scoville units (typically used to gauge chile pepper heat). As the L.A. Times reports, Broderick got the idea after learning that another pizzeria had created a 3.5 million Scoville-units pizza – he thought he could top that and turn it into a marketing advantage. The sauce is made with a secret mix of spices, dry chile, fresh chile, chile extract, Trinidad Moruga Scorpion chiles, Scotch Bonnet chiles, garlic and ginger. If a customer can finish the pizza within 30 minutes – with no more than a pint of liquid for a beverage – and then keep it down for 15 minutes, he receives a cash award and gets his picture on the pizzeria’s Wall of Flame. Every time someone tries and fails to finish the pie, Little Italy adds $4.14 to the pot.
 

Read more at PMQ.com.

Jamie Culliton of Grimaldi’s Pizza – which has more than 30 locations in the U.S. – won the Freestyle Acrobatics event at the U.S. Pizza Team Trials during the 2014 North American Pizza and Ice Cream Show (NAPICS) in Columbus, Ohio, recently. Grimaldi earned an all-expense-paid trip to compete with the U.S. Pizza Team in the World Pizza Championships in Italy in April. Other first-place winners in the trials included: Largest Dough Stretch, Bradley Johnson of Mellow Mushroom, Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Fastest Pie Maker and Fastest Box Folder, David Whisker, B.C. Pizza, Boyne City, Michigan.

Read more about the U.S. Pizza Team Trials.