World Heritage status for a pizza? It's done and the Neapolitan won

by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Two million Italians can't be wrong. That's how many people signed the petition to add their prized Neapolitan pizza to UNESCO's list of the world's cultural…

Pieology CEO on the art of experimenting with live-action customer experience

by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Data drives today's restaurateur, and Pieology has taken that idea to a new and lively level at its R&D location in California.

2 million Italians want World Heritage status for Neapolitan pizza next week

November 28, 2017

Two million Italians have signed a petition asking the United Nation's cultural division — Unesco —  to give Neapolitan pizza its official World Heritage…

California Pizza Kitchen goes for Cauliflower Pizza (K)rust nationwide

November 21, 2017

California Pizza Kitchen — a brand often referred to as simply CPK — has a new offering that may earn it another title with those initials: Cauliflower Pizza…

Commodities: Papa John’s gets another scoop of 'Rocky Road'

by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

With prices falling on many essentials, it was a fairly good week for pizza brands ... unless your name is Papa John's.

Caputo Cup winner grateful pizza biz is recognized as the 'art' it is

November 16, 2017

In the pie-shaped world of pizza, the Caputo Cup is the No. 1 slice, and this year a tiny restaurant in Bainbridge Island, Washington, claimed its place…

Roll on: 3rd-party delivery challenges draw a crowd

At this year's Fast Casual Executive Summit in Nashville last month, the topic of third-party delivery reeled in some of the biggest numbers of attendees of…

Your Pie proves 'squashed' pizza can be pretty darn tasty

November 6, 2017

Your Pie will introduce its newest seasonal Craft Series offering, the Roasted Butternut Squash Pie, on Wednesday. The item will be available through Jan. 2, a…

Commodities: Yes, Papa John's took a hit

by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Last week’s commodities trading was a mixed bag of good and bad news, with minor wins for pizza operators on cheese and natural gas prices. But, in trading on…

Fresh Brothers brings ‘whiteout’ to Southern Cal

November 2, 2017

Southern California pizza brand Fresh Brothers is blanketing its patrons with snowy white for the holidays with the debut of a White Pizza this week. The pie…

Halloween: Rant, rave or review the night that was with us

by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Share your wins, losses and laughs with us this Hallow's eve for a story on the challenges of meeting tonight's epic pizza demands and how operators meet them…

Commodities: All tricks, no treats last week in pizza operating costs

by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Falling stock prices and rising commodity costs make for unhappy pizza restaurateurs as we head into the week of tricks and treats.

Give up coffee for a year? Yes, said 33 percent, for a year's free pizza

October 10, 2017

California Pizza Kitchen commissioned a national Harris Poll asking nearly 2,300 Americans that eternal question:

Worldwide expansion: Where to go and who to know

by Stephen Dutton — Analyst, Euromonitor International

The old adage of "getting to know the locals" is more relevant today than ever for restaurant chains. Here, Euromonitor's Stephen Dutton spells out three…

Commodities: Domino's leaps up, Papa John's plummets

by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Domino's stock price soared last week while Papa John's took a significant hit. But there was good news for both brands in the largely lower commodity prices…

IBM, food distributor partnership boosts delivery efficiency, safety

October 6, 2017

A new tech provider-food distributor partnership uses IoT to improve not only deliveries, but also overall restaurant operational efficiency. The results could…

New Pieology concept puts customers in brand's R&D Department

Pieology Pizzeria opened its latest endeavor this week, Pieology Pizzeria R&D, a restaurant concept that gives customers a voice in the chain's decision-making…

It's National Pepperoni Day … But seriously, who cares?

Do food-of-the-day marketing events, like National Pepperoni Day, preempt a more effective approach to restaurant promotion?

Commodities: Another nice bounce for Domino's

by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Aside from Domino's, which jumped in value, most pizza restaurateurs had little to celebrate last week in either trading of their own brands or prices paid on…

Domino's moo-ves in to milk some action from 'Cow Appreciation' events

by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

What do you do when a competitor has a really good annual promotion that they thought of first? If you're Domino's, you apparently tell the competition to…