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Yet somehow local pizza shops have been able to do it for decades. There would probably be more benefit in having small sets of delivery drivers for all deliv

Yet somehow local pizza shops have been able to do it for decades. There would probably be more benefit in having small sets of delivery drivers for all deliveries and all businesses in a small, square mile or 3, area; and probably something that isn’t trying to power a whole country’s purchasing habits.

jfim 6y ago
> Yet somehow local pizza shops have been able to do it for decades. Pizza is a really high margin business. From this article [0]: > Consider the ingredients – flour, yeast, water, sauce, cheese and toppings. None of these are expensive, particularly when purchased wholesale. To build a small cheese pizza the cheese is the most expensive ingredient at $0.60, with the dough adding about $0.24 and the sauce $0.05. That adds up to $0.89 for a basic cheese pizza that could be sold for many times that amount. [...] One estimate of the cost of a meat pizza with pepperoni and sausage is $1.90 for food costs and an average retail cost of $14.00, which translates to a 636 percent markup. [0] https://smallbusiness.chron.com/much-profit-margin-pizza-62139.html https://smallbusiness.chron.com/much-profit-margin-pizza-621...
- MattGaiser 6y ago
  You beat me to it. The economics of pizza are uniquely good. Spending 30% on the cost of delivery does not matter in that case.
- romanoderoma 6y ago
  It's crazy how much pizza costs in USA In Italy pizza costs a third of that
  - MattGaiser 6y ago
    You can get a whole pizza for $5?
    - wikibob 6y ago
      Yes 5 euros when ordered in person. On deliveroo, 7-9 euros for something that’s easily 3x higher quality and taste than in the US https://deliveroo.it/it/menu/firenze/bellosguardo/pizzeria-o-scugnizzo https://deliveroo.it/it/menu/firenze/bellosguardo/pizzeria-o... https://deliveroo.it/it/menu/firenze/bellosguardo/pizzeria-o-scugnizzo https://deliveroo.it/it/menu/firenze/bellosguardo/pizzeria-o...
      - MattGaiser 6y ago
        Those pizzas are a lot smaller than US pizzas judging by the knife and fork though.
        romanoderoma 6y ago
        Size does not matter You will find a great variety of pizza sizes, from the giants to the tiny, I for example prefer smaller pizzas, I don't like feeling bloated after eating a big one, but the price is always the same (more or less, you can pay 15 euros for a pizza in Italy, but it's not the norm ) If you refer to the fact that pizza is usually shared in US, we have a different kind of pizza for that, it's called pizza al taglio (sliced pizza, but it's not really the same thing) and you can have an entire pan for 12-18 euros, but at least 4-5 people can feed on it and you can have different toppings
    - calciphus 6y ago
      The US has chains like Little Cesar's, or even Domino's that sell single topping pizzas for $5.
    - romanoderoma 6y ago
      I can get a whole "not too bad for Italian standards" marinara for 3.5 euros and a very good margherita for 5-6. For traditional toppings like mushrooms, pepperoni, sausages or anchovies add something between 0.5 and 1.5 euros. That's for a take out or a delivery (it might sound strange but pizza being delivered costs a little bit less per sé, because it's considered of a lower quality, pizza should be eaten fresh from the oven, but add the delivery fee and the prices are more or less the same) If you sit at a restaurant, it's usually a couple euros more. And I'm talking about the prices I actually pay in Rome, in the city centre, I live at 5 minutes walking distance from the Colosseum.
  - dagw 6y ago
    I've been to Italy a lot, and while I'm sure the are places that charge 4 euros for a pizza (just as there are places that charge $5 for a pizza in the US), most restaurants I've been to charge at least 7-10 euros. Secondly, pizzas in the US tend to be larger than pizzas in Italy.
    - romanoderoma 6y ago
      As I've said "if you sit at a restaurant add a couple of euros" on average it's around 7-8 euros We were talking retail prices though. Also, we don't pay mandatory tips at the restaurant Pizza size is a function of cooking then uniformly, large pizzas are considered a bit tacky here (not judging anybody, just trying to explain why pizza in Italy is smaller, it's actually a feature)

jfim 6y ago

> Yet somehow local pizza shops have been able to do it for decades. Pizza is a really high margin business. From this article [0]: > Consider the ingredients – flour, yeast, water, sauce, cheese and toppings. None of these are expensive, particularly when purchased wholesale. To build a small cheese pizza the cheese is the most expensive ingredient at $0.60, with the dough adding about $0.24 and the sauce $0.05. That adds up to $0.89 for a basic cheese pizza that could be sold for many times that amount. [...] One estimate of the cost of a meat pizza with pepperoni and sausage is $1.90 for food costs and an average retail cost of $14.00, which translates to a 636 percent markup. [0] https://smallbusiness.chron.com/much-profit-margin-pizza-62139.html https://smallbusiness.chron.com/much-profit-margin-pizza-621...

MattGaiser 6y ago
You beat me to it. The economics of pizza are uniquely good. Spending 30% on the cost of delivery does not matter in that case.
romanoderoma 6y ago
It's crazy how much pizza costs in USA In Italy pizza costs a third of that
- MattGaiser 6y ago
  You can get a whole pizza for $5?
  - wikibob 6y ago
    Yes 5 euros when ordered in person. On deliveroo, 7-9 euros for something that’s easily 3x higher quality and taste than in the US https://deliveroo.it/it/menu/firenze/bellosguardo/pizzeria-o-scugnizzo https://deliveroo.it/it/menu/firenze/bellosguardo/pizzeria-o... https://deliveroo.it/it/menu/firenze/bellosguardo/pizzeria-o-scugnizzo https://deliveroo.it/it/menu/firenze/bellosguardo/pizzeria-o...
    - MattGaiser 6y ago
      Those pizzas are a lot smaller than US pizzas judging by the knife and fork though.
      - romanoderoma 6y ago
        Size does not matter You will find a great variety of pizza sizes, from the giants to the tiny, I for example prefer smaller pizzas, I don't like feeling bloated after eating a big one, but the price is always the same (more or less, you can pay 15 euros for a pizza in Italy, but it's not the norm ) If you refer to the fact that pizza is usually shared in US, we have a different kind of pizza for that, it's called pizza al taglio (sliced pizza, but it's not really the same thing) and you can have an entire pan for 12-18 euros, but at least 4-5 people can feed on it and you can have different toppings
  - calciphus 6y ago
    The US has chains like Little Cesar's, or even Domino's that sell single topping pizzas for $5.
  - romanoderoma 6y ago
    I can get a whole "not too bad for Italian standards" marinara for 3.5 euros and a very good margherita for 5-6. For traditional toppings like mushrooms, pepperoni, sausages or anchovies add something between 0.5 and 1.5 euros. That's for a take out or a delivery (it might sound strange but pizza being delivered costs a little bit less per sé, because it's considered of a lower quality, pizza should be eaten fresh from the oven, but add the delivery fee and the prices are more or less the same) If you sit at a restaurant, it's usually a couple euros more. And I'm talking about the prices I actually pay in Rome, in the city centre, I live at 5 minutes walking distance from the Colosseum.
- dagw 6y ago
  I've been to Italy a lot, and while I'm sure the are places that charge 4 euros for a pizza (just as there are places that charge $5 for a pizza in the US), most restaurants I've been to charge at least 7-10 euros. Secondly, pizzas in the US tend to be larger than pizzas in Italy.
  - romanoderoma 6y ago
    As I've said "if you sit at a restaurant add a couple of euros" on average it's around 7-8 euros We were talking retail prices though. Also, we don't pay mandatory tips at the restaurant Pizza size is a function of cooking then uniformly, large pizzas are considered a bit tacky here (not judging anybody, just trying to explain why pizza in Italy is smaller, it's actually a feature)