Pizza No Longer the Go-To Option for Hungry Consumers

Grocery stores and other retailers offer fresh and frozen choices to dining out.

April 13, 2011

CHICAGO - Is America??s love affair with pizza waning? With several pizza chains filing for bankruptcy protection recently ?" Sbarro Inc. and Round Table Pizza Inc. ?" it seems that pizza might not be the steadfast dining out option it once was, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Pizza chains have not escaped being hit by the recession, as high ingredient costs and increased competition from nontraditional retailers, such as supermarket and convenience stores offering take-and-bake pizzas or freshly made pies.

However, Jeremy White, editor of Pizza Today, cautions reading too much into the fall of such big name pizza chains as indicative of a bigger trend. "They're unique on a case-by-case basis," he said. "There's not really a common thread among them."

Pizzerias that are finding success are turning to wood- or coal-fired ovens to make artisan pies with local or organic ingredients. Also, the places where customers can buy pizza has increased, said Dennis Lombardi, WD Partners executive vice president of food-service strategies.

"The pizza segment is made more challenging for traditional restaurants by close substitutions," said Lombardi. "It's not so much that people are fleeing pizza as a meal option. ??Their number of eatings is being spread over a growing array of different channels."

Steep price discounts and couponing by Domino??s Pizza, Papa John??s and Pizza Hut also impact other pizza chains.

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