What percentage of pizzas ordered in the US are plain (no toppings)?

Hello emnits,

This certainly was a difficult question to research.  I called
numerous pizza organizations in the United States and in Canada only
to have them refer to the same statistics without a verifiable source.
 I finally found the exact survey you're looking for via a public
polling research database:

The 1991 Princeton Survey Research Associates survey of 600
participants from Febuary 28 to March 3 showed that 2% of Americans
who order pizza preferred plain (i.e. no topping) pizza.  This survey
was sponsored by Troika Productions and Lifetime Television.  The top
topping was pepperoni at 37% which is confirmed by the National
Association of Pizza Operators, the large pizza umbrella organization
for the United States.
http://www.pizzatoday.com
http://www.miatco.org/buyers/mw_foods/mw_product_guide.htm#Pizza
Washington Post:  Page C11, July 28, 2000, Friday "Global Pizza"
The New York Times: Section 6; Page 43; Column 2, November 1, 1998,
Sunday, "The Likes and Dislikes of Today's Everyfamily"
http://www.iserv.net/~fricanos/trivia.htm
http://pizzaware.com/facts.htm
http://www.the-signal.com/editorial/boston/0401/040701.html

For a physical copy of statistics, Franchisehelp Inc. profiles several
market leaders in pizza and offers very detailed reports for $70.  The
information provided on the website do not state whether or not
topping statistics are included.  Reports can arrive in 48 hours or
less:
http://www.franchisehelp.com/web2000/sandwich2001.htm

I telephoned the National Association of Pizza Operators for a copy of
their surveys, and am awaiting a call back for a physical link to
their stats.

I hope this is the info you required, emnits.  If you require
additional info, please post a clarification and I will provide all
the research I have accumulated.

Good luck in your trivia!
carwfloc-ga


References used:
Roper Center for Public Opinion Research
The New York Times Index
LEXIS-NEXIS Statistical Universe
The phone

this was exactly what i needed.  thanks so much for your timeliness
and dedication!!!

Dear Questioner,
                  Did you really mean to pay $75.00 for this question.
Firstly the maximum was $50 I thought and could not be advanced upon;
so how did you manage it and why??  Also perhaps of minor interest is
that plain pizza is very popular in my country but we call it by the
Italian name of FOCCACHIA; at lesat that is what I think Foccacia is,
just plain pizza. however they usually make one change to seperate the
look of foccachia from pizza and that is to roll it up like a sausage
shape and cut it into pieces when hot from the oven.
  Is this the same as in USA?? If not perhaps I can email you a piece
of hot foccachia so that you can see and try for yourself!!

Google prompted up to $100...$75 was easily worth the speedy response I got.

A fairly unrelated slice of pizza trivia...


The Australian Supreme pizza, from nearly all our franchised or
independant pizza makers, includes pineapple.

Pizza Hut's Super Supreme pizzas,(according to
http://www.pizzahut.com.au/) includes pineapple in its list of
toppings.
 
According to (http://www.pizzahut.com/menu_home.asp), this is not the
case in the US.

Domino's Australia also offer a pineapple-laden Supreme
(http://www.dominos.com.au/web_pub_site/content/pizza_menu/pizzamenu.asp)
I believe the US equivalent is the Domino's Deluxe Feast, which has
similar topping, omitting the pineapple!

We ARE a pineapple growing nation.  Check out www.bigpineapple.com.au
for more info on an Aussie icon.

Interesting, no?
Araminty

There's a big difference, surely, between the percentage of Americans
whose *preferred* pizza is plain, and the percentage of pizzas sold
which are plain.

My favourite pizza topping is bacon, sausage and egg; but often I'm
not hungry enough, or I'm short on cash, and I order a plain pizza.
I'm sure I'm not alone in this.

I would be very surprised if the percentage of plain pizzas ordered
and served in the US is really 2%. Anecdotal evidence, and the
evidence of my own eyes in pizzerias anywhere, suggests that far more
are sold.

Just some thoughts,

grimace