Making the classic Margherita pizza at home just got more costly. It’s no longer the cheap and easy dish to whip up in your kitchen. While the price power of pizza is staying low, the cost of mozzarella and olive oil is skyrocketing.
Comparing the price of what it would be to make pizza at home one year ago is shocking. Acquiring ingredients and the steep cost of energy have caused homemade pizza to rise by 25% in the past year. The data has been collected from Istat and Economy Ministry Data.
However, comparing the data month over month, the price increase has started to slow. Currently, the ingredients necessary to make pies at home match the price in November, which peaked at about a 30% increase. The overall cost of pizza is surpassing the current inflation rate, which is all driven by the cost of food/ingredients and energy. Overall, the current increase is 10.7% over the previous year.
Here is a breakdown of the rising costs for ingredients:
- Flour rose 20.6% in a year and 0.7% per month
- Mozzarella rose 27.6% in the last year and rose 2.0% in the last month
- Tomatoes rose 1.1% in total over the last year but rose 2.1% in the last month
- Olive oil rose 20.5% over the course of a year and 5.4% per month
- Electricity rose 88.8% in the last year but fell 12.4% recently.
It’s no surprise that the price of take-away pizza has also increased. Ordering from a pizzeria has risen by 9.6% in the last year. It is now more convenient to go to the store and buy a frozen or pre-made pizza than it is to make a pizza from scratch or order from your local pizzeria.
AJ Forrisi
Assistant Editor for America Domani, AJ Forrisi is a Brooklyn-based writer and photographer. His work focuses on food, travel, sports, landscapes, and urban scenes. You can find him on Instagram @aj.photo.works.