I was wondering how many different types of crust do you offer? I am looking to open a delco operation and am trying to figure if it would be profitable to do more than one? Those of you that have a wheat crust,how well do they sell?
Wheat crusts are somewhat localized in acceptance. For example, in one area they might be the hottest ticket in tiwn, while 50-miles away, they might be a dead stone. It all depends upon your market. What are the other pizza stores in your marketing area selling? Have you thought about doing a postcard survey? Here in Manhattan, Kansas (not exactly the center of the universe, but they say you can see it from here) we have Kansas State University, and the students from there seem to go big on two things 1) The more meat the better. 2) A wheat, thin crust. When you get outside of the immediate campus area, the meat stays, but the wheat preference is dropped. Go figure. If it was me, I’d keep my opening as simple as possible and go with only a traditional type of crust, and then I’d make a wheat crust available in a month or so. If it proves popular, it stays, if it doesn’t, it goes, and maybe I try something else.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
Tom
I must agree with you (as usual you are correct).
Our example is deciding to go with gluten free bases. We get the odd request and always say , sorry but no.
Last week I bit the bullet and purchased 6 x 12" frozen gluten free bases @ $3.95 each. If customers want tham we can now say yes, but there is an added cost. We will price at our 13" large pizza plus a $.50 surcharge to cover the cost of the base. We won’t be making any money from it after purchase, storeage and any ullage that may occur but we can now fill this market, albeit somewhat reluctantly.
Ther is also the added cost of specific screens for the gluten free product, same as cutting wheel and extra care when making to ensure no cross contamination.
If we find it is too much hassle or not enough sales to warrant holding stock we can easily drop them.
The same applies to what you alluded in your response. It may work someplace and not another.
Dave
Not to get off topic, but we also just added the gluten free, its an 11" round and comes on a foil tray. I forget what the exact cost was, but I dont believe it was as expensive as yours. We sell them at $9.99 for just cheese and a $1 per topping, no coupons or discounts and people love them. We generally sell 3-4 on Friday nights and 2-4 through the rest of the week. Also the ticket prices tend to be higher then average when people order these.
Back on topic now, we sell a square deepdish, traditional hand tossed round and then also a thin crust. The deepdish and round are by far the most popular. We are able to make the deepdish with the same dough we use for rounds so it helps out.
Also back on topic.
We sell only our traditional thinish base - between thin and normal. No thin or deep.
Customers have grown to love it and no more “I want it thin / thick / normal”
K.I.S.S.
Dave
how well illustrated… that’s what you get when you don’t ‘keep it simple’ and try and be clever! it all goes wrong!! lol (sorry Dave couldn’t resist) :twisted:
Touche
Easier for weak minded owner-operators to keep it straight after 90 hours of working a station, marketing, networking, bookkeeping and beer drinking. (don’t get any of that last one myself)
If you have a dough recipe and its a thicker crust can you use the same recipe to make a thin crust or is there a different recipe you should use?
Depends on what you have and what you want. Easiest solution: try it and see.
In most cases, you can do just that, adjust the scaling weight, and “have a go at it”. I have an all purpose dough formula that I use for making generic thick, thin, and pan pizzas from, but this may not fit everyones expectations, so there are more specialized dough formulas for each specific type of crust too. I agree, try it, see if it works for you and gives you the finished crust characteristice you’re looking for. Keep in mind too, if you’re looking for a thicker crust, it ain’t all about dough weight, it’s about allowing the dough to rise before dressing it too. Even allowing a formed dough skin to rise for 15-minutes brfore dressing it and baking can make for a thicker crust with lighter, more tender eating characteristice than one made with just a greater dough weight. Don’t be afraid to experiment.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor