Duke Teynor

Welcome back to The Food Chronicles! I'm your host [Name], and today we're diving into one of the world's most beloved foods—pizza. That's right, we're talking crispy crust, melted cheese, and endless topping possibilities. But where did pizza actually come from? Who's making billions from it? And what's really the difference between that frozen pizza in your freezer and the one you make from scratch?

Grab a slice, and let's dig in.

Let's start with the origin story, because pizza's history is way older—and more complicated—than you might think.

The word "pizza" first appeared in a Latin text from the Italian town of Gaeta back in 997 AD. But flatbreads with toppings? Those go back thousands of years. Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans all had their versions—basically bread with olive oil, herbs, and whatever else they had lying around.

But modern pizza as we know it? That's 100% Naples, Italy, specifically in the 18th and 19th centuries. Naples was a bustling, working-class port city, and street vendors started selling flatbreads topped with tomatoes—which, fun fact, Europeans originally thought were poisonous when they arrived from the Americas.

The game-changer came in 1889. King Umberto I and Queen Margherita visited Naples, and a pizza maker named Raffaele Esposito created a special pizza for them. He topped it with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil—representing the red, white, and green of the Italian flag. The queen loved it, and boom—Pizza Margherita was born.

Now, pizza stayed pretty regional until Italian immigrants brought it to America in the late 1800s. The first American pizzeria? Lombardi's, opened in New York City in 1905, and it's still operating today.

After World War II, American soldiers who'd been stationed in Italy came home craving pizza. That demand exploded, and the rest is delicious history.

Alright, let's talk money. Because pizza isn't just food—it's a massive global industry worth over $145 billion annually. So who's getting rich off our pizza obsession?

1. Domino's Pizza
The largest pizza chain in the world with over 19,000 locations across 90+ countries. They basically revolutionized pizza delivery with their tracking app and "30 minutes or less" promise—though they dropped the time guarantee after some... let's say "aggressive driving" incidents. Annual revenue? Around $4.5 billion.

2. Pizza Hut
The OG sit-down pizza chain, founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas. They've got about 18,000 locations worldwide. Pizza Hut pioneered the stuffed crust pizza in 1995, and yes, that's the one Donald Trump ate backwards in a commercial. Annual revenue: roughly $12 billion globally.

3. Papa John's
"Better ingredients, better pizza"—you know the slogan. About 5,500 locations worldwide. They're known for that little pepperoncini pepper in every box and for being extremely particular about their dough recipe. Annual revenue: around $2 billion.

4. Little Caesars
The "Hot-N-Ready" champions. They're actually the third-largest pizza chain in the U.S., with about 4,000 locations. Their business model is genius—pre-made pizzas ready to grab with no wait. Annual revenue: approximately $4.2 billion.

5. Independent and Regional Chains
Don't sleep on the local spots. Regional chains like Marco's Pizza, Hungry Howie's, and countless independent pizzerias make up a huge chunk of the market. In fact, independent pizzerias account for about 50% of all pizza restaurants in the U.S.

Then there's frozen pizza—an entire separate industry worth about $17 billion globally. The big names here are:

Now for the main event—what's actually different between store-prepared pizza and homemade? Let's break it down by category.

This is where chains win hands down.

So what's the bottom line?

The hybrid approach? Buy dough from a local pizzeria (many will sell it), use quality store-bought sauce, and add your own fresh toppings. Best of both worlds.

Here's something interesting: studies show people rate their own homemade pizza higher than chain pizza, even when blind taste tests show they're comparable. Why? Because we value the effort and personalization. Making pizza is an experience, not just a meal.

At the end of the day, pizza is pizza. Whether it's a $5 frozen disc, a $30 artisan masterpiece, or something you burned slightly in your home oven—it's all good.

The beautiful thing about pizza? It's democratic. It works at every price point, every skill level, every occasion. From ancient Naples to modern-day delivery apps, pizza has evolved but stayed fundamentally the same: bread, sauce, cheese, and whatever makes you happy.

So next time you're deciding between ordering or making your own, you'll know exactly what you're getting into.

That's it for today's episode of The Food Chronicles. If you enjoyed this, subscribe, leave a review, and let me know—are you team delivery, team homemade, or team frozen? I want to hear your pizza opinions.

Until next time—stay hungry, stay curious.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5Y4aIffiIgN0aMNIukKB23?si=E2LaHc6dQaeqKXrjgmORfw