Pi Day & the Expanding Pizza Market
Every March 14 aka 3/14 aka Pi Day is always a ton of fun with Pi jokes, discounts of pizzas and pies. But I wanted to look at some of the economics of Pi day and what we spend on that day.
First, some history thanks to Wikipedia. It was started in 1988 by Larry Shaw in San Fransisco. In 2009 a resolution was was past in the US House of representatives that made it national Pi day. And pretty soon you could get a pizza for $3.14 on the 14th of March. The first use of the Pi symbol was in 1706 and a guy named Rajveer Meena can recite Pi to 70,000 decimal places.
How about some pizza stats?!
In the US we consume 3 Billion pizzas a year which is about 9 pizzas per person per year.
30 Million slices are eaten every single day!
https://smokinoakpizza.com/smokin-news-blog/pi-day-14-pizza-statistics-to-celebrate-1702637664.html
The economics of that is huge and pizza is a growing industry. In 2024 the global pizza industry grew to almost $200 Billion and is expected to approach $500 Billion by 2033. Pizza is widely considered to be one of the most consumed items on the planet with 9” pizzas dominating the market share.
Covid 19 pandemic was a catalyst for pizza with delivery being a necessity and pizza being the original delivery food item. Covid also brought about a rise in the home pizza oven market and subsequent growth in gourmet pizza places as an alternative to the big chain pizza providers.
All in all, Pi Day is a ton of fun. Pizza is amazing! And pizza is a booming industry.