Seriously Though How Does Little Caesars Still Make A Good Hot N Ready Pizza?
I was driving home last night from O'Hare airport when I see the Little Caesar's pizza at 3135 W Addison and almost crash. Right there in plain view $5.99 Hot N Ready Come And Get It with the same killer logo Little Caesar's has always been fucking with.
It wasn't in GIF form but you get it. Our little roman friend in his orange toga slinging pizzas with authority while the $5.99 in LARGE Tacoma font hangs off the side of the building flapping in the early March wind. And generally speaking, there's really nothing special about this Little Caesar's much less any other Little Caesar's but the overwhelming peace of mind that they're operating on the thinnest margins made available in the Food Industry. I mean they'd have too right? Nearly two decades of $5 pizzas literally ALWAYS being available and ALWAYS being delicious means really two critical business areas where Little Caesar's doesn't take a back seat to anyone
INVENTORY - You hear me talk about "inventory" a lot on Dog Walk Snake Drafts but rarely do we every talk about actual physical inventory like in the way you'd expect from your local inactive Certified Public Accountant. And on that front I never really was a LIFO or FIFO or any of that shit kinda guy. Personally FIFO makes sense on an ethical level when serving food but I won't tell LC how to run the books.
My point is actually much more about the day-to-day physical inventory management. It's not like Walmart where they have tens of billions or R&D at work stocking shelves, leveraging algorithms and using statistically selected fulfillment centers. No way my friends. We're talking about the hot and quick turnaround under one small roof that's so reliable, they've got Dominoe's sweating their own out the 10-k
The quick service restaurant pizza category and the food service and food delivery markets in general are highly competitive and such competition could adversely affect our operating results…..
In the U.S., we compete primarily against regional and local companies as well as national chains Pizza Hut®, Papa John’s ® and Little Caesars Pizza®.
So I'm not completely alone sitting here patting LC on the back with their ability to stick around the QSR conversation deep into the 2nd decade of a hot and ready strategy. It's amazing when you think really how simple it is.
From a Not Too Long Ago Press Release:
GLOBE NEWSWIRE -- Little Caesar of Canada, the pizza chain known for the Hot-N-Ready® pepperoni pizza, announced it is making lives more convenient with an Unbeatable Nationwide Price1 — the $5.99 Classic.
The medium, round pizza is topped with the chain’s proprietary fresh, never-frozen cheese blend and a bounty of pepperoni slices.
“We offer delicious pizzas made with our highest quality ingredients, all at an affordable price.” Little Caesars® makes its dough fresh from scratch every day, and tops its pizzas with sauce made from fresh-packed, vine-ripened California crushed tomatoes.The Little Caesars $5.99 Classic pizza is available Hot-N-Ready® all day, every day at participating Little Caesars locations in Canada, plus tax where applicable.
Not even pointing out the clear obvious point that $5-5.99 for a two-man pizza is the single best deal in the game. Spare me your counterpoints. But if you mix in the time they've been doing it and the consistency, them the wheels really start spinning. Fresh tomatoes? Never frozen ingredients? Even McDonald's Double Cheese Burgers are up 110% in most select markets, and those debuted in lock-step with the Hot N Readys.
That brings me to my next and final point that legitinately has me believing the LIttle Caesar's pizza people are the smartest finance pizza people in the game.
Input Costs - Is the Little Caesar's Hot N Ready a completely vertically integrated supply chain? Like do they own the mozz farms and the flour companies? Do they own or at least own the leasing company that distributes the raw materials? How are they able to buy so much dough and pepperoni on a month to month basis knowing that they have to sell soooooo many fucking pizzas just to break even. I wouldn't be surprised if it was March 20-26th before their corporate team started to see the big gains from a decent month. Everything up to that point has to be completely nerve-racking unless there's something about the QSR Hot N Ready scene that I'm completely missing? To me this seems like a tough business.
Again that's just me.
In the even someone from Little Caesar's corporate can help me get a better feel for your success, please don't hesitate to reach out. I'm truly astonished with your commitment to consistency and tireless execution. I'm at carl@barstoolsports.com if you ever want to talk pie.