Switching from a 16" large to a 14"??

Hey All,

We have been looking into dropping our 16" large for a 14". With the price of cheese, pork, beef, so on and so on going up I would like to not have to raise prices. We currently have a 9"(6 slice), 12"(8 slice) 16"(12 slice) and 26"(32 slice).

What are your thoughts on implementing the switch? Marketing the switch? Explaining to customers why they are getting less food for the same price? Number of slices per pie? The negative or repercussions of making the switch?

Based on last year sales, todays pricing, and only including dough-sauce-cheese-box by switching we would save roughly $12,000 year.

Thanks in advance for your opinions.

Thinking from the customers side of the till, I have a problem with places that reduce the size by 25% but maintain the same price. I see it as a 25% increase in price.The $12000 you think you are saving may just cost you double that in lost customers.

I have developed a spreadsheet that I keep track of my food costs vs my menu price. When it shows the menu price is lower than what I have deemed to be ideal price based on food costs on 20% of the menu items I raise prices on those items.

I’ve run into this idea before. And here’s the problem: If the customer is concerned about price, he sees that he is paying the same price for less pizza. And if the customer is NOT concerned about the price; when he orders a “large”, he is not getting the amount of pizza he expected. I’d just raise my prices.

Just raise your prices. Everyone else will be too.

If your prices have gone up for ingredients, they have gone up for all your pies, not just this one size. So, do you have the courage to reduce the size for every customer option … probably not. As a consumer, I am aware of producers reducing content sizes (potato chips, dishwashing liquid, cheese slices … everything except a dozen eggs) and I always feel cheated. Price increases, on the other hand, are an expected fact of life, and I both understand them and appreciate that every business is entitled to profits. If the quality level of a product with a recent price increase is unchanged, I can live with it.

My only other thought is that if you’re going to take heat for raising the price of that one pie size, raise em all …your ingredient costs are elevated for all of them. And it’s probably better to take the heat all at one time as opposed to stretched out over many months. When you get the inevitable question about the increase, just apologize and explain that the costs for quality ingredients have risen, and you are unwilling to compromise the quality of your product. I think they will understand.

looking at this from a customer standpoint, I will pay more for a quality product that I enjoy regularly.

Maybe a notice that prices had to be raised due to the current cost of cheese would make the increase more understandable?

Keep the 16" and perhaps you need to add a 14" to your offerings to give another price point…

What will you do when the price eventually comes down
Like it always does?