Benchmarks, reports, and expert analysis to help you lead with confidence.
The numbers moving under your shop: cheese markets, delivery fees, chain discounting, how new shops fare in their first years, and the industry data behind them. Every figure links to its source, and every piece ends with what to do about it.
Scope: Market shifts, benchmarks, economics, regulation, chain activity
Delivery fee, service fee, small-order fee and an app menu that costs more than your counter: four charges, mostly set by someone other than you. Here's why they move, which rules reach a pizzeria's own delivery charge, and how to label yours so customers don't walk.
The franchise fee is the small number. The big ones are a royalty and an ad fund charged on every sale for a 10-year term, and they only pay off if the brand adds enough sales. Here's what the chains' own filings say, set against opening on your own.
Commerce opened antidumping investigations into boxes from China, Malaysia and Türkiye on Oct. 20, with estimated margins up to 297%. The first preliminary ruling, which can start duty deposits at the border, is due Dec. 24. You can know your exposure before then.
Ninety percent don't fail in year one. Federal data shows about seven in ten new businesses in the food and lodging sector are still open after three years. The harder part is the sales dip after opening month and how long it takes to reach a profit, and nobody publishes an independent's year-by-year revenue.
Most pizza cheese is priced off the CME cheddar block. The analysts quoted on this month's rally call it a short-lived squeeze, not a turn, which makes the next few weeks the time to get quotes, not sign them.
The marketplaces moved fees on both sides of the ticket this year. Run one $30 pizza order through the current published terms, and the tier you picked years ago may now be the most expensive line on it.
Domino's, Pizza Hut and Papa Johns are selling at $6.99–$7 while your costs run 3% hotter every year — the way out is a menu the deals can't be compared to.
The state of the pizza business in 2026, in the numbers that matter — market size, who's winning, and what it means for your shop.
Get our free one-page cheat sheet: 15 benchmarks for prime cost, labor, delivery and rent, each with its source and a blank for your shop’s number. Print it and keep it by the office desk.
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