Grande Recap Again

[Charles]

cobblestonepizzaco:

I have to say that one of the reasons we’re going with grande is the reheat value, I really think its superior in that department and who doesn’t like to have pizza the next day??? I love the fact that when a customer reheats our pizza its going to be good then too!!!

We will be promoting that as well. “Pizza - It’s not just for dinner”, “Pizza - Breakfast of Champions”, “Pizza - Start your day right. It may not get any better.”

 

[1995flyingspur]

It’s really funny, because I felt the exact same way as those who currently stand by Grande. However, in economic times as these, we really need to do things that bring money in, not out. I guess maybe it does matter where you’re located, but we have over 3 decades under our belts and we peaked in volume with precious in one of the most expensive and wealthy areas in the United States.

I would just love to see someone who is currently using Grande to switch for a few months and see what happens. You’ll save a fortune, and I would bet the farm you would lose no customers. Isn’t that what this is all about? Saving where you can, while keeping volume up? We can’t let pride become a part of the P & L statement, it doesn’t belong there, not in this new economy which is developing.

Oh by the way, I wanted to share with you guys a move I just made to save fuel and money. We average about 60 deliveries/day, with 1 driver in the afternoon taking about 8, and 6 drivers in the evening taking the remainder. We had a strict 2 delivery/driver max, meaning drivers were allowed to take no more than 2 deliveries at a time. These orders couldn’t be a second more than 8 minutes apart as well, and of course they had to fit into a route plan.

As of May 1st, we will be operating with 4 drivers in the evening instead of 6. The drivers will now be able to take 3 deliveries, with all the same rules. By doing this, I am able to protect the price to the customer, increase fuel efficiency, and save a great amount of money. Remember, out here in Ca our minimum wage is $8.00/hour and regular gasoline is about $3.95/gallon. Yes, there will be a few customers here and there who will have to wait a few more minutes, but by quoting another 5 minutes (40 to 45), we should be able to get by without any problems. We estimate to save appr. 75 gallons of fuel/month!

What do you guys think?

Pete

 

[Charles]

I would not be as worried about the time the customer has to wait as I would about the quality of the product with so much time in the bag. What do you estimate the max and average delivery time will be (from oven to customer) for that third delivery.

We will allow three deliveries but only because:

1. we group pizzas according to delivery area before cooking,
2. we don’t begin cooking them until we know a driver will be available when they come out of the oven,
3. we take the orders out to the driver when he pulls up instead of him having to come in,
4. and we have a two to three mile delivery radius.

Although we are concerned about customer wait time, we are also concerned with quality of the received product and efficiency of our delivery team. We would not sacrifice the last two in order to shave time off the customer wait time.

 

[pizzapirate]

1995flyingspur:

Hi guys, just wanted to share my own personal experience with Grande. We have always used Precious (36years), and towards the end of 2005 I decided to go with Grande in an effort to better our pizza. I honestly believe the price made me like the pizza more than ever! When the price of cheese went through the roof, I took a risk and went back to Precious after about a year or so. Let me say this with complete confidence, not one customer mentioned a single thing. In fact. one of my reviews mentioned that the cheese was average (when I was using Grande) and it pissed me off to no end! I had never been more angry! In fact, another pizzeria who uses Grande got a review from someone else, and they said the pizza was made with cheap american cheese! I laughed and just couldn’t believe what I was reading.

Anyway, I believe now that perhaps the operaters can tell a difference since they’re the ones paying the bills, and that the customers really can’t tell enough of a difference to make it worth throwing all of that money into the product. In short, Grande didn’t help my bottom line on the top end of my P & L, nor did it help the bottom. In fact, it only made my food/cost percentage look bad. Let’s face it, if you’re paying an extra $1,400/month on this cheese, you need to raise your prices to get a $5,500 sales increase in order to keep within the national average of food cost of pizzerias. I tried making my pizzas with the ounces they suggested, and I laughed. That just wouldn’t fly. I honestly think a large quantity of good cheese has alot more flavor than just a little bit of great cheese and besides that, why the hell should I put Grande on my pizzas when not one single customer mentioned how good our cheese was?

Pete

I have to agree with these sentiments exactly. Personally, I like Grande cheese and the company but we never received one comment when we switched to Grande for a while.

 

[1995flyingspur]

I think that is a great system Charles. Running the orders out to the driver would save a few minutes for sure, and quite frankly I’m thinkin’ of adopting that for my place! I am a believer in quality and have always purchased top end goodies, but draw the line with the Grande cheese. We almost never have pizzas waiting on the oven so we really don’t have a problem with it arriving fresh. I would rather a pizza sit in the jacket in a car, than have it sit on top of our Baker’s Pride oven, as it is simply too hot up there and tends to dry out the pizza. We do have a metal structure which elevates the pizzas which does help for those waiting longer than expected for pic-ups. Because we use the old school decks, we do make the orders as soon as they come in as well. By going to 4 drivers as a means to save fuel (every American should be striving to save fuel and we wouldn’t have these horrible prices right now), the individual receiving the 3rd delivery may wait 50 to 55 minutes instead of 40 to 45 minutes. This does bother me, but I do know it won’t be happening more than a few times/week. I have also found that when quoting a bit longer for delivery times, customers don’t mind and almost never call back to check on the order. They definitely will call back if you misquote them, but will be delitefully surprised when the order gets there sooner than they expected.

 

[Piper]

pizzapirate:

I have to agree with these sentiments exactly. Personally, I like Grande cheese and the company but we never received one comment when we switched to Grande for a while.

I think Grande can teach us all a few things about marketing. They’ve gotten pizzeria owners to voluntarily increase their cost on one of their biggest expenses by over 30%. And they justify it by telling people that they “need less”. Brilliant!

I’ve never understood the “use less” thing. A pound of cheese is a pound of cheese. Cheaper cheeses don’t have 30% of their mass disappear in the oven.

We use a high quality whole milk mozz, but I can’t tell the difference between our cheese and Grande in any way.

 

[1995flyingspur]

Yes they are brilliant! One can really only know by trying Grande for a while, while he sees it’s not appreciated and he watches his food costs go way out of wack.

 

[eatmorepizza]

My philosophy in this business it to simply use the best products available. No matter what you do, you are only as good as the products you use. Some people prefer a Chevy to a Cadillac. This is what makes this world great. I"m glad some of my competitors spend more time cutting corners than taking a big picture approach to their business.