A slice of pizza and a beverage — that’s a classic combination that shows no sign of decreasing in popularity.
A slice of pizza and a beverage — that’s a classic combination that shows no sign of decreasing in popularity. And when it comes to pizza, the traditional favorites are still what customers want, according to 2023 research from Datassential. The old standby cheese pizza reigns on 49% of menus, followed by veggie (42%), Margherita (41%), BBQ chicken (36%) and meat lovers’ (36%). Tradition holds sway when it comes to what goes on top of the pizza, too. Pepperoni and sausage are the most prevalent proteins; each show up on 73% of pizza menus. Chicken comes in next at 66%. Onions (77%), tomatoes (74%) and mushrooms (72%) are the toppings seen most frequently.
But despite the continuing popularity of the old favorites, there’s still room for innovation in the segment. The same research shows that the items that have made the largest jumps on menus are cauliflower (perhaps due in part to the skyrocketing proliferation of cauliflower crusts), hot honey, plant-based proteins and vegan cheese.
Newer regional varieties are also popping up on menus, notes Datassential. Quad Cities style (malty crust, spicy sauce and fennel sausage); New Haven’s “apizza” (chewy charred crust, tomato sauce, optional cheese); and Chicago tavern-style (crispy crust, herby tomato sauce, cut in squares) are all making inroads with pizza aficionados.
Whether you offer a sip, a slice, or a sip and a slice, the next few pages are loaded with stories that will give you some ideas for running your operation more efficiently.
Saving Labor with the Vector Wide Multi-Cook Oven
The Vector Wide Multi-Cook Oven is ventless, making it perfect for almost any location.A Q&A with Tim Murphy, Global Product Specialist, Alto-Shaam
What do you see as the biggest issues facing restaurant operators today?
Tim Murphy: It’s overall costs. Prices on everything have gone up, and that’s in order to pay for labor and to pay for food. And the scarcity of labor...it’s challenging. I started working in a restaurant when I was 16 and it just doesn’t seem like there’s that interest among unskilled younger labor. Maybe it’s alternatives for younger people that they’re taking versus being interested in the restaurant business.
Talk some more about those labor challenges.
TM: It used to be the restaurant business was full of yellers and screamers and whipping the crew into shape. That doesn’t work anymore. Once you get people hired, how do you retain them? What are the perks you can give them? I don’t believe the market right now is driving salaries
as much as minimum-wage laws and living-wage laws. So what do you do to keep them? Do you pay for their meals? Are you letting them know why you make the decisions you make based on the survival and health of the business? I really believe it’s all about what you are doing to keep them once you get them.
How are multi-cook ovens, like the Alto-Shaam Vector Wide Multi-Cook Oven, helping operators meet these labor challenges?
TM: Lots of people say they want to talk about reducing labor, but I like to talk about broadening the labor market. What I mean by that is creating a bigger pool, because you don’t need the same skillset anymore with the equipment we have to offer. Our multi-cook, multi-chamber ovens are fully programmable. So we teach the operator how to program the oven so that you get the same product every time it goes in, and how that affects labor. The multi-cook ovens are also highly insulated.
So our equipment doesn’t create the same environmental impact inside the kitchen that a flat top and charbroiler do. Can you make your physical environment more comfortable? I think our equipment allows for that.
How are pizza establishments using the Vector Wide Multi-Cook Oven?
TM: It absolutely cooks a good pizza, and you can cook a lot of pizza in our ovens in a very small footprint. It is 100 percent ventless — great for kiosk locations. Think about menu expansion by only adding 24 inches of cookspace. The entertainment or bar market [often] closes the kitchen at 10 o’clock because everything slows down. With one of our wide ovens on the bar in the front of house, you can have a dozen pizzas prepared and the bartender can cook them because you’re pre-programmed. If you want to add other products to your pizza menu, whether that be hot subs or whatever, you can run them through the Vector. We’ve even done quesadillas in the Vector and that kind of blows people away. The top and bottom heat gives you so much flexibility that a typical cooking appliance just doesn’t give you.
