Dilliwallas cannot do without their pizzas

One might like oodles of cheese on a thick crust or very less cheese on a thin crust. The choices vary from one individual to another, but the ultimate agenda is to relish the pizza to the last bite. Sinful as it may sound, there is nothing when it comes to replacing a good pizza with any other comfort food. And Delhiites, being certified foodies, have proved how important their pizza is for them!

In a recent survey conducted by foodpanda.in on pizza-ordering trends in the country, it was astonishing to read that the maximum orders for pizzas came from Delhi/NCR (45%), followed by Bengaluru (27%), Mumbai (8%) and Hyderabad (6%).

“The survey includes all pizza orders placed on foodpanda website in the last three months. The analysis revealed that people prefer comfort food when it comes to takeaway or home delivery,” says Rohit Chadda, MD and Co-Founder, Foodpanda.in informing that pizzas are on the top of the list of must haves.

“Moreover, we found that Pune, despite having a young crowd, doesn’t really prefer pizzas. One of the reasons could be the high average pizza price in a city where eating out and ordering in is comparatively cheaper than NCR, Mumbai and Bangalore.”
The average price of a pizza is the highest in Pune at Rs 480, followed by Gurgaon at Rs 415. Yet, this is no deterrent to people who can do without their daily slice of this comfort food. Chadda adds that during the survey it was noticed that “when it comes to Pizza, people prefer to play safe with regular choices from Pizza Hut and Domino’s. However, a significant number of people, especially in central and south Delhi and Gurgaon order from gourmet pizza places like Amici Cafe, Fat Lulu’s etc.”

When Metrolife approached Pizza Hut, Sanjiv Razdan, general manager, Pizza Hut and Restaurant Excellence said, “Customers like Pizza Hut for its amazing taste and variety of pizzas that are available at great value for money. With 90 of its 340 restaurants located in Delhi NCR, Pizza Hut is indeed a popular choice with Delhiites.”

But is it just the number of outlets that matter or is there more, especially when it comes to preferences between vegetarian and non-vegetarian options? 

A study of the trends in the survey reveals that Delhiites love their pizzas with a lot of wholesome veggie toppings. Therefore, the Country Feast and Veggie Lovers pizzas have emerged as favourites among most foodies.

To know the inside story, Metrolife spoke to brand chef Bakul Kodikal at California Pizza Kitchen in Gurgaon who informs that he himself is surprised to see “the sales of vegetarian pizzas in north India” since he started working at this eatery.

“Our California Veggie Pizza is the top-selling in our menu. It has Broccoli, grilled zucchini, baby corn, red onions, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, and Mozzarella on multigrain with our spicy marinara sauce. Apart from this, even the Fire roasted veg pizza is selling good. But we don’t keep many Indianised pizzas, because people come to us looking more for Californian flavours,” he adds hinting Delhiites like chicken in their curries but not on their pizzas!