We use a whole chicken breast from Pierce. It is a cooked mesquite grilled breast which we run through the mushroom slicer twice to cut it up. The portion on a 16" is 4oz which gives nice coverage. We pay a little over $5 a pound for it so portion cost is ~$1.30. We charge it out as a double price topping at $3.00 so food cost is quite high.
Regarding pricing structure, we are giving that some thought right now as most of you are. With wages rising, gas at $3.40 a gallon here (we buy it, not the drivers) and cheese up 60 cents a pound (50 cents on a 16" pizza) something has to give.
It is not hard to get back the actual increase in costs, but keeping the profit percentage the same is lot tougher. The cheese price increase alone if applied at our regular food cost should produce a price increase of about $1.75 per pizza!! Take into account the wage increases in the last two years and the price of gas, I should raise my prices by at least $3.00 on a 16" pizza.
I don’t mind being higher than the other shops in town but there is a limit!!