The Art of Pizza – Delivery Times

As a hungry person, the last thing you want to hear from a pizza place is:  2 hour wait, heck even a 30-45 minute wait is almost intolerable. Does it really take 30 minutes to BAKE a pizza?  

That’s enough to make anyone vicious. And, I’ve been that hungry customer. I mean sometimes you’re close enough to walk and they are telling you 2 hours!

How dare they?!

[INSERT NASTY EXPLETIVES]

Here’s the catch:

Me, you, anyone – are not their only customer – not during rush hours. I know, it’s almost a tragedy. I hated admitted it and saying it, but it does need to be said.

Years ago, heck almost a decade ago – I worked for a major pizza chain. One of the top complaints was the delivery time (along with delivery zones, that’s another blog for another time). What would I hear?

“It doesn’t take 30 minutes to get across the street; I can walk over there in 10 minutes”

“What do you mean 2 hours? It doesn’t take that long – you obviously don’t know what you’re doing …”

Or things along that line … main thing – people had no idea why we had such long delivery times. Even as a customer, I didn’t understand it. I couldn’t fathom it.  

In February 2005, I got a job at one of the top #3 pizza chains in the nation. I was thrust from being the customer to be the one the customer yells at.

As of note, I NEVER threatened the life of or ABUSED any of the personnel at the pizza store. NEVER. That is above and beyond stupid.

Anyway …

As I said … most of the complaints centered on those who couldn’t understand the quoting of delivery times and length. And, I truly understood the problem, having been a problem for me. But, working there I soon understood.  

So what is THE PROBLEM?

The pizzas that are delivered are usually made scratch – from the dough ball/patty (shaping it), to saucing, cheesing, topping, and putting it into the oven. The goal is 1-2 minutes per item for “making it” – this even includes bread sides, desserts, and chicken items.  

Pizza crusts at the places I worked at started as a dough ball. It had to be stretched out to make the “skin” – then it was sauced, cheesed, topped, put in the oven, put it in a box, cut, and given to the driver. Then the driver has to take it to the residence (traffic time).

Now here’s the timetable:

2 minutes make

8 minutes bake

2 minutes cut/box

18 minutes route/transport (driver assigned delivery/ has to look up route on map/    in car/drives to location/parks/locates apartment or          house/ has to wait for    customer to open door)

Total time: 30 minutes

That’s the “ideal” situation. But, not everything is ideal. Not at all. Yes, if you live closer to the store – your delivery could be 20 minutes. But, it depends on the traffic – oh and for those in gated communities … if the driver doesn’t have the code, they have to wait for someone to let them in or follow another resident in. I’ve tried calling the customer (no response – either in bedroom or elsewhere) and had to wait 5-10 minutes for someone to enter and let me follow in. That adds to the delivery time.

So, why does it take 2 hours?

I worked at one store where EVERY SINGLE NIGHT during the “rush” (heavy, non-stop order period) was 100+ items down – in other words, we had over 100 items to make.

The customer ordering items 101-102 (pizza, bread side, chicken side) – saying the items took 1 minute to make – it wouldn’t be made for almost two hours! That’s right. 1 hour and 41-42 minutes – that’s with a fully staffed store.

Now, add in the bake time for items (7-8 minutes) and you’ve got one heck of a wait. Box, cut, and route the driver (meaning they have to be assigned the delivery and then “plan the route” to your residence) – it adds up.

When the driver finally leaves and finally arrives to the door – nearly 2 hours.  

Carry-out on those nights was just as bad – 30-45 minutes, sometimes an hour.

There was no end of requests of “hey can you please expedite it, how much does that cost …” other things like that. And, sadly we couldn’t do that.  

So, to answer  “does it really take 30 minutes to BAKE a pizza?” Yes ... and sometimes longer depending on if there are “timed” orders in the middle of the rush.

It was definitely a learning experience, and it wasn’t a job I’d EVER want to do again … however, I am extremely grateful for the experience and knowledge – so, I do try to share it.