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Cheese Prices May Makes Your Pizza Less Cheesy

Steep Prices Have Pizza Industry Crying In The Mozzarella

Posted: 12:40 p.m. EDT September 3, 2001

MADISON -- Forget "Where's-the-beef?" High mozzarella prices may leave you asking "Where's the cheese?"

Pizza parlor bosses are giving employees a new edict when it comes to managing the mozzarella -- don't waste, it's not cheap.

While cheese prices fluctuate like any other commodity, high costs this summer are eating into the pizza industry's bottom line.

Cheese accounts for nearly half of a pizza's cost, which makes restaurateurs extremely sensitive to price changes. And few in the industry are willing to buy in advance because the market is so volatile.

In their second-quarter earnings reports, Pizza Hut and Domino's cited higher cheese costs as a factor for lower operating margins.

Papa John's International says it expects to pay more for cheese later this year, which will pressure margins. Smaller players have been squeezed even more.

-- Anonymous, September 04, 2001