People Are Ordering Smaller Pizzas and Fewer Toppings. What Does That Tell Us?

[dalton99a]

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/01/business/consumers-pizza-sales.html

https://archive.ph/bxOqm

People Are Ordering Smaller Pizzas and Fewer Toppings. What Does That Tell Us?
Sales are softening at big chains and independent shops aren’t selling as many extras. Competition, diet trends and consumer anxiety may all be playing a part.
By Julie Creswell
Dec. 1, 2025

For much of this year, business at Prima Pizza Kitchen in Somerville, N.J., was booming.

On most Fridays, as many as 325 pizzas would fly out its doors, with customers frequently adding drinks and side orders. But in recent weeks, orders began to change, the owner, Jerry Carollo, said.

“Before, a customer would get two pies, wings, garlic knots and soda, all of the extras,” Mr. Carollo said. “Now, they’re just doing the pizzas.”

To varying degrees, those sentiments are being echoed across the country by large pizza chains and small independent restaurants. Pizza, with its gooey cheese, sometimes topped with crisp, glistening rounds of pepperoni or bright strips of green peppers, has long played a quintessential role in American households. It is a comfort food for uncomfortable times that traditionally could feed an entire family relatively inexpensively.

...

[Johonny]

1. That Trump is solving pedophilia

Or have I misunderstood Pizzagate?

[markodochartaigh]

2. If it's just in recent weeks maybe it's the holidays

when there are so many other treats to eat.

But this article seems like the NYT is trying, again, to find any other reason for a downturn except "consumers are taking a hit from inflation and unemployment worries". Maybe NYT editors should be replaced by AI if they can't do better.

[Emile]

3. Maybe they're doctoring them up at home

to save money.

[Linda ladeewolf]

11. I actually prefer this. I buy a cauliflower crust pizza for myself

A regular thin crust for the DH, then throw on the extra cheese and pepperoni or whatever myself. It’s cheaper and tastes better. There is no way we can eat it all, so we got leftovers the next day. Two days of not having to cook. Fewer dishes, I’m all for it. I think I’ve been cooking and doing dishes for more than 50 years. A day off is welcome.

[Polly Hennessey]

4. Getting tired of 🍕 pizza and heartburn ❤️‍🔥

[GreatGazoo]

5. Money is tight

But two other changes could be factors as well. People who order pizzas from major chains are paying about 500% of what that pie would cost to make at home. So they are somewhere in the middle economically.

Ozempic is having wide spread impact on America's appetite. Saw several articles recently about 'Ozempic Ruined Thanksgiving.' People who can afford Ozempic can afford California Pizza Kitchen so there is likely overlap.

Gen Z is so economically stressed that they cannot afford to get sick, cannot afford longterm health problems. Alcohol sales are down. Junk food sales are sliding. Cutting against the health trends, nicotine and caffeine are common Gen Z addictions. Notably, both suppress appetite.

[SYFROYH]

6. GLP-1 working

Once my Monjauro started to work, I ordered less food and felt full.

[tinrobot]

10. That was my thought as well.

I can't eat more than a slice or two anymore, and that's a good thing.

GLP-1s are an existential threat to junk food companies.

[flvegan]

7. FTA, avg plain pizza is $17.

I make pizza here at casa flvegan often enough to know it's waaaaayyyyy cheaper to make it at home. No mandatory/suggested tip of 20% either.

And the "fuck you" method of ordering online. To check prices I went to Papa John's website, because people still eat that shit. Before I could even see what something cost, I had to enter my address, email and phone number, and start an actual order in an online cart (date, time of delivery/pickup, etc). I realize that prices differ across the country, but I should be able to see a menu (with prices) based on a zip code. And fuck you (and everyone else) demanding an email for every single thing. Cuz what I really want is 100 more weekly emails to go with my $17 pie and 20% "suggested" gratuity.

Prices are up (rockets and feathers, people) and wages are stagnant. The added mandatory gratuity grift is off the charts.

I'll make my own pies, thanks.

[Torchlight]

8. We took our monthly pizza pie order off the budget this past summer when prices

were going north too fast for us. I admit it... I really (really) do like a particular delivery pizza nearby and have a difficult time finding the perfect sub when the 'feeling' hits me. I'm the first to say I'm not Food Evolved, and enjoy the same chum others chide (boring world if we all liked the same things), but in the here and now, even chum has gotten expensive.

[maxsolomon]

9. Good pizza has gotten expensive.

And there's growing awareness that carbs aren't great in excess.

I love a good pizza tho...

[Wicked Blue]

12. The Orange Traitor's misadministration made me lose my appetite

[twodogsbarking]

13. Pi R squared. The edge crust is only crust. How much ya gettin'? Toppings are $$

[DFW]

14. When we order pizza

My wife and I each order a medium-sized (probably small in the USA) pizza with extra garlic, mushrooms and artichoke hearts.

If we pick it up (about a 5 minute drive), it's about €10.50 each.

[Probatim]

15. Once I learned to make pizza at home, we stopped ordering out.

I bought a Baking Steel, 12 quart Cambro for the bulk ferment, and a 5-pack of single serve storage containers for the cold ferment - those set me back about $180.

Making a pizza is dirt cheap after that. Flour to make 5 - 340g pizzas is pretty cheap, even using King Arthur. Between the tomatoes (Cento San Marzano Style from Costco) and cheese (usually Boar's Head), I spend about $5 per pizza.

For the two of us, it's two dinners and 3-4 lunches.

We bought the same setups for both kids and it's the same for them. Except my son invites work friends over and they'll make 6-8 pies in an evening.

[Lurker Deluxe]

16. Waste of money

Pizza should be cheap, and it is ... as long as you stay away from delivery.

Truthfully.

A take out pizza rarely gets consumed entirely.

Yesterday I stopped at the local Domino's Pizza and bought an X-large New York style. It is their 50% off week and I picked it up, so it was $11.

Brought it to the local watering hole for the Texans game and there were two others there for kick off, we sliced it again to get smaller pieces and between the three of us we ate half of it. As others trailed in the pizza sat there and maybe one more piece was consumed, the rest ended up in the trash.

If I order a delivery pizza for myself at home and it is more than a medium, well over half of the order gets tossed. Add in delivery fees and a single pizza is $20 at the least.

I can pick up a quality pizza at the grocery, thin crust HEB or Red Barron for $6 and toss it in the freezer. When I get the urge I can cook it myself and beat the local delivery to my plate with ease. It is just as good or better, I eat the whole thing, and I saved $16.

Then again, I do not door dash or uber eats. With the popularity of these services exploding there are better options than a delivery pizza out there, although just as outrageously priced.

As belts tighten, costs will be cut somewhere ... delivery of food items is an easy one, just takes a little foresight.