Pizza box sales are booming in Australia, but the fast-food giant is warning consumers against jumping into the hype train.
The latest pizza-box trend has already surpassed sales of the likes of Dunkin Donuts and Subway, and many analysts believe it could eventually overtake the likes and size of McDonald’s.
Australian Pizza Hut says the trend has reached a tipping point in the past year, with sales doubling between October and March this year.
It said the recent surge was due to a growing interest in eating out in public.
“The pizza box has grown to become a much larger part of the dining experience,” the company said.
Its head of marketing, Kate Tindall, told The Sunday Age it was now the “most talked about fast food item in Australia” and consumers wanted “real taste” and “quality”.
“Pizza boxes have become the fastest-growing item in Australian fast food.
Pizza box sales have grown by more than 50 per cent in the last year, from just under $1 million to nearly $3 million.
Sales of pizzas in Australia reached more than $4 billion in March, according to the Australian Pizza Institute.
Australia’s pizza box sales grew by nearly 50 per one cent in March thisyear.
With pizza boxes increasing in popularity and increasing popularity is the hype machine taking over?
Pete McManus, who works at the National Pizzeria Association in Sydney, said he was surprised to hear the trend was reaching such a tipping moment.
He said it was a bit odd that people were talking about buying a box as they had never heard of it.
Mr McManis said while pizza boxes were the “cool thing” for Australians, he thought the hype was a distraction from the real value of pizza boxes.
In a statement, Pizza Hut said it had recently expanded to 10 more locations in Sydney and Melbourne, and had also expanded to 12 more in Brisbane.
We’re committed to delivering pizza to customers with quality and authenticity, the company added.
I know what’s happening in Australia but I don’t want people to jump on this bandwagon.
Pizza Box trends analyst, David Foulkes, told ABC Radio Melbourne’s The Beat.
People need to be cautious about what they’re buying.
For the Australian pizza industry to reach its potential, pizza boxes have to be made from quality ingredients and the box needs to be well-designed.
And that’s going to take time.
Pizza boxes have only been available in Australia for the past five years.
But for the company, the hype is just beginning.
This is a fast-moving industry, Mr McManes said.
Pizza Box trends is a business analysis website run by the University of New South Wales.
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