Pizza trends in Canadian restaurants

Getting a slice of the action

It seems everyone has their own opinion about what makes a great pizza. Maybe that’s why there are more than 8,000 pizza restaurants across Canada.* That makes for plenty of choices, and a lot of tough competition.

However the pie is smaller than it was in the past. Despite the fact that pizza is still one of the most popular menu items at Canadian restaurants, demand has contracted by more than 70 million servings since 2009. There are multiple reasons for this decline. For starters, all restaurant categories are seeing a continued decline at supper, which is when two out of three pizzas are ordered.

Pizza is still a favourite kid food, but to a lesser degree these days. In 2009, 15 per cent of all meals sourced from restaurants by kids under 13 included pizza; in 2011 that has dropped to 11 per cent. This trend is not likely due to the fact that kids have en masse decided they don’t like pizza any more. It’s simply a fact that more consumers are opting for pizza from the grocery freezer section – it’s cheap, convenient, and tastes okay, especially when it comes to feeding the younger set.

Pizza delivery, carry out and dine in occasions are all declining equally in the past year. One bright spot is Internet ordering for pizza, which is growing substantially and now accounts for three per cent of total pizza servings. Internet pizza customers tend to order more items and spend nearly $2.00 more per person.

As pizza outlets vie for consumers’ dough, many quick service operators have added menu items that have for the most part kept overall sales from declining. Newer choices to accompany pizza include chicken wings, pasta, salads and sandwiches.