A recent study has found that pizza consumers are leaning towards gourmet offerings rather than going with traditional fast food chains, with pizza franchise Pizza Capers emerging as the preferred brand.
Conducted by Canstar Blue, an initiative of ratings company Canstar Cannex, the study surveyed 2,500 Australians and measured their satisfaction across a range of categories including Price, Service, Deals Available, Taste and Other Menu Options Available.
The companies surveyed were Domino’s, Crust, Eagle Boys, Pizza Capers and Pizza Hut, with Pizza Capers coming out on top as the overall favourite followed by Crust, indicating that consumers are moving away from traditional pizza flavours and going gourmet.
“It’s fantastic news for us. We’re really excited,” Pizza Capers co-founder, Scott Geiszler told Franchising. “We took it as recognition of the fact that the path we started on 15 years ago, that of a high quality product, was the right one.”
The franchise not only took out the overall prize of being preferred pizza, but it also ranked first in terms of Service, Taste and Other Menu Options Available. Eagle Boys topped the charts in terms of price, and tied first with Pizza Hut and Eagle Boys in the ‘Deals Available’ category.
“What we focus on, number one, is quality products and service … We do that with a product that is natural, authentic and wholesome. It’s just like a home-style product, so what they get is a convenient version of a home meal without the fat or the greasiness or the guilt that you get with a normal takeaway option,” Geiszler said.
Consumers are moving away from traditionally unhealthy pizza toppings, he adds, with Pizza Capers’ new 97% fat free range “growing astronomically”.
And while the gourmet offerings might be more expensive, people are willing to pay for it.
“People understand that you can’t deliver a high quality product by taking short cuts and buying the lowest quality ingredients … People are looking for value but the definition of value has changed. It’s no longer about the price. It’s about how far it goes and how good you feel about it afterwards,” he said.