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With pizza sales remaining flat, multinational brands are betting on lower pricing to boost numbers. As a result, Debonairs Pizza from South Africa, Australia’s Eagle Boys and Sbarro of the US are all reworking their pricing strategies and trying to launch more products in the sub-₹100 category.
This move comes at a time when even bigger brands such as Dominos and Pizza Hut are finding it tough to grow volumes in the Indian pizza market, which is estimated to be about ₹2,500 crore. They have already launched a ‘more for less’ campaign with a slew of offers. Smaller MNC chains are now following suit.
Eagle Boys, for example, is now selling seven-inch pizzas at ₹49. “We have to cater to all consumer segments and price points, ranging from corporates to students. While we have seven-inch pizzas at ₹100, we now have added another seven-inch pizza at ₹49 with fewer toppings,” says Rakesh Nanda, Director, Krsna Foods, the master franchise for Eagle Boys. Eagle Boys, which entered India two years ago, now has 12 outlets. It’s Australia’s second-largest pizza chain after Domino’s. Sbarro is doing the same. “Since there is marginal growth in the pizza category, we are now selling our pizza by slices at ₹69 each, apart from the seven-inch pizzas at ₹99 with combo value meals in the below ₹100 price points,” says Akhil Puri, CEO, Jyoti International Foods, a franchise for Sbarro. “Since the market size of the pizza category has not expanded, for most players entering smaller cities is also the way to grow.”
South African pizza chain Debonairs, which re-entered the Indian market, is also trying to give more ‘value’. “While we have our six-inch pizzas at less than ₹100, we still need to rework our entry level pricing strategy as there has been no growth in the pizza category. It has to be about giving more for less,” says Neerav Parekh, Director, Diwa Hospitality (master franchise for Debonairs).
“Pizzas comprise half the ₹5,000-crore western fast food category and last year, pizza sales grew only 2-3 per cent. Our strategy has been to operate at all price points without having to drop prices to generate demand,” says Unnat Verma, General Manager, Pizza Hut.
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