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Deep-dish, gourmet, stuffed or extra-thin--no matter how you slice it, pizza delivers profits for entrepreneurs. Here's how to get your piece of the pie.
By Victoria Neal
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Recall the anticipation . . . anxiously
awaiting the delivery of tantalizing tomato sauce and thick, oozing
cheese atop a soft, chewy crust of happiness. Whether it serves as
fuel for an all-night cram session or an inexpensive attempt to
satisfy a troop of voracious Girl Scouts, the wonderment known as
pizza has provided instant happiness to cafeteria-weary college
students and cash-strapped slumber-party facilitators for
years. An inexpensive favorite, usually sufficing for both dinner and
the following day's breakfast, pizza represents all the
necessary food groups and offers extreme edible ease (i.e., no need
for those annoying utensils and plates). According to Doskocil Food
Service Co. LLC, a leading U.S. supplier of branded and
private-label pepperoni and pizza toppings for the food-service
industry, pizza has gained title as America's best-loved food,
outnumbering the country's ordering of both hamburgers and
chicken. And according to the Gallup Organization, pizza ranks as
the preferred food among kids ages 3 to 11. So if you're
starting to get hungry--and simultaneously contemplating
entrepreneurship--one route to consider is to turn this American
favorite into a profit center by getting into the pizza business.
Starting out 1,000 years ago as herbed foccaccia bread, today's
pizza evolved from dough created by a baker in Naples, Italy. Since
its migration to America after World War II, pizza has grown to
account for 24 percent of U.S. entree consumption, according to
Doskocil--surpassing the growth rate of all other food-service
items. "For a menu item that is popular, profitable and
easy," says Kevin Kreutner, marketing manager for Hutchinson,
Kansas-based Doskocil Food Service. Content Continues Below
There are three reasons pizza is profitable, says Kreutner:
demand, low cost and simplicity. With Americans eating 100 acres of
pizza each day--that's 350 slices per second, or a total of $30
billion worth per year, according to Pizza Today
magazine--the demand is clear. The food costs involved in pizza are
generally 5 to 10 percent lower than just about any other menu
item, says Kreutner. Finally, since pizza requires very basic
assembly, you don't need experienced labor. Today's pizza isn't limited to the flat, circular type
anymore. With deep-dish, stuffed crust, pizza-on-a-stick, pizza
pockets and pizza strudel, the structure, sauces and toppings are
endless and only limited by your own inventiveness. With dozens of
niches and endless pizza opportunities nationwide, potential
entrepreneurs have a variety of businesses to choose from. And with
a variety of pizza outlets offering franchise programs, it's
usually unnecessary to have previous experience in the field,
making excellent people skills and love for the product the key
ingredients for success.
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