1851

Earlier this year, Little Caesars raised the price of its famous "Hot N Ready" pizza for the first time in 25 years — upping the cost from $5 a pie to $5.55. However, consumers don’t seem to mind.&nbsp;"We've actually seen customer accounts and transactions increase," Little Caesars CEO and President David Scrivano&nbsp;<a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/inflation-little-caesars-sees-uptick-in-orders-as-pizza-chain-leans-on-value-180432206.html?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=little-caesars-winning-inflationary-war-despite-price-hikes-2719168" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">told&nbsp;Yahoo Finance Live</a>, crediting the brand's role as a "value player" in the pizza space. Despite the increase, the pizza cost at Little Caesars is still around half the price of its competitors.&nbsp;The 11% increase did come with a value bonus of 33% more pepperoni slices per pizza. “We knew people would be pinched with their spending, so we said, ‘let’s improve our product and sell more pizza,’” said Scrivano."We've kept the prices as low as we can in this inflationary time," he said, shrugging off rising food cost concerns. “[Rising prices] are impacting us, but not impacting us as much as it could be because our transactions are up.”Scrivano also noted that franchisees have had stable bottom lines due to the uptick in customer counts. The CEO pointed to Little Caesars’ owned and operated supply chain, which allowed it to avoid costly disruptions.&nbsp;“Even with menu price increases, Little Caesars is still a good relative value because everyone else across the spectrum is raising their prices, and Little Caesars still has the lowest prices,” said&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/danrowe3/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=little-caesars-winning-inflationary-war-despite-price-hikes-2719168" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Dan Rowe</a>, CEO of Fransmart. “Same-store sales growth and new unit counts are a reflection that customers vote with their wallets, and they are voting for Little Caesars, even with these increases.”With the cost of food rising 10.4% last month from a year earlier, the most significant 12-month increase since the period ending February 1981, Little Caesars isn’t the only chain rethinking its value meals. Competitor Domino’s also increased the price of its $5.99 mix-and-match offer this year, for the first time in over 12 years, to $6.99.According to Reuters, restaurant chains, including McDonald’s and KFC, have started cutting back on $5-and-under “value” items and emphasizing pricier $10–30 combination meals.&nbsp;Similarly to what we saw with Little Caesars, most chains altering their value meals aren’t taking much of a hit. In fact,&nbsp;<a href="https://blackboxintelligence.com/resource/how-qsr-is-outpacing-the-restaurant-industry-sales-traffic/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=little-caesars-winning-inflationary-war-despite-price-hikes-2719168" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Black Box Intelligence</a>&nbsp;data shows quick service sales are much higher than the rest of the industry. For example,&nbsp;global comparable sales increased 11.8% in McDonald’s latest quarter, reflecting positive comparable sales across all segments.&nbsp;"Value menu items are not really profit drivers. They're designed to drive traffic," BTIG analyst Peter Saleh told&nbsp;Reuters.&nbsp;Still, chains and franchisees that remove too many low-priced deals could risk losing customers who come in for those items in particular, according to Mark Kuperman, chief operating officer at Revenue Management Solutions.&nbsp;Photo Credit: Little Caesars

Little Caesars Winning Inflationary War Despite Price Hikes

1851 Franchise

The pizza chain is seeing an increase in sales despite the first price hike of its 'Hot N Ready' pizza in 25 years. 

little-caesars-winning-inflationary-war-despite-price-hikes

Crust Pizza Co.

Crust Pizza Co. Provides Multiple Streams of Revenue in the Pizza Industry

crust-pizza-franchise-revenue-streams

Image Studios

Kansas City Franchise Owner Turns Real Estate Know-How Into a Thriving IMAGE Studios Business

image-studios-purposeful-careers

BooXkeeping

BooXkeeping Founder Max Emma on the Future of Bookkeeping, Franchising and Freedom

booxkeeping-max-emma-interview

Jollibee

Design with Peter Wright headshot and photo of Jollibee fries

Peter Wright Joins Jollibee as Vice President of Franchising to Lead U.S. Expansion

franchise-growth-peter-wright

HomeTeam Inspection Service

Photo of home inspectors speaking with another person outside of HomeTeam Inspection Service vehicle

From Inquiry to Ownership: How HomeTeam Inspection Service Paves a Clear Path to Franchising

hometeam-franchise-path-to-ownership

Buying a Franchise Masterclass

 Franchise Opportunities

Get Support Buying a Franchise

How to Buy a Franchise White Paper

How to Buy a Franchise

How to Sell Franchises

How to Grow a Franchise

Find a Franchise Supplier

1851 Franchise Opportunities

Franchisor News

Franchisor Power Rankings

FranCamp Mastermind Summit

Franchise Development Website Builder

Franchise Resources

What ALEC-Laffer's Report Means for Franchising

Website Awards

Power Rankings

About 1851

Advertise on 1851

Contact 1851 Editorial

Terms of Use

1851 Login

GROWTH CLUB LOGIN

facebook

instagram

twitter

linkedin

youtube

Authority Brands Enters Q4 with Record Momentum

Authority Brands Enters Q4 with Record Momentum, Surpassing 200 New Franchise Owners in the First 10 Months of 2025

authority-brands-enters-q4-with-record-momentum-surpassing-200-new-franchise-owners-in-the-first-10-months-of-2025

Franchises, work-life balance, millennials in franchising, millennials work-life balance

The Best Franchises for Millennials Wanting Work-Life Balance

best-franchises-millennials-work-life-balance

Photo of Papa Murphy's Take 'N' Bake Pizza franchisee Lily Wilford

Entrepreneur: This 18-Year-Old Saves Babysitting Money for College — Then Decided to Buy a Business Instead

18-year-old-franchise-owner-lily-wilford

Amazon outage, AWS outage, Amazon AWS logo

The Day the Cloud Stalled: How Amazon's Outage Impacted Franchise Economy

amazon-aws-outage-franchise-impact-travel-dining-failure

Thursday 1851 Franchise Agg - NASAA’s Noncompete Push

NASAA’s Noncompete Push Puts Franchise Growth on Uncertain Ground

franchise-noncompete-nasaa-advisory-reasonableness-standard

NJCAR v. Ford - New Jersey Supreme Court Limits Standing Under Franchise Practices Act

New Jersey Supreme Court Limits Standing Under Franchise Practices Act

new-jersey-franchise-practices-act-njcar-v-ford

Health Care Hiring Slowdown Highlights In-Home Care Franchise Opportunities - 1851 Franchise Agg

Health Care Hiring Slowdown Highlights In-Home Care Franchise Opportunities 

health-care-hiring-slowdown-in-home-care-franchise-opportunities

A Practical Playbook: Who To Call First When Franchising Your Business

franchising-your-business-who-to-call-first

image of jerome hanway from right at home Las Cruces, New Mexico 1851 franchise franchisee spotlight

Jerome Hanway Is Building His Right at Home Franchise Around His Mission To Serve

right-at-home-franchise-las-cruces-jerome-hanway

image of michael panos and michel panos, owners of mellow mushroom in Atlanta

The Panos Family’s Role in Preserving Mellow Mushroom’s Character — and Expanding in Atlanta

mellow-mushroom-franchise-panos-restaurant-group-metro-atlanta

image of franchise deep dive from 1851 franchise on doody calls franchise authority brands

DoodyCalls Franchise Costs, Fees, Profit and Data for 2025

doodycalls-franchise-deep-dive

Graphic with arm, holding graduation cap, coming out of stack of books

top-tutoring-test-prep-franchises

Little Caesars Winning Inflationary War Despite Price Hikes

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS