"15€ is still a lot" - pizza prices hit by inflation

Eight Luxembourg francs for a Margherita. That was the price of a pizza at Chez Toni in Schifflange, back in 1972. No need to look, you won't find a pizza anywhere at that price now, which is barely 20 cents in today's money. Since then, the cost of living has increased, with the latest inflation spike linked in particular to the Covid-19 crisis and the war in Ukraine. "But even in Italy, the time of €7 pizzas is over," says Déborah Ceccacci, the daughter of Luigi and Sylvie, the pizzeria's managers.

Since February, the price of all pizzas at the restaurant has gone up by €1. This ranges from the Margherita at €12.50 to the scampi fricassee pizza at €21. On average, a pizza from Chez Toni costs around €16.

These are reasonable prices in Luxembourg, where it is not uncommon to find pizzas well above this average. A quick look at the menu is enough to get an idea of the prices charged in some of the country's pizzerias, which sometimes aim to be upmarket.

At Oggi e Domani in Alzingen, for example, the Marguerita (Marzano tomato, buffalo mozzarella, datterini, basil, and pecorino) costs €15.90. The average pizza here is over €19. At the Strogoff in Luxembourg City, the Marguerita (tomato sauce, mozzarella fior di latte, EVO oil, basil) is €15. The most expensive pizza is the Tartufata (truffle cream, mozzarella fior di latte, stracciatella, artichoke hearts, Umbrian black truffle, and basil) at €31. On average, a pizza here costs around €22. At Bella Ciao, Place d'Armes, prices range from €12 for the Marguerita to €29 for the "King Truffle" (homemade truffle cream, mozzarella, grated truffle, basil, extra virgin olive oil). The average price of a pizza there is €18.30.

This kind of comparison has its limits: everything depends on the quality of the products used to make each pizza.

Chez Toni, pizzeria de Schifflange tenue par Déborah Ceccacci et ses parents Luigi et Sylvie, le prix moyen d'une pizza tourne autour de 16€. / © Raphaël Ferber / RTL

Moreover, at Toni's, they have also started offering "Gourmet" pizzas, with prices ranging from €21 to €32 for the "Mare & Monti" pizza (mozzarella, scampi, beef tagliata, mushrooms, spinach). This is a limited-time offer "that is very popular."

"We've been feeling the effects of inflation since the beginning of the year" Ceccacci explains: "Basically, raw materials cost us about 30% more than before. Our orders of €25,000 per month have risen to €36,000." According to her, oils and flour are the products most affected by inflation. Meat and fish are next, which is why other dishes have also become more expensive. "Italian products are slightly less affected than Luxembourgish products," she says.

However, it is impossible to pass on all the price increases from suppliers to customers. "That would be a disaster," the owners of Chez Toni tell our colleagues from RTL Infos. Cutting corners is likewise not an option either, as this would be "counterproductive." The restaurant owners say that while customers sometimes comment on the prices, most of them come back: "Everyone is affected, both them and us. We didn't raise prices arbitrarily… We've noticed that they consume a little less or differently."

The situation is all the more tense for the managers because the salaries of their employees are increasing due to wage indexation, just like bank interests. "We're all still reeling from the Covid-19 crisis," they add.

The Schifflange pizzeria, which has 19 employees including two pizza makers, must thus accept that its margins will shrink despite price increases. "Every day, we hope that the customers will continue to come," Ceccacci concludes.

From a few cents to a €1.50 increase on pizzas

Constatant que ses marges "n'étaient plus bonnes", Stéphane Carissimi, à Metz, a augmenté les prix d'une grande partie de sa carte en début d'année. / © Raphaël Ferber / RTL

In Metz, Stéphane Carissimi has been self-employed for 32 years. He established two pizzerias in Woippy and Devant-lès-Ponts, both of which only offer delivery and take-away, and which are now run by his wife and one of his sons. At 52, Stéphane runs the restaurant in En Fournirue with seven employees, almost all family members. He has had to raise all of his prices since the beginning of the year. According to him, he was even tardy to react to inflation.

"When Covid-19 was over, there was no time to think. People were overjoyed about the opening of restaurants. We didn't have five minutes to ourselves," he says. However, the cost of raw materials had already risen. "After a year, at the end of June, when I closed my balance sheet, my accountant pointed out that my margins were no longer good despite a good turnover," he explains.

As a result, Stéphane Carissimi checked the list of his purchases and, according to him, "couldn't believe what I was seeing." Everything had gone up "30, 40%," he says. "It started with oil and flour, and then everything. Even drinks, packaging, hygiene products… We didn't pay enough attention to all that," he admits. Like many restaurateurs in Luxembourg and beyond, the chef places "three quarters" of his orders at La Provençale in Luxembourg, the "Rungis of the Grand Duchy" (editor's note: Rungis is a huge international market on the outskirts of Paris).

"We have started to pass on inflation to our pizzas, between €1 and €1.50 more, sometimes just a few cents" he explains. The half pizza/half tomato and mozzarella salad option went from €14.30 to €16.90, or €2.60 more. The increase has been less significant in his other two takeaway pizzerias: "the charges aren't as high there."

Along with the pizzas, the price of meat has risen: "Our Involtini schnitzel, for example, has gone up from €21.90 to €28.90. We've also increased our beef entrecote to €29.90." Some customers have the means to afford this, others don't. Meanwhile, €30 is considered the minimum for an entrecote in Luxembourg. Maybe instead of eating it once a week, customers will eat it once a month. But I can't work at a loss. We'll see the results on the next balance sheet, but I know we're already better off."

When asked if the prices of some pizzas could exceed €20, like in Luxembourg, if raw material prices continue to rise, Carissimi replied "of course," pointing out that "the price of salmon, for example, has skyrocketed. We won't have a choice."

Tackling the Luxembourgish market with French prices

In Thionville, inflation has taken its toll on Acro Pizza. This small pizzeria located under the arcades of Boulevard Foch had been offering takeaway and delivery for about three years. It recently closed down. From 2015 to 2020, this pizzeria also operated as a restaurant outside of the city centre. Its main selling point: tasty pizzas at very reasonable prices.

Because of the rise in fuel prices, the owner was forced to discontinue free delivery at the start of the year. Since then, customers had to pay at least €2 for a delivery.

Dans la pizza depuis de nombreuses années dans le secteur de Thionville, Emmanuel Piccioli compte séduire la clientèle luxembourgeoise avec des tarifs attractifs. / © Raphaël Ferber/RTL

At the same time, he increased the prices of his pizzas by a few cents and in some cases by more than a euro. The Marguerite had risen from €7 to €8. The most expensive was the Buffala Campana, at €13.80. Most pizzas were sold for less than €11. As for the "mega" pizzas, with a diameter of 38cm, some had increased by more than 2€. Most were sold for between €17 and €18. "We weren't expensive enough," explains the manager of the pizzeria, who started his business in the Fensch Valley in 1996. But he remains committed to the idea of selling his pizzas at a reasonable price: "15€ for a pizza is still a lot", he says, when asked about the competition's prices.

Acro Pizza was quickly caught up by inflation. "Mozzarella, which used to cost €4.80 per kilo, has almost gone up to €9, including transport," he explains. "A pallet at €1,600 is now worth €2,400," he says. Tomato sauce, mushrooms, artichokes, bacon… "Everything has gone up."

Emmanuel Piccioli says he felt the tide start to turn around a year ago. At first, his business thrived not long after launch. "At first, the phone rang nonstop. We started with two delivery cars, then we quickly doubled," he says. But lately, "it's as if we were missing half of the calls from customers. We were doing about 40% less turnover," he says. The strong competition in Thionville did not help, where "pizzerias are opening as quickly as bakeries".

Piccioli's pizza ventures are far from over, in spite of the drop in turnover. He intends to reopen his restaurant Pizza Club in Fameck in mid-May, after it closed around eight years ago. The entrepreneur also launched an e-commerce business at the end of last year with Luxembourg in his sights. The "Italiadiffusion.lu" platform allows him to deliver pre-cooked pizzas from Fameck to the Grand Duchy, provided they are ordered a day in advance. "At the moment, we deliver up to a 50 kilometre radius around Dudelange," he explains.

Delivery is free from €15 and all orders contain instructions on reheating the meals. Businesses can make use of a small electric oven for free for up to a month. The pizza prices are slightly higher than the Moselle average, around €2 more, although none cost more than €15.

Convincing Luxembourg customers to buy at Moselle prices is also a challenge that has taken an unusual turn for Piccioli: "These days in Luxembourg, when you sell your pizzas for less than €15, people are wary and think they won't be good! That's a shame."