10 Reasons Why Pizza is so Expensive- This will shock you!

Pizza-making cost is not a joke as you need to get the expensive pizza toppings, dough, sauce, and more.

That is why we have here the top 10 reasons why pizza is so expensive.

It might be a type of food known worldwide but that is also a reason why pizza is so expensive.

There are places that would make you go “How much for these pizza toppings again?”

Pizza chains like Godfather’s, Domino’s, and Pizza Hut already have a relatively high price on their pizzas.

However, if you go to more local pizza chains, they would have higher prices.

Less-popular pizza places like Jet’s, Round Table, and Marco’s like the ones in Boston are really expensive.

They need to source out their ingredients as pizza prices rising through the years take a hit.

There are also other places in Japan and Singapore that have other factors that are not common around the world.

We will also dive into that to see the real reason behind this.

Aside from the delivery costs and the prices of ingredients slowly climbing, there are so many other factors that you might want to take a look at, so let us see them in this post.

10 Reasons Why Pizza Is So Expensive

Let us take the more general approach first and list down the most common reasons why pizza is so expensive and why every pizza chain, worldwide or local, is experiencing these reasons.

1. Delivery Services

During the worst hit of the pandemic in 2020, restaurants, especially pizza places have highlighted or turned to delivery services in order to serve their customers well still.

There has been a boom in the delivery industry since the pandemic hit since people cannot go out. Now that we are slowly getting back up to the new normal, prices have hiked up as well.

Deliveries can be so expensive, hence, the high price on pizzas and other foods.

There are countries that have a lot of delivery services and they charge fees more than normal.

Pizza Hut, Domino’s, Round Table, Jet’s, Marco’s, Godfather’s, and other pizza chains have delivery services that charge at a very low cost but others turn to third-party delivery apps for their pizza delivery.

That means that they pay extra and the third-party delivery service charges more.

That is one of the many reasons why your pizza is very expensive right now compared back to 2018.

Delivery services charge more nowadays because gas prices have also increased.

With the war going on, the price of gas has been constantly rising especially in other countries affected.

That is already felt in the Philippines and if you take a look at the prices for delivery in Japan, the delivery fees have also gone up. In Japan, the delivery guy gets as small as 600 Yen.

That is hardly enough to pay for the gas so the price increase on delivery for pizzas is totally justifiable.

If you can, it would be better if you go to the pizza place branch and buy your pizza directly from it.

2. Labor Cost For Skilled Staffs And Workers

This should be on the top of the list but I just decided to put delivery first since it is the one affecting the prices in real-time. Labor cost has been there for the longest time so it is 2nd on the list.

Not that this list is ranked but still, it is important to know the reason that affects the price of pizza the most.

So back to the topic, the pizza-making cost depends on the skill of the workers.

You are paying for more than food, you are actually making sure that the workers and staff of popular pizza chains like Pizza Hut, Domino’s pizza, Round Table, Godfather’s, Marco’s, Jet’s, and others get paid.

For more local and authentic pizza places, there would most likely be a higher price on the pizza.

Trained chefs and pizzaiolos would make sure that what you get is of the best quality.

That means that the more authentic your pizza is, the more expensive it will be.

You will not get this in most pizza chains or fast food restaurants so it is natural that authentic pizzas are more expensive.

Traditional pizza chefs or pizzaiolos take it very seriously when it comes to the work they put into each pie.

The ingredients should be fresh and authentic while the procedure is also at its best.

You should expect a higher price on pizzas made by skilled and experienced workers as the pizza will cost more compared to how much you pay with regular fast-food chains or pizzerias.

3. The Price Of Ingredients – Cheese Quality

The pizza-making cost has a lot of factors and perhaps the most obvious one is the price of ingredients. It is also about how much your pizza costs if you separate the ingredients.

The first one on the ingredients is the quality of cheese that the pizza chain uses.

Cheese is a necessary ingredient for your pizza, and there are a lot of types of cheese to choose from.

Depending on the cheese, your pizza will have a different taste and consistency. More specific types of cheese that have distinct flavors would obviously cost more than common cheeses.

Cheese brings the perfect consistency to your pizza which means that it will cost more for higher qualities of cheese.

There is really expensive cheese that can cost up to $600 a pound.

The more common types of cheese would cost less but the quality of the pizza overall will not be as good.

There would be different consistencies and tastes, so it is up to your preferences.

4. The Price Of Ingredients – Quality Of Pizza Toppings

The pizza-making cost, again, is dependent on the quality of ingredients that you use on the pizza. Pizza Hut produces good pizzas and that is why it is slightly more expensive than most.

That is because they take their quality of pizza toppings very seriously.

More popular pizza chains also do this to make sure that the price of the pizza is justified and not just plain expensive.

For places like Singapore, there are pizza places that add to the price of the pizza if they contain pork. That is because Muslim chefs and cooks do not put pork on the pizza they make.

Boston, for example, has weird or rather unique pizza toppings that cost more like avocados and eggs, steaks, potatoes, horseradish cream, and more.

The more unique, the more expensive they get.

There are places around the world that offer toppings that are more familiar to the locals.

When you try them, they might not be as good as you want them to be but that is what is common so they are more expensive.

5. The Price Of Ingredients – Olive Oil

Yes, pizza uses olive oil to bind the flavors, textures, and consistency of the pizza. Just like salt, olive oil is also put in the mix when making the dough to get that golden brown color when cooked.

The pizza crust develops better and browns easily when you add olive oil to it.

Olive oil can cost up to $30 which adds up to the reason why pizza cost is so expensive.

Not only do pizza chains use olive oil on pizza crusts but also as a garnish like salt.

This can make the pizza toppings get that slight char to add texture to the pizza but this will cost even more.

6. The Type Of Pizza

Pizza prices rising can be caused not only by the ingredients but also by the pizza overall.

There are unique types of pizza and the more unique they are, the more expensive they are.

I have mentioned the weirder or more unique pizza toppings from Boston but there are also pizza chains that sell absurd pies such as the golden pizza that you see on the internet.

If you type in “70,0000-dollar Mr. Beast Pizza” on YouTube, you will see this video with hundreds of millions of views where you see the internet sensation eat what may be the most expensive pizza there is.

The pie is named the golden pizza because it is topped with edible gold, hence the absurd price.

This is just a very unique scenario but you can dial it down with more common pizzas.

Aside from the toppings of the pizza, there are also other ways to cook the pizza.

Wood-fired pizzas can cost more because it is more authentic and have better overall quality.

It can also be the pizza crust and other toppings, the most expensive pizzas on popular pizza chains usually have the best toppings with a fluffy crust and a crispy exterior.

7. Location

This factor is not only in the U.S. where there are unique pizzas.

This goes whether you are in a place where pizza is a common food or a country in the world that makes it a delicacy.

The price of pizza depends on where you are in the world as there are some places or countries that would have more expensive pizzas like the ones in Singapore and in Japan.

These countries can either have an expensive delivery service or a specific topping, which can be common in most countries, but you need to pay extra for the chef to put it on your pie.

The location also encapsulates the more high-end places or restaurants that are more of a sit-down diner rather than takeout or fast-food services.

8. Fuel Cost

Like the one briefly mentioned on the 1st factor on this list, the petrol or gas price has risen over the years. This affects the delivery services of these pizza chains.

Aside from the delivery fees, there is also the cost of delivering the ingredients to the actual pizza place. This uses a lot of fuel as the deliveries usually deliver them in huge quantities.

That means that they use bigger vehicles which can consume more fuel.

This basically drops down to the price of pizza so you are also paying for the cost of the ingredients being delivered.

9. Rent Of The Pizza Place

More popular and larger companies like Pizza Hut and Domino’s pizza are now able to buy their own areas and build a branch there. However, smaller businesses still need to pay for rent.

Small businesses rent a place for them to put up their restaurants.

That means that there is a monthly or annual rent that they need to pay and this boils down to why they have more expensive pizzas.

There are also other bills that the owners need to pay so there is no surprise that smaller pizza places have a higher price on their products.

10. Competition

The first thing that comes into mind when thinking about competition is that some pizza places might have to make the prices lower. However, that is not the case when it comes to food.

In order to make the food cheaper, they would have to cut down on the quality of ingredients being used. This can also mean that the pizza places use fewer ingredients.

When it comes to pizza, people do not usually mind paying a bit more to get better pizzas.

That is why pizza places adjust with the competitors by making better, more expensive pizzas.

Pizza is still one of the cheaper types of food that everybody loves but with the ongoing price hikes around the world, we should expect it to become more expensive.

That is why it is a good thing that you know all the important reasons why it is becoming more and more expensive so that you also understand where these pizza places stand.

Still, you can enjoy your pizza by making it at home or looking for promos like Little Caesar’s $5 Mondays and get the best pie for your money!

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