Opinions on traditional pizza delivery menu

[Cecillie]

Ds is starting up a pizza making and delivery service from home . I'm encouraging him as he is bored and miserable having lost his job due to Covid .
He has all the business start up , health and safety stuff under control and we are now planning the menu
6 regular and 2 specials each week
I've suggested tray bake type deserts like brownies and choc chip cookies, all homemade,
Also thought option to add bags of popcorn for a movie night deal might work.
Is there anything you might like to see in a menu or add ons for convenience?
Any input appreciated

Chicken wings, mozzarella sticks, potato wedges are all frozen so less wastage cooking to order, definitely dip pots. Homemade coleslaw huge plus point and do a vegan option. Only thing I would say is that the market is saturated in many places, unless you have a wood fired oven can you complete with the established players, we have at least half a dozen restaurants and cafes delivering pizza in our tiny town plus dominos and the kebab shop.

Should add it's the only thing we can get delivered, if only the Chinese or Indian would deliver, I do miss Deliveroo

Please, please, please no sweetcorn kernels on any standard vegetarian pizza recipe (maybe offer it as an optional extra for the misguided ) the carb content is unnecessary and the texture is just wrong. Corn on the cob as a side is OK though ....

@Chasingsquirrels

Would people really order soft drinks with a delivery? I resent paying soft drink prices when eating out, there is no way I'd buy them with a delivery - I'd have soft drinks in the house anyway.

I agree with this and ice cream. Unless it’s something extra special which can’t buy at the supermarket.

@GeidiPrimes

Polenta chips as a side?

Agree with n'duja and goats cheese - also those tiny roquito peppers.

A pot of pizza sauce for dipping crusts (I always look for this but never found a pizza place to do this)

Papa John's do pizza sauce as a dip pot.

I also agree with Mozzerisella. I would rather have a really good marianna than crap cheese like violife.

My children have multiple allergies. I like it when the top 14 allergens are labelled in the menu. And a way to speak to someone about other allergies.

Just to contribute to the fizzy drink discourse - I like having them on the menu in case there’s a delivery minimum. For example, if your minimum for delivery is £10 and a Margharita is £9, I’m very happy to pay £1 for a can to bring it up to an amount that’s worth your while delivering. If there’s nothing on the menu that isn’t food I’m not going to order (eg) wedges at £4 that I won’t eat, so I’d be less likely to place the order if I can’t add a can on. Obviously this is assuming there’s a delivery minimum!

I'd really think about your target customer. Initially it sounded very family orientated with popcorn and tray bakes.

The suggestions of antipasti and smart olives are probably a different customer.

Who do you want to cater for? What does your competition offer?

And really do keep it simple - very good chains like Franco Manca and Pizza Pilgrims have a tight menu.

I was going to ask what the competition have on their menu but I see you have said there is none. I guess in that case, keep it simple and go with the most popular choices. Goat's cheese and nduja sounds delicious to me but you are going to sell a lot more margheritas.

foodanddrink.scotsman.com/food/the-uks-favourite-pizza-toppings-revealed-ahead-of-national-pizza-day/

Would it be feasible to offer a pre-ordered lunch service on a fixed delivery route to businesses that are still open eg homemade soup, a slice of pizza or garlic bread and a drink with an optional cake?

I'd keep it simple and just make really good pizzas, garlic bread & dips. Maybe popcorn. Who are the target Market? I'm not sure i would have ordered many traybakes in my student days, just pizza and dip was enough for me.

Agreed fizzy drinks good to add on to make up to minimum order for delivery

@WouldstrokeTomHardy

Vegan base? Vegan sauce? I make it from scratch several times a week and the base has 00 flour , water, salt, yeast and EVOO. The sauce has passata, herbs, tomato paste and sugar. That's it.

Hot honey always goes down well for those that like a bit of spice. I make my own in 3 heats. A basic honey with dried chipotle flakes, give gives a beautiful smoky warmth that works stupendously on pizza. Then I do a medium one with honey and dried jalapeños and a tiny bit of smoked paprika for depth. Then the spiciest is dried habanero and smoked Birdseye. Tbh they are amazing and go well on a cheese board too. These are a culinary delight on their own and are mega popular with friends and family.

What sort of oven do you have OP? Can if corona with demand of it only cooks 1-2 pizzas at a time?

Gluten free option (coeliac friendly) once the local coeliacs hear there's somewhere else they can eat the news will spread like wildfire

Someone said earlier that you'd need a separate oven for gluten free, that is not the case you'd just have to make sure the tray is either just for gf or very well cleaned, glove change after handling gluten. I'm coeliac and I certainly don't have two ovens at home! Just separate toaster, butter etc

What market are you aiming for? It is unclear who your target market is? Is it families/couple etc?

I would be wary of doing coleslaw to be honest. If it is incorrectly stored eg someone getting it delivered and not putting it into the fridge afterwards and getting sick from. They will blame you even though you did nothing wrong.

What kind of local suppliers have you? To be honest if you are aiming for the artisan high end market you will need good suppliers. People are going to expect ingredients that they may not be able to pick up in their local supermarket.

I would focus on the pizzas and not get distracted by desserts. You probably would need to make them in advance risking wastage.

A local lad here does pizza to collect from the pub and it’s very popular! Each week he does 2-3 options, but rotates them round so it’s not the same each week. Could be an idea to a) keep custom as there are different options regularly, and b) keep costs lower by avoiding spreading himself too thinly. Think there’s always margarita and pepperoni, then the third option changes. Coleslaw and garlic bread, some sweet options then I think he’s there!

Good luck to him

I love some sort of loyalty scheme and also a family meal deal.

Another vote for a breakfast pizza - had a terrific one in Seattle once!

American soft drinks, Root Beer, Canada Dry, Vanilla Dr Pepper etc. Some of the takeaways here do that and I go to them for that reason.

Ex chef here.

I’d really REALLY recommend your son keeps it short and simple, at least till he has some experience under his belt. Does he have catering experience? Sorry I can’t remember if you said

There are two issues - managing a long list of ingredients and ensuring you have everything in stock. That is not easy - it’s time consuming and also there’s a cost implication for holding large amounts of stock. Does he have dedicated fridge and freezer space? Ie not within your domestic fridges at home? He’ll need a lot of space and environmental health will not want things keep with your own home “stuff”.

There’s also the pressure and logistics of delivering a wide range of cooked items on time, piping hot and perfectly cooked. The simpler the menu, the less difficult that is to do.

Pizzas are a good bet IMO - nearly everyone loves pizza, the ingredient cost is relatively low, but it won’t be easy to keep them hot during delivery if you’re in a rural area. They are also tricky because if you have an order for say 5 to one address, can he cook that many at the same time? I know our local pub get into terrible difficulty with that very problem - they couldn’t churn them out fast enough if more than say two people on a table ordered them.

I’d avoid like the plague any high risk items (I mean from a food poisoning perspective) like chicken wings, and I’d also swerve ice cream (good luck trying to keep that cold and your pizzas hot). The cakes idea would be fine as long as you stipulated say, order minimum 24 hours in advance & no refunds.

Finally in terms of pricing very roughly you’d be looking at allowing 1/3 for cost of ingredients; 1/3 for overheads including delivery, and 1/3 for your son. In my experience many small offs businesses the owner ends up working for minimum wage - I know I did on the food side of my business which to the outside looked like an enormous success.

Food is notoriously difficult to make money from although it’s incredibly satisfying when you get wonderful feedback! I wish you all the best of luck

I was talking to a friend the other day who has just moved near Marlborough and was commenting they can't get a pizza delivered.....don't suppose you live their way?

A local rural pizza delivery near me does 80/20 pizzas - so you can order it only 80% cooked and cooled. Then you can finish it in your own oven - so you can eat it another time.....but would also work well for long deliveries so that it isn't too cold when it arrives.

I live rurally and in the nearest town there's an Indian Restaurant which has totally cornered the market on deliveries. Every week on FB/Instagram they name a couple of villages that they'll deliver free to each night of the weekend and so get dozens of orders from each village, making it a really efficient way to run a delivery service. People often wait for their village to be named and then put it in the diary and you can order your food earlier in the day via email/messenger. They have a bit of a routine now which means they get to most of the villages once every three weeks and lots of people are ordering every three weeks as it's such a reliable service and great food (and a break from the monotony of lockdown!).

Market wise probably families and couples as v rural

@Daisydoesnt we have a completely separate kitchen with own fridge etc
Pizza will be cooked outside under gazebo just by back door of said kitchen
We have a roccbox, makes amazing pizza, only one at a time but only takes 60 seconds so if you have them lined up ready to go in , by time you have it boxed and in warming bag next one should be ready .
If it takes off he can buy another but trying to keep costs down to start with , see if demand etc
No catering experience but has made lots of pizza and doing an artisan pizza course as well as food hygiene certificates .
Do you not think ice cream would be ok in cold box if just put in before leaving ?

I think you'd find it tricky with the ice cream, a cold box only slows down the thawing it isn't cold enough to keep things frozen, there may well be specific rules about it.

I would be less ambitious to begin with and focus on doing fewer things really well. Get feedback and build the menu from there. A long menu which lacks identity is off-putting and makes me suspicious about quality and freshness. Ice cream seems a bit pointless, I can easily get that more cheaply from the supermarket, I’d rather have a home-baked dessert.

Who are your likely clients? Are you aiming more for a family ‘dominos’ feel or Italian artisan style? That should inform what’s on your menu.