ROLLING IN THE DOUGH

“One of America’s favorite fast foods is the pizza. With 76,723 pizza restaurants in 2017, 41 percent of Americans consume, on average, one pizza per week, up from 26 percent in 2015. All told, $44 billion worth of pizza was sold in 2017, according to the trade publication PMQ Pizza Magazine. If you are planning to open a pizza shop, how you calculate profitability depends on unit costs, overhead and sales volume.

Cheese and Meat Pizzas
Consider the ingredients — flour, yeast, water, sauce, cheese and toppings. None of these are expensive, particularly when purchased wholesale. To build a small cheese pizza the cheese is the most expensive ingredient at $0.60, with the dough adding about $0.24 and the sauce $0.05. That adds up to $0.89 for a basic cheese pizza that could be sold for many times that amount. There are, of course, other expenses to be factored into the cost. Rent, labor, utilities and franchise fees must be prorated to each pizza, and that will depend on how many are sold. One estimate of the cost of a meat pizza with pepperoni and sausage is $1.90 for food costs and an average retail cost of $14.00, which translates to a 636 percent markup.”

Wouldn’t you know it and I thought Emu Oil was the next big thing. Or, recycling aluminum cans… or breeding Cocker Spaniels…or Steam Carpet Cleaning…penny stocks…selling vitamins and soap…

“You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.” Jesus