State of the Industry Reports Show Pizza is the Ultimate Crowd Pleaser

Pizza Today’s annual State of The Pizzeria Industry Report provides a comprehensive analysis of the pizza market, and just when the LloydPans innovation team thought our mouths couldn’t water any more, the numbers don’t lie. Pizza is king in the United States.

Pizza Today surveyed 750 pizzeria owners from all 50 states, and found that the market is predicted to reach an astounding $42.2 billion by 2025.

• Other slices of note: Pizza sale increases are attributed to the growing popularity of plant-based toppings, pizzeria owners keeping up with the trends and styles and the increasing number of consumers opting for pizza as a convenient meal option.
• Technology, such as online ordering, delivery systems, kitchen automation and point-of-sale systems were also noted as trends that will accelerate.
• 42% of consumers prefer online ordering systems; 38% want curbside pickup availability; 23% want to order pizza from their Smart TVs.
• New York style was named most popular. Second place went to Chicago thin.
• 2023 and beyond should see a rise in Detroit, Deep Dish and Sicilian.
• 65% of consumers say their pizza consumption will remain the same in 2023; 18% say it will increase slightly.
• 31% of consumers want organic ingredients; 22% want restaurants to offer plant-based items.

Slice of the Union also conducted an analysis of pizza’s choices in the past year, and some fun data came out of this particular oven:

• Football was the most popular pizza pairing with game day orders, followed by basketball.
• If your pizza orders were hot during the People’s Choice Awards, you weren’t alone. This awards show got 21% more orders than its closest competitor: The Tony Awards.
• Pizza brings people together. 19.7% of orders were for two or more pies.
• Indie pizzerias get a lot of love. The average customer rating for Slice of the Union pizzerias was 4.77 stars.
• Surprisingly, mushrooms edged out pepperoni as the topping of the year. The ‘shroom was on 8.9% more pizzas. The past year also saw ranch dressing on the rise with 9.7% more orders. Pennsylvania had the most ranch requests.
• If your pizzeria is in California, you may have noticed more pineapple requests than any other state, while New Jersey saw an uptick of arugula and truffle oil orders.

What’s next? We agree with Slice: 2023 will see more pickle pizzas and more Sicilian- and Roman-style pizza orders in the next year.

Will you be at The International Pizza Expo & Conference in March? Say hello to the LloydPans team at Booth 2351 and chat with us about why you love pizza.