Dive Brief:
- Marco’s Pizza is adding a new class of permanent, handheld menu items. The Pizzoli is a core of meat, sauce and cheeses rolled up in dough and baked, in what Marco’s described as a cross between pizza and stromboli.
- Marco’s new menu item comes in four varieties: Pepperoni, Buffalo Chicken, Pepperoni & Sausage and Chicken Bacon Ranch.
- Rival pizza chains have recently added handheld items to their menus, as competition in the sector heats up over the lunch daypart and on-the-go consumers. Pizza Hut, Papa Johns, and Mod Pizza have added variations of handheld pizza — generally resembling hybrids of pizza and calzones — in the last year.
Dive Insight:
As Marco’s takes aim at Papa Johns, the brand is looking to speed up development and sharpen its competitive edge against other rivals, too.
The Pizzoli is designed to strengthen Marco’s value proposition for off-premise diners, according to the press release. The new menu category is an option for “every eating occasion at home, at work or on-the-go – as a sidekick for pizza, as a grab-and-go lunch alternative, as a satisfying late-night snack, or as a convenient catering option for a gathering or event,” Marco’s Chief Marketing Officer Denise Lauer said in a statement.
The Pizzolis are priced at $5.99 for a limited time, per the release. In a recent interview, Marco’s Chief Development Officer Gerardo Flores discussed how the reputation of its food is a key element in Marco’s development strategy. He said the chain’s biggest advertising mission is to get new customers to try its food, something the Pizzolis may aid.
On-the-go menu items could prove attractive to late-night crowds, as well. QSR chains have generally seen late-night traffic grow in recent quarters. Pizza Hut announced an expansion of its operating hours at thousands of U.S. stores earlier this month, and data collected by Placer.ai shows the late-night daypart is growing its traffic share at many chains.
