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California Pizza Huts lay off all delivery drivers ahead of minimum wage increas

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Re: California Pizza Huts lay off all delivery drivers ahead of minimum wage increas

#91
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Are temp workers for DoorDash et al. paid the new fast food minimum wage when performing contract work for fast food businesses in California? Yes and no, if my understanding of the current CA gig economy is correct. They will be guaranteed $20 an hour (edit: plus a 20% premium?) while picking up and delivering , but earn nothing while waiting to receive an order to work on. This may seem bad on the surface, but ma…

$20/hour regardless of whether it’s Best Buy or McDonalds, though?

Good question.

Definitely not Best Buy. There is only an increase for fast food workers and certain health care workers.

Not sure whether food delivery gig work will fall under “fast food”. Probably not.

Note that I think most of the CA people make 19+ an hour for “pick up and delivery” already. $16 an hour plus $3.20 for the gig bump plus mileage (and tax write offs).

Re: California Pizza Huts lay off all delivery drivers ahead of minimum wage increas

#92
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$20/hour regardless of whether it’s Best Buy or McDonalds, though?

Good question. Definitely not Best Buy. There is only an increase for fast food workers and certain health care workers. Not sure whether food delivery gig work will fall under “fast food”. Probably not. Note that I think most of the CA people make 19+ an hour for “pick up and delivery” already. $16 an hour plus $3.20 for the gig bump plus mileage (and tax write offs).

So, then, if California’s new law fails to pierce the subcontracting veil, then this arbitrage loophole is valid:

Pizza Whatever Corp outsources delivery for $X less per hour than a fast food worker would cost, either pocketing the difference in wages rather than paying it to workers as the state intended, and/or undercutting the prices of any competitors still using delivery employees.

I imagine there would be interesting outcomes from filing unpaid wages claims with the California m labor department against Doordash and other temp agencies for the difference between hourly wages paid and fast food worker hourly wages owed, when performing delivery services for fast food businesses that are in-scope for the law.

Re: California Pizza Huts lay off all delivery drivers ahead of minimum wage increas

#93
post #58

perhaps Pizza Hut has a product that is total garbage that nobody wants anymore anyway?

I'm not sure how people eat there anymore, even as a guilty pleasure. The ingredients got worse (cheaper ingredients, no whole milk mozz) and the dough, from what I understand, is shipped frozen, not made in store. Even in the 90s their pizza sent me running to the bathroom it had so much oil in it.

even in the 90's "Pizza Hut" made Dominoes look like Arturo's on Houston Street. This is like a non-food product created in the most cynical way as some kind of corporate feed trough for extremely nutritionally impoverished people.

Re: California Pizza Huts lay off all delivery drivers ahead of minimum wage increas

#94
post #20

What surprises me is that all states with high minimum wage (CA, WA, OR, etc.) are the ones with the most homelessness; while all others do not have homelessness, drugs, and other sort of problems; or at least, not to the magnitude of high-wages states. Probably because low-wage jobs are necessary for the lower class to find jobs.

Shameless politicized spitballing.

Re: California Pizza Huts lay off all delivery drivers ahead of minimum wage increas

#95

Perhaps Yum Brands has the data to back this up, but it seems quite a silly response that feels more political/ideological than based on sound economics. BIL was COO of a pizza chain. The cost for a large pizza was around $1.50 - even for pricey toppings and gluten free bread. Labor is cheap at ~60 seconds per pie. Biggest costs was rent. A $5 raise could be absorbed across and then some with a 10¢ increase in price…

$1.50 for ingredients, 1 minute of labor? I am skeptical of those numbers, and "my brother in law says" is not a reliable source. Costco charges $10 for a whole pizza (which you pick up, no delivery). Given their business model, I suspect that number is pretty close to the actual cost of production.

I make pizza at home, to be honest with 10 euros i make 6-7 pizzas, and the issue would be just that the dough finishes, adding 1.50 euros for another kilo would make for another 6-7 pizzas.

now its italian prices so might need adjustments but lets see

50 cents yeast 1 euro flour 50 cents salt 2 euros tomato passata 1kg 50 cents basil

The rest mozzarella

Now you might want to go over budget a bit and get some olive oil that is expensive, but you just put half a tablespoon per pizza so…

Making pizza is really good business with high margins

Re: California Pizza Huts lay off all delivery drivers ahead of minimum wage increas

#96

Perhaps Yum Brands has the data to back this up, but it seems quite a silly response that feels more political/ideological than based on sound economics. BIL was COO of a pizza chain. The cost for a large pizza was around $1.50 - even for pricey toppings and gluten free bread. Labor is cheap at ~60 seconds per pie. Biggest costs was rent. A $5 raise could be absorbed across and then some with a 10¢ increase in price…

> Perhaps Yum Brands has the data This is a decision made by two large California franchisees. Yum Brands was quoted in the original BI article that they had nothing to do with this. > Pizza Hut, owned by the Taco Bell parent company Yum! Brands, said the company was "aware of the recent changes to delivery services at certain franchise restaurants in California." > "Our franchisees independently own and operate thei…

I had to look up whether PacPizza LLC was just a subsidiary of YUM for California or something else when I read the article. IMO pointing out that this is a franchise, even if it’s a big one, is probably significant information that shouldn’t have been left out of the article.

Re: California Pizza Huts lay off all delivery drivers ahead of minimum wage increas

#97
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If rent is the predominate cost, why do pizza delivery only ghost kitchens not take off? Doesn’t matter where it’s made, just where the customer is. You could make them in a shipping container dropped in a big box parking lot with a roll up door for delivery drivers to load their trunk, like Spirit Halloween for pizza. What am I missing? You don't need a robot pizza machine, you need an operating model where rent doe…

They basically are ghost kitchens already. Who eats at a pizzeria? The last time I can remember doing so in like 2 decades was in NYC. They have the store fronts so people can pick up rather than deliver.

Dominos and PJ’s have more famously been known for counter service in the States. When I say counter service I mean that some stores will have some uncomfortable benches and tables but otherwise make little effort to cater to dine-in guests. Usually a dominos or PJ’s looks a lot like a little Caesar’s or your typical walk up takeaway restaurant in Europe, you’ll have a counter, a register, and maybe a table or two if you’re lucky. Always extremely bright angry lights as well.

Pizza Hut has for many years in a lot of locations maintained more of a restaurant focused approach, often serving AYCE buffet as a destination with proper booths and table service. They have a bunch of retro styled locations in the States that still offer that experience. There’s a pretty neat one that I like in Fredericksburg, TX. The full list of classic locations that I know of is here: https://rolandopujol.substack.com/p/the-retrologists-guide-t...

Re: California Pizza Huts lay off all delivery drivers ahead of minimum wage increas

#98
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

or maybe the states you listed have relatively mild winters, good social programs, and liberal (as in liberty, not as in libs) mindset.

Florida, Texas don't have mild winters?

I think you might have replied to my comment before reading past the first 10 words.

Re: California Pizza Huts lay off all delivery drivers ahead of minimum wage increas

#99
post #38

Perhaps Yum Brands has the data to back this up, but it seems quite a silly response that feels more political/ideological than based on sound economics. BIL was COO of a pizza chain. The cost for a large pizza was around $1.50 - even for pricey toppings and gluten free bread. Labor is cheap at ~60 seconds per pie. Biggest costs was rent. A $5 raise could be absorbed across and then some with a 10¢ increase in price…

I wouldn't be surprised if with the rise of Uber Eats / Doordash, they were wanting to get out of the business of first-party deliveries anyway, and saw the wage increase as a final straw. I can't imagine that these companies particularly want to be in the business of last-mile logistics, so much as that historically it was a very complimentary business to selling pizza. Now that companies have sprung up around a com…

“…the wage increase as a final straw.”

This is what I was thinking. I don’t live/work in CA, but restaurants in NY who self-deliver also have to consider the high cost of Insurance for delivery drivers compared to the availability of third-party delivery agents.

Re: California Pizza Huts lay off all delivery drivers ahead of minimum wage increas

#100
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If rent is the predominate cost, why do pizza delivery only ghost kitchens not take off? Doesn’t matter where it’s made, just where the customer is. You could make them in a shipping container dropped in a big box parking lot with a roll up door for delivery drivers to load their trunk, like Spirit Halloween for pizza. What am I missing? You don't need a robot pizza machine, you need an operating model where rent doe…

They basically are ghost kitchens already. Who eats at a pizzeria? The last time I can remember doing so in like 2 decades was in NYC. They have the store fronts so people can pick up rather than deliver.

Ay least in Chicago, pizzeria pubs are pretty popular around the city. Never had NYC pizza but the Chicago variety has been very tasty to me.
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