A good pasta, tomato sauce, ham, mushrooms, cheese and, above all, don’t forget the olives. The queen pizza is cooked from simple ingredients. And yet, it does not escape inflation. The price of wheat has soared, dairy products have risen, electricity costs an arm and a leg… Result: our pizza makers have had to adapt and also pass on these increases so as not to end up on the straw.
Jessica Mediouni pauses between two commands. “Commodities took more than 30%. We tried to resist for months but we ended up resolving to raise our pricesindicates the manager of the pizzeria Anna’s Picksrue Bonaparte. Before, our classic pizzas – including the queen – were 7 euros to take away. Now they are 8 euros. And maybe we should go to 9 if this continues. It’s because we have volume – regarding 350 pizzas a day – that we get by. But for how long?”
Popular dish, loss leader
Leading legend.(Photo Cyril Dodergny).
Frédéric Ghintran, boss of the Felix Faureyou restaurant Oscar and president of the catering branch of Umih (Union of hotel trades and industries), makes a similar observation: “Depending on the ingredients, we have noted an increase in supplier prices of 20 to 30%. We cannot pass on these increases as they are. In reality, we have to make a choice. I have decided to limit the price of the queen ( 14.90 euros at Oscar) because it’s a popular dish, a loss leader. I’m thinking above all of our local clientele. Tourists have planned the restaurant in their budget; in the end, it doesn’t change much for them , they are ready to make an effort. On the other hand, I want the people of Nice, who are there all year round, to be able to continue to eat in restaurants.”
Pizza trucks are not spared. Stéphane Soum, who has been driving the truck for more than thirty years Pizza Leoat the corner Delfino – Auguste-Gal, confesses: “I don’t even print flyers anymore because it’s too difficult to project yourself with the evolution of prices. For the moment, I haven’t moved. The queen is at 10 euros but I don’t know if I’ll be able to continue. I still have friends who manage to do it for 8 euros, but it’s because they have a lot of throughput and they manage to negotiate with suppliers on volumes.”
Steve Bonnet, the owner of pizzerias The Authentic to Libé and Fabron, precisely points to this negotiation. “Honestly yes, I have seen some increases in raw materials, but not on everything. I manage to organize myself so as not to modify the menu [la reine est à 11,50 euros à la Libé, N.D.L.R.].”
How is he doing? “I negotiate, I bring competition between suppliers. But I can afford it because I have no debt with any of them. And then I have a large flow so it affects prices . I went to business school, I’m the son of a merchant. Making good pizzas isn’t enough to get by!”
