---
title: "What is wrong with the pizza market?"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/d1700063-26c3-4533-8999-88e77785cb78
source: "Restaurant Business"
original_url: https://restaurantbusinessonline.com/financing/what-wrong-pizza-market
category: "Pizza"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Pizza"
published: 2026-05-20T19:03:46.000Z
modified: 2026-10-31T14:44:00.057Z
image: https://cdn.informaconnect.com/platform/files/public/2026-05/background/generated-image%20%282%29%20%281%29.png?VersionId=jgT1o2.lShfCIfgo6Mxv8tECfkhDEYE1
---

# What is wrong with the pizza market?

**TL;DR:** Fast-food pizza chains saw sales decline last year, with fast-casual pizza chains experiencing an even greater decline. The decline is attributed to growing competition from third-party delivery and pressure on lower-income consumers.

*originally published in Restaurant Business on 2026-05-20. [Read the original](https://restaurantbusinessonline.com/financing/what-wrong-pizza-market).*

## Story

Why are fast-food pizza chains struggling?

This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Robert Byrne, senior director of consumer research with Technomic.

Byrne and I spend the entire time discussing the state of the pizza market. Fast-food pizza chain sales declined last year, and fast-casual pizza chain sales declined even further.

We look at the factors behind that decline, including the growing competition from third-party delivery, pressure on lower-income consumers and other factors. We also discuss where pizza customers are visiting instead.

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## Entities

- QSR (sector)
- Restaurant Business (publication)
- Technomic (company)
- third-party delivery (topic)
- sales decline (topic)
- pizza market (topic)
- Robert Byrne (person)
- consumer pressure (topic)

---
Originally reported by Restaurant Business (https://restaurantbusinessonline.com/financing/what-wrong-pizza-market). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/d1700063-26c3-4533-8999-88e77785cb78).