THE days of big slices coming off pizza prices are gone as fast-food chains absorb rising input costs.

But the pizza companies have other ways to hit your wallet and waistline this year.

Australian fast-food chains including Domino’s Pizza and Eagle Boys are promoting quality, menu variety and value-for-money offerings to tempt customers as family budgets tighten.

They’re being held back from savage pizza price discounting wars because they’re negotiating a massive rise in prices of key ingredients including wheat – its price has more than doubled in a year – and cheese and meat for toppings.

Food industry experts say that because Australia’s economy needs to slow to avert inflationary pressures, this probably will mean slowing growth for the fast-food chains.

But they should weather the storm OK because consumers might opt for fast food instead of trips to more expensive restaurants.

The challenge is to keep traffic high using value-based promotions, luring customers with menu variety and pushing more profitable menu items such as desserts.

Brisbane-based Domino’s put strategies in place late last year to protect its profits from a rise in local commodity prices.

It’s lifting its proportion of franchises, expanding online ordering and has split its menu.

It offers standard, cheaper pizzas and has a more expensive range with extra and higher quality toppings.

It also has introduced desserts.

“We knew last year commodity prices were going to be strong,” Domino’s chief executive Don Meij says.

“People thought we’d just lift our prices. Instead we decided to offer better quality.

“You can still buy a standard pizza for the same price or you can pay more for better quality.”

Eagle Boys, also Brisbane-based, is highlighting the size and quality of its pizzas. It said it constantly was investigating new menu items to complement its traditional offerings.

The new products had all launched with great success, providing a wider variety of options for customers.

Focus groups had confirmed that, although product innovation in pizzas was important, “quality holds far greater importance and is definitely more top of mind for consumers”.

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Sam Costello knew the pizza he made at Gracie See’s Pizzeria in Inkster was the best around, and now, he can prove it.

Costello, who along with his father, Tom, traveled to Las Vegas to compete in the International Pizza Expo last week, took away top honors for the North American continent, finishing second only to the country of Italy for the international portion of the showdown.
Gracie’s owners hope that the new designation will bring pizza lovers into the Michigan Avenue location.

“We’re proud of the award, there’s no doubt about it,” said Sam Costello from his restaurant last week.

“We’ve been doing this for many, many years – we use all fresh ingredients, and that sets us apart from other pizzas you would get at other places,” he added.

The pizzeria opened in Inkster about three years ago, but has been a fixture in Detroit since it first opened in 1968. Like the Detroit location, the Inkster eatery boasts a healthy dose of Italian authenticity, from the posters of Italian-American actors and celebrities like Al Pacino and Frank Sinatra, to the kitschy T-shirts that read, “I Whacked the Godfather” that are on display, or for sale.

The atmosphere and the history are part of what led the pizzeria to victory last week in Las Vegas, Sam Costello said.

“We put a lot of work into what we do,” he said.

This year, 70 pizzerias took part in the competition. The businesses were broken down by group – Gracie’s took the first-place sport for the Mid-Americas classification. On the second day of the competition, the winners of each sub-group went head-to-head by making a meat lover’s special. An Italian pie came out on top, but Sam Costello said that not surprising.

Costello took home a $2,500 prize, but the win isn’t necessarily about the money, he said.

“Every business that has done well in this competition has seen a boom in their business,” he said. “This is more about the exposure than it is about the prize.”

There will be quite a bit of exposure. In several months, the competition will be highlighted on the Food Network, which means the business will receive a plug in thousands of local households that subscribe to basic cable.

Costello hopes the exposure will bring new customers to both locations, though he said business is moving along nicely in both Detroit and Inkster.

“In Inkster, we do mostly carry-out business instead of sit-down business, and it’s pretty much the opposite in Detroit,” he said.

John Ambiuzzino, a longtime customer, said he often stops at Gracie’s for the pizza.

“It’s the best around,” he said. “I can see why they won the award.”

Though the award is a shot in the arm for the business, Costello said his immediate plans for the Inkster business is to keep doing what they’ve been at for more than 40 years – making pizza that is cooked with the not-so-secret ingredient of Italian pride.

“The best thing about our pizza is that we enjoy making it,” Costello said.

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For $7, students will be able to stuff themselves full of pizza from 1 to 4 p.m. Friday during the second-annual pizza-tasting competition put on by the student group Pizza Mania.

Pizza Mania was started by four business students last year, said junior Elisabeth Millar, Pizza Mania’s marketing manager. The competition will feature pizzas from 12 area pizzerias that students will be able to taste and vote on.

“The 12 pizzerias have donated over 300 pizzas and 1,000 breadsticks,” Millar said.

The proceeds from the competition will go toward the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, which helps veterans and families with injured military personnel, she said.

The event raised $3,000 last year, Millar said. Proceeds went to the Salvation Army and a Kelley School of Business staff member who had more than $100,000 to pay in hospital bills for her infant daughter, according to an April 16, 2007, Indiana Daily Student article about the event.

The pizzerias will have booths set up around Dunn Meadow, and three live bands will be featured this year, Millar said. A raffle will also provide an opportunity for students to win items from local businesses. After they get their fill, students will be able to choose the pizzerias with the “best cheese,” “best specialty” and “best pepperoni,” among other categories, Millar said.

Students also have the opportunity to purchase a ticket for a lower price before the event, Millar said. Tickets can be purchased for $5 today at a Pizza Mania booth set up in front of Ballantine Hall.

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PITTSBURGH, April 15  /PRNewswire/ — Vocelli Pizza announces the opening of a new store in Lorton, Virginia.  The Grand Opening will be held on Wednesday, April 16, 2008 at 4:00 PM.  To celebrate the event, Vocelli Pizza is giving away a Grande Pepperoni pizza to the first 100 customers at the store along with certificates for “Pizza for a Year.”  Each of the first 100 will receive one free pizza per month for the next twelve months.

The newest Vocelli Pizza store is located in the Shops of Lorton Valley in the Cross Point community, 8921 Ox Road.  Vocelli Pizza offers convenient home delivery and take-out service seven days a week.

“We have  been well received in Virginia,” said Jim Powers, Vocelli Pizza’s Director of Marketing.  “We have  expanded to over 40 stores in the market because there’s a strong demand for a quality pizza, an expanded menu, and authentic Italian quality that’s delivered.”  In addition to traditional pizzas, Vocelli Pizza offers gourmet pizzas, gourmet panini, insalatas, stromboli, breadsticks, bruschetta, wings and even cannolis for dessert.

Vocelli Pizza is a growing national chain with 140 east coast stores; 33 in Virginia. Franchisees are attracted by quality products and low start-up costs.

Vocelli Pizza is headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA and has been in operation since 1988.  The company offers area development packages to qualified franchisees.

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Atlanta, GA (PRWeb via PRWeb) April 15, 2008 — Three weeks ago the Best Pizza Box was revealed to an
Internet audience through a unique, innovative and successful website and product launch. As many have found
out since that time, the most convenient take out and home delivered food, pizza, can now be that much more
convenient. “Convenience is what ordering a pizza is all about. When you order a pizza, it’s convenient. But,
when you have to deal with the packaging … it becomes difficult. Now all you have to do with the Best Pizza Box
is pull the cord and decide whether you want to throw away the whole box or use half of it for storage in your
refrigerator. We’ve taken what was the only inconvenient aspect of having pizza for a meal … and made it far
more convenient for the consumer,” said Bill Volz, President of Windshield Marketing and co-inventor of the
Best Pizza Box.

The Best Pizza Box is a patent-pending unique pizza box that splits in half to form two small boxes. With a
simple pull of a rip cord, a large pizza box is converted to one half its original size. Now consumers have a place
to temporarily store their left over pizza in the refrigerator or easily dispose of both pieces in their kitchen trash
can.

“Through a series of comedic commercials and instructional video shorts actually showing the box in action, as
well as web articles and web 2.0 interactions … consumers have come to know this particular box as the answer to
the pizza box disposal dilemma,” said Jim Harris, President, Picture This Communications. “We’ve been
extremely pleased with the results of the program — we’re all excited that ‘Best Pizza Box’ can be found on the
first page of major search engines in just a few short weeks, most featuring our commercial and video shorts,”
said Harris.

This week, the Best Pizza Box team launches its latest video “Curse of the Pizza Box”, which can be found on
bestpizzabox.com, as well as on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaEyqT7qoS8.
The Best Pizza Box and its marketing program also caught the eye of Podcaster News. Last week, Ken Rayment
of Better Process Podcasts spoke with Jim Harris about the Best Pizza Box marketing campaign. Listen to the
podcast at www.podcasternews.com/bpp/5023.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. “The success of our introduction has been tremendous. We knew we had a
great product, but we were amazed as to the amount of interaction and feedback we received from the Internet
population,” said best pizza box co-inventor, Bill Volz. “We knew when we launched the box that whoever
secures its rights, would significantly impact their market dynamics. Since launch, we’ve been approached by
national pizza chains, box manufacturers, distributors, ad agencies and venture capitalists … and that’s aside from
all of the feedback and inquiries we’ve been receiving from those who are participating in the $100,000
Challenge. Given the volume of interested parties — we’re announcing the deadline in which organizations should
contact us,” said Volz.

The Best Pizza Box co-inventor Bill Volz announced that they will continue to take inquiries from interested
parties through May 31 of this year, after which they will close down the program to advance discussions with
candidates.

Based on research, this innovative pizza box would offer tremendous value and brand loyalty to Independent
Pizza Restaurants, and companies such as Domino’s, Little Caesar’s, Papa John’s and Pizza Hut — especially when
tied to other promotions. “It is our intention to ink a deal with an interested party by late summer — in time for the
fall promotional season,” said Volz.

About Picture This Communications

Picture This Communications, founded in 1997, is a provider of strategic interactive services. Picture This
Communications’ core services include interactive marketing strategy, interactive games, trade show kiosk
applications, and custom internet applications — including membersandevents.com — for online membership and
event management. For more information about Picture This visit picturethis.org.

About Windshield Marketing

Windshield Marketing, founded in 2006 is an upstart marketing firm in the business of identifying significant
consumer needs and creating patented solutions to facilitate significant share growth. For more information visit
www.bestpizzabox.com
 

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Even though there are some evidences of early versions of the pizza which date back to more than 400 years ago, the classical pizza margherita, topped with tomatoes, mozzarella and basils, whose colours intentionally remind you of the Italian flag, made its modern appearance in the late 19th century. Raffaele Esposito, who was known to be the best pizzaiolo in Naples, native land of pizza, baked it in honor of Regina Margherita, the Italian sovereign on the occasion of her visit to the city.

The pizza soon went abroad, first to the States through the Italian emigrants in New York who continued to make it the traditional way their countrymen in Naples did. The eastern migration of the pizza is more recent. It dates back to the fall of the Berlin Wall, when it spread to Russia, Poland, Hungary, and then the Middle East, Japan, China and India. Now, it is hard to find a country where the pizza is not available.

Needless to say, pizza has influenced Mumbai deeply. It is offered by countless restaurants, all kinds of restaurants. Some of them are very good, others are not. Some attempt to offer Italian traditional pizza, a few succeed, most do not. Some bet on modifying the traditional recipe in order to approach the local tastes, but also in order to give personality to the food they serve. I must say some of them definitely win the gamble.

I am mad about pizza. When I moved to Mumbai I thought I’d miss it. In fact, making a good Italian pizza is not a joke. Giovanni Federico Autunno told me, when I met him at his famous Ristorante Don Giovanni in Juhu, known to be one of the best Italian restaurants in Mumbai, only the best ingredients can make a difference. “Take the right combination of flours to get the best dough, fresh tomatoes, good quality mozzarella and the work will be done.” Then add a big pinch of the secret ingredient, a mix of passion and fantasy, and your pizza will make your mouth water. Crispy outside and very soft inside, elastic and resistant, neither too thick nor too thin, neither moist nor dry, neither raw nor overcooked.

As strange as this may sound, the pizza has become so popular, such a huge cultural force, not because it is tasty. Nor is it popular because it is a healthy food. (Yes, it is healthy in its traditional form, the very symbol of the Mediterranean diet, favourably viewed by nutritionists because it is easy to digest and it is able to substitute a full meal with carbohydrates from the dough, proteins from the cheese and vitamins from tomatoes.)

The reason behind the consecration of pizza is to be found in its very nature, in its two main characteristics. First of all, the pizza is a customisable food, perhaps the most customisable one. The best part of going out for a pizza is in choosing the toppings. And it is not necessary to cross the Italian border to experience bizarre kinds of pizza: Nutella pizzas or French fries pizzas have nothing to do with the traditional Neapolitan pizza, but they are still quite common there too. The pizza offers a lot of room for experimentation. And it is absolutely not to detriment of the Italian pride as some purists could argue. So welcome to all the kinds of topping. Chicken for instance, which is unthinkable in the traditional recipe. The Bombay Masala pizza that I had at The Pizzeria on Marine Drive was, I think, a work of genius.

The other reason why the pizza is so popular is even more important—it is a socialising food. In many homes and restaurants, all over the world, the pizza somehow is the life of the party. In the memories of many Fridays and Saturdays, there’s a pizza in the background. Dialing one of the few telephone numbers I know by-heart in Milan to call my favourite pizzeria, Fratelli Mistretta, ordering some pizzas and beer, having them with friends, that is what I thought I would have missed when I came to Mumbai. Now I realise that the pizza experience is the same all around the world. From Naples to Milan to Mumbai, from New York to Beijing. The delivery boys are different though.

By Brigida Viggiano

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HAGERSTOWN, MD - Rocky’s Pizza has been voted number one in Hagerstown for their famous pies, but now they are known for another reason; professional wrestling.

When you see the father-son tag team, they are usually tossing pizzas. However, they tossed their opponents around a wrestling ring.

“I was really nervous about it. I was facing a guy who is 6′5″ and an ex-WWE guy, so I wasn’t taking him very lightly, that is for sure. I was very nervous, but I was very prepared,” said Vinnie Schiano, Di Cola, Owner of Rocky’s Pizza.

Vinnie and his son, Cocky Rocky, took on the hated team of Corporal Punishment and Gusten Uberstud. Now, Cocky Rocky is no new name in the ring. But, his father has only been training for the past two months.

“I was really thinking about protecting my father at all costs,” said Cocky Rocky Dicola, NWL Wrestler.

It was his fatherly instincts that got Vinnie in the ring and the support of the crowd that kept him going.
 
“It was so exciting to hear my family yelling because it gave me more power and more strength to go on with it. I was scared at first when I got in there, but then I just heard the fans going off and I said to myself, ‘I know I can do this,’” said Schiano Di Cola.

“When we won the match, the last thing I said to my dad was, ‘I love you man, thank you.’ It really meant a lot to me to share that with my father. A lot of people I know would love to do it, but I’m glad to say I got to do it,” said Di Cola.

Having the father-son duo step into the ring is part of what the wrestling organization is all about. Not only do they entertain their audience, but it’s good family fun at the same time.

“We keep it as clean; good versus evil without all the dirty things and the bad words and the gestures that you will see at a lot of these other places,” said John Rambo, NWL Instructor.

The winners couldn’t let their opponents go home empty-handed. Fans got to smear some of the famous Rocky’s Pizza in the losers’ faces. After the win, Vinnie said he plans on continuing his training as a professional wrestler.

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Where innovation meets traditional cuisine, many might frown at the idea of tampering with a classic dish.

For example, let us take pizza. There is Chicago-style, St. Louis-style and New York-style, but they all consist of red sauce, dough and pretty much every hearty meat, cheese and veggie combo known to man. There are thin, deep-dish and hand-tossed crusts in either white or wheat dough.

The question is, “Is there such thing as a perfect pizza?” Simply put, yes. It is found at Dewey’s Pizza.

Founded on April 11, 1998 in Cincinnati, Ohio, President/Chief Executine Officer and Founder Andrew E. DeWitt has made a name for himself in the pizza industry in Ohio, Northern Kentucky and in St. Louis.

With three locations in the St. Louis area, one in Kirkwood, one in Ellisville and one in Univercity City, Dewey’s has become a delightful treat for a Saturday night.

Upon entering the restaurant, one sees there is a long wall separating the dining area from the waiting area. There were at least 15 people in line but having only a party of two allowed for quick entrance to sit at the bar.

Seats at the bar, as well as the seats for waiting guests, allow for a peek into the kitchen, where the room full of guys who will throw flour at the windows or throw the dough into the air to amuse the kids.

Upon being seated, the waitress came to take drink orders. After drinks were ordered, perusing the menu became more of a job than an easy decision.

Not only are there specialty pizzas like Socrates’ Revenge and Edgar Allan Poe that have an olive oil base, and the Green Lantern and Bronx Bomber that have a traditional red sauce base, but diners can create-a-pizza.

First, choose either a Dewey’s Original, which has a red sauce base or choose a Dewey’s White Pizza which has an olive oil and minced garlic base. Then choose a size: 11, 13 or 17 inches. Then top off your pizza with anything from bacon to jalapeño peppers in the regular items.

Want to add a little fancy to your feast? Choose from gourmet toppings like prosciutto or goat cheese.

An 11-inch Dewey’s White pizza with bacon and goat cheese might sound disgusting to some but it is a surprising delight. The crust appears to be almost slightly undercooked but when you bite into it, it is light and fluffy but with the needed crunch.

The toppings worked perfectly together, with one not overpowering the other. The bacon was thinly sliced and crisp and the softness of the cheese blended for a perfect dining texture.

There is nothing that goes better with pizza than a nice salad and the Caesar salad is not one to disappoint. With a very light Caesar taste and a very subtle hint of anchovy, this salad is the perfect way to start off any meal.

Do not throw away the croutons, though, because they are the best part. With a good crunch and good garlic-y flavor, these are sure to please everyone in your party.

By: Angie Spencer - The Current

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