News

Chains test take-and-bake pies

September 12, 2004

Step into the Kroger supermarket in Dublin, Ohio, and you'll find a heavily branded take-and-bake pizza kiosk dubbed "Alla Casa From Donatos."

Less than a month old, the kiosk marks the initial leap into the take-and-bake segment by 181-unit Donatos Pizzeria, based nearby in Columbus. Company spokesman Tom Santor called the effort "only a test for now," but it's clear this first run is serious.

The 300-square-foot unit has eye-catching signage, custom holding cases and a full makeline that's visible to customers. Pizza packaging includes slick, branded die-cut boxes with see-through tops and perforated aluminum baking trays. To make transport easy, pizzas are covered in plastic and vacuum-sealed.

Donatos is one of at least three formidable pizza players testing take-and-bake in recent months. Papa John's has two market-wide experiments underway in Colorado, and Pizza Inn said in a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it's testing take-and-bake as well.

Having it both ways

Traditional pizza companies, including Pizza Hut and Little Caesars, have experimented with take-and-bake pizza in the past, but most abandoned the effort. Midsize players such as Nancy's Pizzeria (45 units) and Figaro's Italian Pizza (100 units), however, have mastered the sale of both cooked and uncooked pizzas.

Papa John's began its take-and-bake test earlier this year in Denver and Colorado Springs, but conclusive results aren't yet available, said Karen Sherman, the company's spokesperson. So far, though, results are satisfactory enough to continue testing.

Like Figaro's, Papa John's uses its standard dough and makes the full menu available for take-and-bake options. In stores where take-and-bake is a carryout-only option, the price is discounted slightly, but where it's delivered, pizzas fetch the full menu price, Sherman said.

Doty said Figaro's delivery customers always get the take-and-bake pizza discount, but that the bulk of the company's delivery orders are for cooked pizzas. "People are ready to eat the pizza when they call for delivery. We don't deliver that much take-and-bake."

It's about choice

Donatos' Santor said the company has no visions of becoming another Papa Murphy's by adding take-and-bake. The company's goal is much more simple: "Put more pizza in more mouths," he said.

Additionally, though Donatos' name is on the kiosk, the pizza making is done by Kroger employees, not its own. The supermarket's store manager said Kroger is, for all intents and purposes, a Donatos franchisee that buys raw materials from the parent, sells its finished products and returns a cut of the proceeds.

But if this project fails, could it hurt Donatos' image? The same question surely is under exam at Papa John's and Pizza Inn.

As Santor asserted, the test is in the early stages and no one at Donatos has even had the chance to portend visions of wild success or doom. For now, everyone's in the observation mode.

"Seeing that this is the alpha test, we need to be close at hand and watch everything," he said.