Consumers told &Pizza CEO Mike Burns that the fast-casual chain’s “sh*t” was too expensive.
And Burns agreed.
So on Tuesday, the Washington, D.C.-based chain lowered its pricing and simplified the menu structure to position the brand as a more affordable option.
For &Pizza, which has been working to reclaim its counterculture mojo in recent years, it was a move designed to go against the menu-price-hiking crowd.
“I feel like, over COVID, everybody took this chance to raise prices, they had to for different reasons. It’s always something,” said Burns. “We’re just choosing not to participate anymore.”
Starting Tuesday, company locations reduced the price of specialty and limited-time pizzas to $12, with unlimited toppings, under a category called The Hits.
That’s down from prior pricing of $12.99 for crafted pies, and the addition of $1.50 per topping, or a create-your-own option that was $13.99 with free toppings only up to a certain point.
“We just felt we were nickel and diming people,” Burns said.
&Pizza is also maintaining a $10 “entry point” pizza under a category called The Basics, with cheese and white pies available with a one-topping, one-drizzle option.
The chain also launched a $7 half cheese pie and a drink combo meal, designed to boost lunch traffic.
The side option of knots are now all $6.
Previously, knots were offered at various prices, like $5.99 for lemon knots and $6.49 for garlic knots. “It was all over the place, and I couldn’t really tell you why,” said Burns. “So now they’re all just $6.”
And the curated, house-made cookies are now $1.
“We were selling them for $3.49, and ‘selling’ was a loose term, because nobody’s buying a cookie for $3.49,” he said.
The price on canned sodas was brought down to $2, though Coca Cola products remain at $3.49.
So, where guests previously were walking out the door with a pizza that cost $17, now they’re walking out with a pizza, a drink and a cookie for $15, Burns said.
“We want to get food in people’s mouths, and we want them to eat it more often,” he added. "It's super streamlined and super simple."
&Pizza earlier this year launched a push into franchising. Burns hopes to refranchise most of the 39 company units, and the goal is to grow to 300 units by 2030 as a 90% franchised brand. (Another seven &Pizza units are licensed, and the chain shuttered 13 restaurants last year in a right-sizing of the portfolio.)
But Burns said he has also been hearing from potential franchisees that prices were too high.
“The franchisees we’ve been meeting with were like, ‘hey, do I have to sell it for this?’ Or ‘can I reduce the price?’ Or ‘do I have to have the third tier?’ ‘Can I include free toppings?’ The answer is yes,” he said.
Of course, franchisees can set their own pricing. But Burns said food costs for the brand are low, and there was room to bring prices down.
“We want them to make as much money as possible, and we figure driving in more traffic with a better, attractive price point will help that,” he said.
Burns said the franchisee pipeline is filling up, though the chain is not ready yet to reveal growth plans and who has signed on.
“We’re at the finish line with a handful of groups from all over the country,” he said.
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