Pizza is considered a cheap food … in the United States. Pizza in Canada may be relatively cheap but expensive compared to the United States.
Over the many years we have tracked Canadian ads through MLB Extra Innings or NHL Center Ice, we have noticed the shockingly high prices of pizza in Canada. The pizzas in the ads didn't look that great and the prices were through the roof.
You would see side deals involving soft drink bottles and movie tickets to make the pizza seem not as expensive.
The usual explanation for why pizza in Canada is more expensive is the cost of high-quality Canadian cheese. This explains stories every few years about pizza cheese shenanigans in Canada.
There are conditions to get a pizza in Canada for $7.99 or a similar low price. You have to buy multiple pizzas or provide a code or know the sale is for a very limited time.
Little Caesar's is offering a classic with Crazy Bread for $7.99. Pizza Hut is offering a buy one, get one free pizza. Domino's is offering unlimited, 2-topping pizzas for $7.99. Greco is offering the $7.99 12" mediums when you buy 2 or more pizzas with regular toppings.
Farmers benefit more than consumers with Canada supply management
CUSMA | USMCA aka NAFTA 2.0 allowed cheaper, lesser quality American-based cheese to come into Canada. We don't know for certain, but that is the most logical reasoning behind the sudden arrival of cheaper pizza in Canada.
Domino's mentions Canadian cheese. Are the pizza companies using a mix of Canadian and American-based cheese? Are they using Canadian cheese only but desperate to lure customers over to pizza?
There is (sadly) the possibility that some Canadians don't care that their pizza cheese is American. They may think a cheaper price on a pizza in Canada is worth eating inferior cheese. They may like Canadian cheese but not at the prices they were paying.
Normally, your humble narrator would weigh in on the experience of eating pizza in Canada and compare this to the American standards. Unfortunately, due to an intolerance to mozzarella cheese, I am sadly not the expert. I can vouch for the Crazy Bread since there is no mozzarella.
Pandemic pizza is not a thing but can imagine that pizzas are more popular in a pandemic since you don't have to cook and pizzas come pretty quickly to your home. Having cheaper pizza is an advantage if you lost your job and/or CERB (and similar programs) not stretching far enough.
Canada milk producers threatened with invasion of cheaper American milk
BalanceofFood.com Canada coverage
As our sibling blog — BalanceofFood.com — would note, quality food does cost more. The question for Canadian dairy is whether the quality is worth the higher prices.
If our American readers crossed over to Canada to eat better quality cheese on Canadian pizzas, we wish you much luck in finding that once the border has reopened. Perhaps a local pizza chain might do better than a national chain.
CanadianCrossing.com trade coverage
The quality of food in North America is not as easy to find as opposed to Europe. You search more and you definitely pay more. Wages haven't kept up in North America so the pressure of cheap food is a reality for most people on the continent. Would be a shame to lose something that is of quality and distinctly Canadian thanks to a lame trade deal that dumped cheap cheese in Canada.
photo credit: Greco pizza
video credits: individual pizza companies
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