In times of trouble Mother Mary may come to some people, but for millions around the world a hint of darkness spurs the need for the comfort of hot, melted cheese, pepperoni and marinara sauce on hand-twirled dough packed into a cardboard box.
That dance of hot pizza delivered to doorsteps around the world has played out in massive numbers since the World Health Organization declared the pandemic in mid-March and people started staying in and sheltering at home.
Victoria’s own masters of the pizza have seen more than their share of no-contact take-out and delivery orders across the threshold during the pandemic, but despite strong sales they have not been immune to the pressure and downside of trying to operate when the world is running at half pace.
Dimitri Mavrikos, whose family founded the Island’s five Romeo’s restaurants, said they have a delicate balancing act to manage in keeping the restaurants open and churning out pizza like they have since 1974.
Mavrikos noted their locations all have large dining rooms that have been struggling like all restaurants, while their take-out and delivery business has been strong and able to pay the bills.
“It helps, I think, when you have a good product and you’ve been a big part of the community for so many years,” he said, noting customer loyalty has been especially important over the last few months. “Even though it’s not a good time for anybody right now, when it comes time to pick up and deliver pizza we are still in business.”
At a time when dine-in revenue is down because of capacity restrictions, Romeo’s has had to deal with the added costs of safety equipment and supply-chain disruptions. Scarcity of items meant some costs have jumped by as much as 15 per cent.
Mavrikos said in order to deliver a quality product you need to pay for good ingredients.
“But what are you going to do right now, raise prices? Everyone is hurting, and if we raise prices it is going to feel like we are gouging people,” he said. “It’s hard to run the day-to-day business and make it successful without hurting yourself and hurting your customers as well.”
He said they decided to hold steady on pricing and be thankful for their strong foundation in the community; demand for takeout and delivery pizza and pasta will see them through this period.
That demand for pizza delivery has jumped is not in dispute.
Local players all say their takeout and delivery sales have been strong enough to keep the doors open, and the international food corporations that have to report financial results publicly paint a picture of a world that is fueled by mozzarella and pepperoni.
Domino’s recently reported a 30 per cent spike in profits and has massive plans to hire people around North America. Pizza Hut’s parent company, Yum Brands, reported this year that pizza take-out sales reached an eight-year high and revenue from take-out and delivery increased by double digits in the second quarter.
Papa John’s reported sales in North America increased by 28 per cent in the second quarter of this year around North America compared to the same time last year. It also has plans to hire thousands of people.
Pizza Hut, however, has announced it will close 300 restaurants — most of them dine-in locations — that are not designed for take-out and delivery.
Mark Murr, owner of Ali Baba Pizza, said the big guys like Domino’s do big business in Victoria, but they generally cater to a different market than local places like Ali Baba, Romeo’s, Hot House or Pizza Prima Strada.
“Sometimes you want a high-end pizza, and sometimes you want something cheap and quick,” he said, noting everyone wants McDonald’s sometimes.
Murr said the size of the big players and their massive advertising budgets actually helps the local pizza guys.
“They have created an avenue for us,” he said, noting when a Domino’s or Pizza Hut ad comes on TV it may get a regular Ali Baba customer thinking about pizza and picking up the phone. “I always look at it as a positive.”
Murr said their business is steady, if not strong right now.
“We are shifting how we do business. We are not as profitable as we were but are operating to keep our family working and our staff working with us,” he said. “We want to make sure everyone is safe and survives through this and their families are all going to be okay.”
Murr said they have beefed up their online presence and enabled online ordering from their six Island locations.
“It’s all had its ups and downs. Many of our stores are doing well, but not as well as they were,” he said. They have lost their wholesale business, which included the university, arena and school programs, and daytime sales downtown have dropped because people are working from home.
But they have seen some strong sales since re-opening their Swartz Bay location at the ferry terminal and good return on their online investment.
“We are adapting and doing our best,” he said. “That’s something entrepreneurs do best, we adapt and pivot quickly where larger agencies can’t really do that.”
George Papaloukas, owner of Hot House Pizza, agrees, noting his company’s four locations have had to recover quickly after losing its UVic business – it had three small outlets on campus.
“But the regular business has been good, though the last two weeks of March were challenging,” he said. “It helped that [early in the pandemic] a lot of restaurants had closed down.”
Hot House also improved its online order service and paid its staff bonuses in the early stages of the pandemic, in appreciation for staying and working.
Papaloukas said his stores have continued to see steady business, plenty of pizza-by-the-slice sales and very little cash.
“Nothing really changed for us other than limiting the number of customers in the store and less cash,” he said.
One other factor that could play into the hands of the local pizza players is that the NHL and NBA are back on TV and the Vancouver Canucks have advanced to the next round of the playoffs.
“Hockey nights are very strong and always help,” said Mavrikos, though the slightly pessimistic fan couldn’t help but point out “it could all be over soon.”
aduffy@timescolonist.com
