r/melbourne • u/Visura East Side • Feb 06 '23
An explainer on why pizza is expensive now from Mr and Mrs Pizza The Sky is Falling
https://imgur.com/a/RVXImha139
u/perhapsaloutely Feb 06 '23
Pizza is no longer once a week on a Friday night. It’s a once a month treat. If that.
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u/Jkborg007 Feb 06 '23
Consider making your own pizza instead!! Even if you don't want to make the dough itself, you can always use pita bread or even English muffins for mini pizzas.
Don't let the tradition of Friday night pizza die!!
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u/ThatCommunication423 Feb 06 '23
Woolworths have pizza dough balls for about $2.50. Although you need to use them wel before expiry as I find the bag blows up after a while
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u/ol-gormsby Feb 06 '23
That might be because they're still fermenting. Try freezing them and see whether it affects the quality.
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u/beigetrope Feb 06 '23
Soon businesses will try to recruit staff by advertising (Pizza Parties Perk) in the job description.
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u/Comfortable-Sound944 Feb 06 '23
Or, pizza parties become rice and beans parties
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u/beigetrope Feb 06 '23
Iceberg lettuce parties?
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u/Ceigey Feb 06 '23
With a bonus potato gem per year of service
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u/24782478 Feb 06 '23
I’m know a certain private hospital in east Melb have potato cakes as a thank you. 1 per nurse and they had to collect them from the cafeteria
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u/wilful More of a Gippslander actually Feb 06 '23
Living in a big dairying area, the price of milk solids is currently pretty good, most dairy farmers are doing alright. But there hasn't been remotely anything like that sort of price rise at the farm gate.
Cheese making does take some electricity to produce, but again...
Somebody is profiteering from perceptions of inflation making it true.
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Feb 06 '23
This has been my suspicion…. someone/somepeople are eating our curds and whey 😤
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u/Soggy_Biscuit_ Feb 06 '23
What do you mean "suspicion"
It's straight forward, right there for you to see. Colesworths increased their prices because of """inflation""" and then posted record profits.
All the extra $$ you are paying for food is their "record profits"
If it cost that much more to get food to the shelves, why are the middlemen posting "record profits". Not notation this is all happening at the same time they are laying off huge numbers of workers to cut costs.
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u/overkill5495 Feb 06 '23
That’s the great part of the system we are in! Every year you’ve got to record a profit to keep the shareholders happy, so after ‘record profits’ must come ‘more record profits’. System is broke and so am I
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Feb 06 '23 edited Feb 06 '23
So why is the pizza joint also getting heisted? Are colesworth also jacking up their wholesalers? I don’t think it’s that straightforward. My guess is it’s the suppliers/distributors/wholesalers playing a major part also.
It probably goes something like “well if you (pizza joint) won’t pay X then I’ll just take it elsewhere (supermarket supply chains) because they will”
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u/Soggy_Biscuit_ Feb 07 '23
Some small businesses are getting rorted by suppliers. Absolutely.
But "some" people- like you said- (and I specified colesworths as an example) are just taking us for a ride. This is evident by the mismatch between the price increases they justified by pointing to increased costs, and their profits. The part of your comment I was specifically replying to was your suspicion that some businesses are rorting it under the guise of inflation.
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u/TigerRumMonkey Feb 06 '23
I tried to explain to my partner how I thought a lot of prices were being raised because people thought they could... They had no idea what I was talking about 🤷♂️
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u/Soggy_Biscuit_ Feb 06 '23
Next time you should point out that on the one hand businesses like Coles and Woolworths are increasing prices because of "increased costs of production", however, otoh they are also posting record profits.
I'm no maths genius but smth doesn't quite add up there.
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u/PilbaraWanderer Feb 06 '23
Same thing happened with lumber, especially in the US. They did because they could hide behind the inflation excuse.
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u/24782478 Feb 06 '23
Lumber in aus also went up during pandemic as the US closed down. They bought up all the spare stock in Aus and shipped it over. Then the big developers stocked up - left the scraps for everyone else domestically
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u/Shabadoo_Joey_Jo_Jo Feb 08 '23
I'm a wholesaler of various foods and it's not us! Shipping has gone through the roof, to the point where the food costs less that the freight!
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u/switchbladeeatworld Potato Cake Aficionado Feb 06 '23
Might partially be transporting costs?
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u/kanniget Feb 06 '23 edited Feb 06 '23
Let's assume that transport is at most 50% of the cost. It isn't anywhere near that but let's just assume so for shits and giggles.
If the original box cost $47 and then went up to $110 then transport costs have been $23 but is now $86. This means that transport costs went up by 300%. As wages haven't gone anywhere in years that would mean most of those costs are fuel.
Diesel which makes up 95% of agricultural and delivery fuel went from $1.70 to $2.20.
So how does that 15% fuel cost increase translate into 300% price increase?
Considering that transport costs in most food stuffs is less than 20% I would suggest people need to stop accepting fuel related transport costs as the excuse.....
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u/Hughcheu Feb 06 '23
A 50c increase in the diesel price is a lot more than 15%. It’s almost 30%.
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u/kanniget Feb 06 '23
I was typing that out late at night and I meant 25%.
Still, point still stands. How does the 25% increase in fuel equate to 300% increase in prices for goods....
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u/switchbladeeatworld Potato Cake Aficionado Feb 06 '23
Please note that I said “partially”
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u/kanniget Feb 06 '23
I know. I was just doing the math to show how absurd it is to blame transport for the price rises so others reading through can see.
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u/Rare-Counter Feb 06 '23
Kudos to the owners for communicating this clearly to the customers. After reading that, it's hard to stay upset with them as they're trying to survive like the rest of us.
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u/IJustW0rkHere0k Feb 06 '23
Seconded. It’s a good thing to have announced to the public. Can never trust something completely but it sounds about right
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u/razkachar Feb 06 '23 edited Feb 06 '23
That is if this actually is a problem and they aren’t just using general fears of inflation as a cheap excuse to raise prices.
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u/StockholmSyndrome85 Feb 06 '23
A lot of big corporates almost certainly are. Mum and dad shops are trying to get by like the rest of us.
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u/razkachar Feb 06 '23
Eh ‘mum and pup’ can be pretty full of it as well.
I’ve got my eyes on you… Mum.
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u/ELVEVERX Feb 06 '23
Although are they raising prices proportional to that or adding an extra 20% as padding?
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u/Kozeyekan_ Feb 06 '23
I've ordered from there, and 'topping heavy' may even be underselling it.
They pile on the toppings. It's like a black forest cake of meat, cheese and capsicum.
I'm sure there are a bunch of angry Nonnas that hate them, but as a hangover cure, it's spectacular.
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u/obstinatcs oat milk connoisseur of the inner north Feb 06 '23
i goddamn love their hawaiian, because its one of those pizzas that needs to be topping heavy — and a bonus is that they’re open super late so you can get an awesome pizza at 2am.
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u/Magus44 Feb 07 '23
The owner used to run a Monster Pizza, which were an institution in the early 2000s. They know how to do a meaty greasy pizza, and I love them for it.
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u/watchyourmouthplease Feb 06 '23
Pizza is basically starting to look like the housing market
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u/effervescingelephvnt Feb 06 '23
I'm gonna buy so much pizza
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u/AttackofMonkeys Feb 06 '23
I'm going to buy all of the pizza and sell slices of it for $30 each and the the Sydney Morning Herald will do an article about how by the age of 30 I have 27 pizzas
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u/fphhotchips Feb 06 '23
I'm going to buy all your pizza slices for $30 and let people hold them for $10 per month, but I'll check every 6 months to make sure they haven't eaten any.
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u/CardiologistNo5561 Feb 06 '23
Pizza is fast becoming a luxury item. Even my local shop where you used to buy a large pizza for $9 now costs $15. I forgot to add that the once large pizza has now shrunken down to a media size pizza.
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u/soccermum_00 Feb 06 '23
Yep I agree with this. Most places now have small, large & family, but it’s really small, medium & large
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u/wonkydatum Feb 06 '23
I’m ok if it’s a Murdoch sized pizza…. That it’s massive full of shit and terrible for you!
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u/FlightBunny Feb 06 '23
$47 increase overnight = suppliers profiteering, led by the supermarkets
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u/stingbot Feb 06 '23
distributors copping the same increases, so manufacturers.
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u/BuzzVibes Feb 06 '23
Yeah I reckon everyone up and down the supply chain is increasing prices, and not always in line with costs.
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u/Morsolo Westside is Blurstside Feb 06 '23 edited Feb 06 '23
Manufacturers: "our machinery costs have gone up $10, so our cost to distributors will go up $20"
Distributors: "our petrol costs have gone up $10, and our manufacturer costs have gone up $20, so our cost to retailers will go up $50"
Retailers: "our business costs have gone up $10, and our distributor costs have gone up $50, so our cost to customers will go up $100".
Customers: "My pizza has doubled in price? Guess I'll buy it anyway"
$30 in real cost increase, but $100 that you see. And a lot of people are still buying.
And then go back up the chain...
Retailers: "whoa, those idiot customers are still paying our ridiculous mark up. I love money!"
Distributors: "whoa, the retailers upped their prices by a lot, and kept getting business. We're going to up our prices because the retailers proved we just can"
Manufacturers: "whoa, all those bastards are making shitloads off my manufacturing and people are still buying. We'll up our prices too."
This is why interest rates are the big lever to curb inflation.
RBA: "If you idiots wont stop buying the fucking pizza, we'll put you so far in debt that you physically can't afford the pizza if you'd like to maintain having a roof over your god damn head."
This is our current inflation at a very basic level.
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u/sanemartigan Boil em, mash em, fry em in butter. Feb 06 '23
They can explain why it's expensive all day long, doesn't change me not being able to afford it. I feel bad for them but I feel worse for me.
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u/IJustW0rkHere0k Feb 06 '23
I hate it too. Do frozen pizzas on a steel pizza tray at home now. If you let the oven pre heat you can get a basic pizza. Recommend Aldi and the risstorsnte thin crust ones.
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u/sanemartigan Boil em, mash em, fry em in butter. Feb 06 '23
Leb bread pizza base is my jam.
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u/echo-94-charlie Feb 07 '23
Sounds like it would make a terrible sandwich. I prefer raspberry jam myself.
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u/ruinawish banh mi banh mi Feb 06 '23
You need to send out an explainer to all your local pizza places.
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u/sanemartigan Boil em, mash em, fry em in butter. Feb 06 '23
They know things are fucked, no need for me to rub it in that we're both having a hard time.
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u/Ergomann Feb 06 '23
My storage unit increased from $150-$305 per month. When I called to ask why they blamed inflation. I asked if inflation went down, would the cost of the unit also decrease to which they said “oh no it doesn’t work like that” riiiiight.
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u/Elzanna Feb 06 '23
Well to be fair they're right. High inflation means prices go up fast, low inflation means prices go up slow. Still going up though. If inflation was negative (deflation), from what I understand that would be super bad for the economy? But idk.
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u/nicknacksc Feb 06 '23
I got pizza from there the other day, really good.
$39 for two large pizza, a drink and a garlic bread.
But yeah things are expensive.
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u/Suck_me_admins_ Feb 06 '23
Just order no cheese pizza. Ultimate price hack guarantee.
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u/ponte92 Mother of Gwyn Feb 06 '23
As someone who has a dairy allergy. They still charge you the same.
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u/melbbear 💉💉💉 Feb 06 '23
Had dominos tonight and shrinkflation is upon us, twas barely bigger than a dinner plate
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u/weed0monkey Feb 06 '23
I mean Domino's is cheap as fuck though, can get a pepperoni for $5
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u/elrizzo Feb 06 '23
this has been the case for awhile, i know i put on weight during l*ckdown but "large" becoming a personal pizza and still paying the same price is a bit calling. glad i had to call it quits on pizza tbh
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u/Jasurim Feb 06 '23
I remember when they shrunk the size of those boxes. But the pizza at least still filled the well. Now it's struggling lmao. It is so sad.
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u/Particular-Repair834 Feb 06 '23
It’s a little sad, I order pizza from them occasionally and I would say they are the best value near us. Good quality pizza, not gourmet but just a great amount of toppings with good options and prepped well. They also have their own delivery service that makes it easier than ordering from somewhere that uses Uber eats. The massive pizza usually lasts us a few days so I still find it’s worth it. Especially in comparison to the price changes in some other local takeaway businesses. Would regularly go the arshees fried chicken but their prices skyrocketed and they took some good options off the menu.
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u/friheden Feb 06 '23
$47 overnight? Come on now
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Feb 06 '23
Yeah sounds totally non-shady and organic huh? I mean, no one should question such a price hike by their suppliers…..
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u/asomek Feb 06 '23
It's legit. Prices from my suppliers go up nearly weekly. Pepitas are double the cost they were a month ago.
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u/DizlingtonBear Feb 06 '23
I bought a stick of sushi sushi the other, not sure if it was GST or I went a public holiday, but one cooked tuna roll was $4.55.
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Feb 06 '23
The $0.55 was just to make you think the price is somehow connected to the cost of the goods you’re buying, when in reality they just jack it to whatever the fuck they please (and add some random arse cents on top).
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u/TirisfalFarmhand Feb 07 '23
I always go Sushi Hub, stuff’s still expensive af but way bigger than Sushi Sushi rolls
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u/farqueue2 Former Northerner, current South Easterner (confused) Feb 06 '23
I went to Bali for 2 weeks at the end of November, and when I came back, after 2 WEEKS, I noticed a significant price increase at the supermarkets.
I even checked over some of my Woolworths digital receipts, some of the same products had increased 40%. In 2 weeks.
The supermarkets are generally taking the piss.
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u/AffectionateGoth Feb 06 '23
Gives me a reason to eat less junk food and less cheese, so i se this as a win for me personally 😁
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u/tandata1600 Feb 06 '23
That explains why Pizza Hut has stopped putting cheese on their pizzas, and now uses some kind of slightly cheese looking but not cheese tasting substitute.
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u/AdAdministrative9362 Feb 06 '23
Pizza is not as cheap as it once was but it's still generally pretty good value. Excluding gourmet type places you can usually get a 2 large pizza deal for less than $40.
What other takeaway is as tasty and filling?
And if can do bothered (so not always) it's really easy to make pretty decent pizza dough yourself and it is incredibly cheap. And yes, cheese is the expensive topping.
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u/megablast Feb 06 '23
get a 2 large pizza deal for less than $40.
That is a shit deal.
You can get two good meals for that price.
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u/kiss_my_what Feb 06 '23
Forgot to watermark your images.
Hello news.com.au, gagf.
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u/jadsf5 West Side Feb 06 '23
I'm sure it wouldn't be hard for them to go to Facebook to find the post considering it's the only other place they get 'news' from.
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u/Unlucky-Money9680 Feb 06 '23
Noooooo reddit thinks they only scroll reddit and no other social media!
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u/Wonthebiggestlottery Feb 06 '23
I think this is the way to go compared to James Squire who quietly reduced the volume per stubby by 15ml without saying a word. That’s a stubby less per carton. I am encouraged to go to Mr & Mrs Pizza. I have boycotted James Squire who were my go-to brewery.
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u/Lukewarmeski Feb 07 '23
Yep pizza shop owner here.
Jan 2022 I was paying $95 a box (12kg box)
Jan 2023 I'm now paying $138 a box.
I SHOULD be paying closer to the 150 mark but because of my high volume (25 cases a week on avg) I can negotiate. I know that my wholesaler is literally only making mere dollars per box to retain my business.
I feel for the smaller operators.
It can't go on like this.
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u/woodshack Feb 07 '23
Sorry man. This sucks, some rich fucks profiting mega putting your business at risk.
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u/likitus Feb 06 '23
I’m going to assume that’s for a 10kg box of cheese. At 100g average that makes it only $1.06 rise per pizza since 97. The cheese is only a small issue, there’s a lot of taking the piss going on and it sucks
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u/asomek Feb 06 '23
There's a lot of overheads running a restaurant. Small cost increases can accumulate.
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u/Captain_Ziltoid Feb 06 '23
Fair enough - I love their pizzas here, probably one of my fave places for a non woodfire pizza (their Louisiana is like crack in pizza form), and they’re huge! I can only get through half their large pizza, usually I can eat a whole one to myself.
Is a great place and friendly people too.
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u/GermaneRiposte101 Feb 06 '23
The only negative I know of is that their waiting area is very narrow :)
Their Chicken wings are awesome.
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u/Hello_Work_IT_Dept Feb 06 '23
Our local pizza shop use to be damn good and $22 for 2 large pizzas and a garlic bread.
It's gone up to $35 and he has changed ingredients. Guaranteed to give you the runs everytime you eat it now.
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u/dj_boy-Wonder Feb 06 '23
When I first moved to melbourne in 07, there was a shop down the street that would sell you a grossly thick overloaded large pizza for $4 or $5 or something like that. it was so cheap that me as a poor kid ate it several times a week as I honestly probably couldnt have purchased something better and cheaper from woolies at the time. I bought a pizza the other day for $21, it was a decent pizza but certainly not one of the nicest I've ever had. It was a thin crust though with far fewer toppings. The days of cheap eats are gone.
Similarly I went to the settlement the other week and my mrs and I ate dinner there. This is a pub that serves "no frills" pub food. The bill for the 2 of us was $80 for 2 meals and a shared garlic bread. Rewind a few years and this was the kind of place where I could get change from a pineapple after a reasonable date night. I'm not begrudging the restauranters either, they're desparate to get bums in seats and the best way to do that is to offer a value for money experience but frankly, as a household approaching a 200K PA income, eating out or even just ordering takeaway is something we're only doing once or twice a month, its otherwise just too expensive!
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u/Penguin_in_the_sand Feb 06 '23 edited Feb 06 '23
Now why is it that fish and chips has gone from one of the cheapest takeaways to one of the most expensive?
Edit - loving the doenvotes and being able to give people th4 feeling of empowerment with no effort on my part.
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u/sanemartigan Boil em, mash em, fry em in butter. Feb 06 '23
Have an upvote. Probably the potato chip crisis.
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u/GermaneRiposte101 Feb 06 '23
Am eating a Mr and Mrs Pizza as I read this.
They are good pizzas and their Large Pizzas are a lot bigger than Dominos, with more and better filling.
Just saying
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u/Haunting_Computer_90 Feb 06 '23
A friend of mine has a pizza shop and said cardboard pizza boxes went up 500% in 10 years,
Cheese up Bacon down or steady but ham up. Stuffed olives really varied on supplier
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u/TheBigLT77 Feb 06 '23
Wow, so interesting. My local pizzeria’s quality has definitely dropped, 100% cheaper cheese. Feel really bad, awful situation.
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u/Impossible-Olive-238 Feb 06 '23
I appreciate this explanation. Still won’t buy the pizza but the transparency is nice.
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u/Inevitable-Fun-6277 Feb 06 '23
This is the shop down Wantirna way, they make great pizza. They were always friendly too.
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u/duallytransit Feb 06 '23
Mitcham Pizza was already too expensive last year. This year they're gone.
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u/wobblysauce Feb 06 '23
Yep, for a lonnnnng time cheese has been the most expensive ingredient for pizzas, more so if you want the right kind and certain mix.
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u/czander Feb 06 '23
Had a look at the menu - prices still seem pretty low imo.
A large pepperoni where I live is never under $20. My favourite joint's large pepperoni is $24.
Not sure what people expect food to cost these days, shame if they catch any flak for it.
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u/pkspks Feb 07 '23
It's my local Pizza shop. Decent pizzas. Kudos for them to explain why they have to increase prices. Still better value than gourmet places.
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u/T_Nightingale Feb 07 '23
Don't know who they are and as a vegan I don't care, but this is A+ level of communication from this company.
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u/echo-94-charlie Feb 07 '23
Have you had Nostrali's pizza? They are vegetarian and vegan only. My favourite pizza place.
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u/moyno85 Feb 07 '23
Aaaaand RBA just announced another rate hike of 25 basis points.
I mean, I know we need to curb inflation but as an unemployed man who hasn’t worked since October last year I don’t know how much more of this I/we can take.
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u/IneedtoBmyLonsomeTs Feb 07 '23
Almost like big corporations are increasing their prices by 20% while their costs have gone up by 10% so they are able to post record profits. Meanwhile, the RBA is putting up interest rates like the current inflation we are seeing is caused by the average person spending too much, and not because of capitalist greed.
Small businesses and average consumers getting fucked by corporations and the government, like always.
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u/Jimbo_Sanchez Feb 06 '23
Atleast you know it will be a good Pizza! I had La Porchetta over the weekend threw the Pizza in the bin after 1 slice it was that bad.
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u/megablast Feb 06 '23
How many pizzas in one box?? That will tell us how much increase per pizza for cheese.
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u/Nearby-Mango1609 Feb 06 '23
How much more are you going to take Australia? get your fat lazy arses off the couch and go protest this shit.
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u/chrispington Feb 06 '23
Al is a good dude, order some pizzas!!!
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Feb 06 '23
Did not know ChatGPT got this pizza module. TIL.
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u/chrispington Feb 07 '23
What? I like AL, had a good chat with him while waiting for pizza after he bought his business back after the lockdown dramas
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u/branded Feb 06 '23
I can make these at home for just a few dollars each. Learn to make your own! Vito Iacopelli on YouTube is a good place to start.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pizza/comments/4wvv3b/its_been_months_since_ive_sparked_up_my_woodfired/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pizza/comments/f1phoc/mortadella_and_pistachio/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pizza/comments/bj2eog/shaved_prosciutto_di_parma_chunks_of_parmigiana/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pizza/comments/4b72b7/pizza_napoletana_with_eggplant_and_ham_from_my/
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u/tacx127 Feb 06 '23
I payed $61 for fish and chips on the weekend. I checked all the items and couldn’t believe it
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u/BoulderRough Feb 06 '23
Anyone else find the pizza crust at this joint to be unusual? It almost had a grey like color tinge to it, I thought it was wholemeal at first.
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u/MaxcapItaly Feb 06 '23
yeah no shit mate you don't have to tell us shits more expensive, you're the ones hiking the prices and keeping the wages the same
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Feb 06 '23
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u/Unlucky-Money9680 Feb 06 '23
Yes thank God you have someone telling you what to do.
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Feb 06 '23
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u/Unlucky-Money9680 Feb 06 '23
Because my girlfriend doest tell me what I can't eat?
Very virgin, yes
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Feb 06 '23
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u/Unlucky-Money9680 Feb 06 '23
Lol what's wrong friend.
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Feb 06 '23
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u/Unlucky-Money9680 Feb 06 '23
You seem awfully upset. Don't let your wife find out about this.
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Feb 06 '23
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u/Unlucky-Money9680 Feb 06 '23
Oh so you're both childish. A childish overweight couple. ❤ wish you the best with the fat loss.
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u/benjaminpfp Jane Bunns Weather Feb 06 '23
Cheeses Christ prices are getting out of hand.