Posted on 05/28/2021 10:56:41 AM PDT by nickcarraway
For a long time, the only foods that were “delivery foods” were pizza and American Chinese food.
While American Chinese food delivery was largely taken on by independent restaurateurs, pizza delivery was backed by large companies like Domino’s, Pizza Hut and Papa John’s. Or, as we like to call them… ‘big pizza.’ Take a look at the history of these companies, and you’ll find that they depended on technology at every stage to make delivery timely and efficient.
Before big pizza got into the delivery game in the ’80s, pies were wrapped in blankets and driven to customers in cars. Sometimes, they were even delivered over an open flame (wild, we know!). But when big pizza companies began using heatproof technology and higher output ovens, the delivery game changed. It became a more streamlined, time-sensitive process.
Remember Domino’s “30 minutes or less” guarantee? Take a trip down memory lane.
Big pizza companies also pioneered online ordering as we know it. One of the first places to order food on the internet was a site called PizzaNet. When it went online in 1994, it was Pizza Hut’s foray into online orders and its competitors were not far behind.
We may not think of heatproof bags, rotating ovens and simple websites as cutting edge technology now, but at the time, they were groundbreaking. Domino’s, Pizza Hut and Papa John’s used these tools to build a logistics network to sell their pies. Eventually, they paved the way for third-party apps that so many people use to order food today (before he helped create the biggest third party delivery app in the country, DoorDash cofounder and CEO Tony Xu worked at Domino’s to understand how delivery worked!).
When you order a pizza from a major chain, it’s no small feat that your order arrives hot and ready to eat. Big pizza made that happen.
The latest episode of Dish City’s food delivery season is out now. Listen here or on your favorite podcast platform.
This is a public service announcement (from internet circa 1999):
A SPECIAL INVESTIGATION:
WHY WEST COAST PIZZA TASTES LIKE CRAP (excerpted)
- An Investigative Report From John Spaeth
https://wfmu.org/LCD/22/sucky_pizza.html
DID YOU KNOW:
The Arts & Entertainment weekly in Eugene, Oregon regularly chooses LITTLE CAESAR’S as the best pizza in the area, proving that local legend Ken Kesey’s Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test did indeed have severe repercussions.
What exactly is “heatproof technology”? Sounds kinda like rocks or dirt, which is what some of their pizza taste like.
Back in 1988 I was working as a manager in a local savings and loan. As we all know the S&L crisis basically obliterated this billion dollar industry. I was laid off. I had to make some money as I looked for a real job so I delivered for Domino’s Pizza.
Basically the pizza went from the oven into a cardboard box, into an insulated vinyl bag and was at the customers house in less than 30 minutes. Hot? No, but it was still warm and fresh.
I was delivering pizza in the early 80s...
Long before the handy insulated bags they have now.
We had a couple big metal boxes we plugged in and they would keep about 6 pizzas hot during delivery... We would get back plug in the empty box and put the full one in the car and head back out.
One hint to a mediocre or worse pizza parlor. If the place promotes itself as “Pizza and Wings”, that means the pizza is not good enough on its own. So, here in Phoenix I knew that “Streets of New York” Pizza and Wings was a not a New York City-style pizza place, but a bad fake.
What people take for granite.
It’s been 25 years since we lived close enough for pizza delivery. Hey, Moo, white folk live in food deserts but with different reasons.
Give me a true Chicago style pizza anytime.
Once the dominos start to fall, can little caesar billionaire gates be put in the oven, sliced like a pepperoni, deep dished in the ocean or hung like BIG MIKE?
It wasn’t pizza delivery but Kojak used a file cabinet and a light bulb once.
Everyone I know gets their pizza delivered by the local, non chain pizza shop. Nobody in their right mind would order from a chain store.
Italian Grandmas Try Frozen Pizza For The First Time
https://youtu.be/SHCeP5ozZi4?t=1
“The Arts & Entertainment weekly in Eugene, Oregon regularly chooses LITTLE CAESAR’S”
Now that is interesting. Rspecially since the owner of Little Caesars Pizza contributes heavily to veterans causes. He’s the only CEO of any pizza place that does that.
If conservatives read where the other CEOs contributed to their money, they would probably (maybe...) skip the other big chains.
Bull. I made and delivered pizzas for a shop in 1977 that had a Marshall Middleby oven that hit 750 degrees. And for deliveries we had purpose built styrofoam hot boxes that could hold 4 large pies.
L
PizzaNet!
I knew a guy in a midwest town that was served by what I assume was probably PizzaNet. You’d call an 800 number to place your order. Once your order was complete, the computer at the call center would call your local store to send them the order. It didn’t talk to a PERSON, at the store, there was a modem that answered the phone attached to a printer. The computers would connect, and the call center would send your order to the printer, and then the store would make/deliver your pizza.
This place had a ROCK SOLID no questions asked “30 minutes or it’s free” policy.
Anyway, my friend knew the phone number for the printer at his local shop, so as soon as he’d hang up the phone from ordering his pizza, he’d use HIS modem to call up the printer. Thereby keeping the line tied up. After 15 or so minutes, he’d disconnect. (After having send some garbage characters, and page-feeds to the printer). Then, the call center computer would connect, and send his order. Which was ALWAYS late. Free pizza no questions asked. (From time to time he’d just call up and tie up the printer when he HADN’T ordered, so that it wouldn’t be obvious)
This was all before caller ID and all of that of course.
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