2021 Pizza Power Report

Looking back on 2020, it’s hard to tally up everything that went wrong. The pandemic cast a gloomy shadow over the nation, while civic unrest heated up and spilled into city streets. Wildfires raged across the western United States. Beloved heroes, from Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Herman Cain and John Lewis to Little Richard and Kobe Bryant, shuffled off their mortal coils. We even lost Eddie Van Halen, for heaven’s sake. And then there were the hurricanes—so many hurricanes.  

The news wasn’t that much better for many in the restaurant industry. While politicians in D.C. bickered and postured over COVID-19 relief packages, municipal and state leaders faced well-nigh impossible choices for dealing with outbreaks. At a loss, they resorted to ofttimes draconian restrictions and lockdowns that put a choke hold on restaurateurs already barely getting by on the thinnest of margins. Many stores planned to shut their doors only temporarily but never reopened. Others made a go of it by pivoting to delivery and carryout while also innovating with meal kits and even groceries for their stuck-at-home customers.

It has been our spring, summer and fall of discontent, with winter coming on. Yet most pizzeria owners bounced back, and many thrived, displaying a fighting spirit and resilience that powered communities through an unprecedented period of crisis. Independent operators in particular proved their mettle, as this year’s sales figures show. While their non-pizza restaurant counterparts struggled to deliver food that simply wasn’t meant to travel, pizzeria operators stood at the ready with the world’s most delicious comfort food. Many saw their sales hold steady or even shoot up.

Yes, 2020 was bad, and it was scary. But it could have been much worse for the pizza industry. Let’s take a closer look at the numbers.