A Pizza Hut customer showcased and reviewed on TikTok everything she got from Pizza Hut, including a dinner box, a “Big New Yorker Double Pepperoni” pizza, and some boneless chicken wings, for $55.
In a video with over 338,000 views, TikTok user Duyen (@ilovefriedchikn) rated the items in her order.
“The dinner box was $13.99 when I ordered,” she explained in a comment. “So 14+13+9(chicken)+$2(sauces)+delivery+tip somehow came out to $54 something.”
@ilovefriedchikn My eyes are always hungrier than my stomach 😅😅 #pizzahut #pizza #wings #cheesybread #newyorkpizza #food #foodie #foodhaul #whatiorder #viral ♬ As It Was – Harry Styles
According to the caption on the video, Duyen seemed to think this was a lot of food. However, many commenters disagreed.
“$55 is crazy for that,” wrote a user. “They are mid at best.”
“I love Pizza Hut, it’s honestly my favorite pizza but they’re way too expensive,” said another.
“That looks like it’s worth $20 bucks including tip tax and delivery,” claimed a third.
“BRO PIZZA HUT CHARGING ITALY PIZZA PRICES WHILE THEY SERVIN MIDWEST PIZZA AT BEST,” joked an additional TikToker.
Many users lamented the rising cost of food in general.
According to the USDA, the “Consumer Price Index (CPI), a measure of economy-wide inflation…was up 6.4 percent from January 2022” through January 2023. Furthermore, “food prices were 10.1 percent higher than in January 2022.”
“I feel like prices are never going back down,” stated a user under Duyen’s video.
This commenter is likely correct.
As Laura Veldkamp, a professor of finance at Columbia Business School, explained to Marketplace.org, “When somebody sees that [for] their business the costs are too high, it’s become unprofitable — they’re pretty quick to recognize that and increase prices…But rarely does a person say, ‘Gosh, I’m making too much money. I better reduce those prices to solve that problem.’”
This could also be related to “premiumization,” a phenomenon recently documented by the New York Times in which businesses aim to earn more profit out of fewer individuals rather than rely on a higher volume of sales. This frequently means charging higher prices.
Back on TikTok, some users claimed that they didn’t mind the cost so long as they could get their pizza.
As one user put it, “Expensive! I don’t be caring tho, I be hungry.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Pizza Hut via media contact form and Duyen via email.
