Peppes steps up the pizza war – opens 50 outlets

Pizza. Photo: Pizzabay.com

The Pizza chain ‘Peppes’ is planning to open 50 new outlets to meet the tough competition from the Domino’s and Pizza Baker chains.

The new outlets for Peppes Pizza come not only in the largest cities where the chain has so far enjoyed a good presence, but also in smaller places, Dagens Næringsliv writes.

After a period of analysis, Peppes has come up with a plan for how new sales will be profitable at  lower sales level.

“We can establish ourselves in places with a minimum of 5,000 inhabitants,” said Peppes chief Espen Hoff to the newspaper.

He also confirms the company’s plans to open 50 retail outlets. What kind of outlets these will be is not yet confirmed, but Hoff is particularly showing to the growth in the takeout market.

Competitors Domino and Pizzabaker have been butting in there over the last few years. The Pizza Baker recently passed a billion, whilst Domino’s – the world’s biggest pizz chain – last year overtook Peppe’s former competitor Dolly Dimple’s.

At the same time, sales of Peppes fell on the restaurant side in both 2016 and 2017, during a period when the chain downsized from 90 to 76 outlets, according to the newspaper. They also considered  merging with Dolly Dimple’s, but this was rejected by the Competition Authority in fear of increased prices.

Hoff acknowledges that the Pizza chain’s major investment implies a certain danger of over-establishment in the market.

– The risk is obvious. There is a huge growth in both takeaways and restaurants. Over the last three years, 1,700 restaurants have been established annually, and 1,400 disappeared annually, so it is a dynamic industry we are a part of, he says.

 

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today

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