Is pizza becoming a luxury? Everything there is to know about pizza price spikes

Pizza has always been the ultimate comfort food, characterized by its affordable price and broad appeal in taste. In recent years, however, things have been changing dramatically, and pizza is increasingly becoming a luxury. As the New York Times recently analyzed, in the United States the situation has reached levels that only a few years ago would have seemed unthinkable.

The cost of pizza as a sign of crisis

According to Slice, the average price of a margherita has surpassed $17, while some chains like Pizza Hut have seen sales decline for eight consecutive quarters. The strategy of major chains to survive says a lot about how severe the situation is. Domino’s, for example, launched a $9.99 deal for any pizza with any topping, a move that worked in the short term but reveals the industry’s desperation.

As Sara Senatore, analyst at Bank of America, observed, «the pressure on sales, particularly from low-income consumers, is not exclusive to pizzerias. We hear it from all fast-food chains… And now it’s extending to middle-income consumers.»

The crisis of Italian pizza

But if American pizza is struggling, the Italian one - a gastronomic symbol recognized by UNESCO as world heritage - is experiencing an even sharper paradox. According to a study by the Center for Training and Consumer Research in Italy, the average price of a margherita with a drink reached €12.14 per person in 2024, and the overall increase compared to six years ago is 18.3%, exactly in line with national inflation for the period.

A particularly sharp jump occurred between 2022 and 2023, when prices rose by 14% in a single year. Looking at the geographical disparities of the peninsula, as always, the beautiful country appears divided, not only culturally but also economically. In Bolzano, for example, the most expensive city in the country, a pizza with a drink costs on average €14.14; in Livorno, the cheapest, it drops to €8.67. Beyond this, in only three other provinces in Italy can you still order a pizza for under ten euros: Reggio Calabria, Pescara, and Catanzaro.

What is causing the price surge?

The pizza price surge reflects interconnected global economic dynamics, such as the climate crisis and worldwide wars. According to a study published in Environmental Research Letters and reported by Il Manifesto, the extreme climate events occurring between 2022 and 2024 caused dramatic increases in the prices of raw food materials. For example, drought in southern Europe led to a 50% increase in the price of olive oil between January 2023 and the following year, while heatwaves in East Asia contributed to a 70% rise in the cost of cabbage in South Korea and a 48% rise in rice in Japan.

In Italy, according to Istat, the spike in the basket is mainly caused by olive oil, but wheat flour has also seen retail prices grow by 6.8% annually due to the war in Ukraine, while the cost of tomatoes has increased by 12.8% and mozzarella has undergone significant price hikes. Added to all this is the ever-present energy crisis, caused by global geopolitical instability, which directly impacts rising utility bills for pizzeria ovens.

This is not just a change in tastes

But there is another element that complicates the international picture for pizza: the growing focus on wellness and the use of GLP-1 medications for weight loss. Casey Terrell, marketing director at Blaze Pizza, admitted to the New York Times that they are «considering the idea of a GLP-1 friendly pizza, something with a lower calorie count thanks to a cauliflower base.» It’s a sign of the times and of the ongoing war on carbohydrates, which is not only wrong but not healthy at all.

Pizza has become a social and economic thermometer measuring the temperature of global crises. When families begin to cut extras from an order, when consumers switch from large to medium pizzas, when entire pizza chains see sales fall for eight consecutive quarters, it is not just a change in taste. It means something deeper is breaking within the economic fabric.