Note: A version of this story was originally published on Franchise Times, a sibling publication of Food On Demand. Accompanying photos by Adley Haywood.
Another year, another so-so performance across the board for pizza.
The off-premises pizza segment can tentatively celebrate, with total sales up 1.6 percent to 40.7 billion in 2025, according to the Franchise Times Top 400, an exclusive ranking of the largest franchise brands by systemwide sales.
It’s a much-needed push in the right direction as the segment slowly builds off 2024’s 0.9 percent sales growth.
As expected, pizza’s big three—No. 8 Domino’s, No. 13 Pizza Hut and No. 24 Papa Johns—led the charge on sales, combining for $37.8 billion or nearly 93 percent of the off-premises pie.
That doesn’t mean sales statistics were all positive, seen with Pizza Hut’s 2.4 percent sales decline to $12.8 billion. The red-roofed chain has struggled in recent years, falling out of the $13 billion-club this past year and on the sales decline since 2023. Unit count followed suit with a net loss of 251 units.
Yum Brands began exploring a sale of Pizza Hut late last year. In August, Yum announced LongRange Capital would be buying Pizza Hut U.S. and other assets while Yum China Holdings would purchase the Mainland China business, in a total deal valuation of $2.7 billion.
For the third consecutive year, Pizza Hut landed at No. 13 on the Top 400 list.
Domino’s updated its popular Domino’s Tracker earlier this year with new AI technology and a refreshed appearance.
Domino’s fell one spot on the Top 400, though the brand continues its win streak as the top sales grower in off-premises pizza, up 5.2 percent to $20.1 billion. Its net unit count rose by 776, a 3.6 percent increase, as the chain ended the year with 22,142 global locations.
New partnerships and a brand refresh drove the brand’s strong 2025 performance. Domino’s partnered with DoorDash beginning in May of last year, allowing customers to order through the DoorDash app while still receiving deliveries from Domino’s drivers.
The company also introduced its first brand refresh in 13 years led by bolder graphics and branding elements as well as a “Dommmino’s” advertisement jingle sung by Shaboozey, playing into a new tagline: “You can’t say Domino’s without saying ‘mmm.’”
No. 295 Ledo Pizza fell 16 spots on the Top 400, though it lands right behind Domino’s as the second-highest sales grower in off-
Jamie Beall is the CEO of Maryland-based Ledo Pizza.
premises. Ledo finished 2025 with $140 million in sales—a 1.1 percent increase—and netted four units.
Ledo Pizza CEO Jamie Beall attributed growth to the brand’s tighter focus on hospitality and customer service, leaning into its hospitality-forward “Back to the Future” campaign and “Corners” program to drive sales and get franchisees embedded in their communities.
The company also introduced its $9.99 Square Value Meal, which offers a smaller, 6-inch pizza alongside a side of choice including wings, salad and mozzarella sticks.
Beall said the deal helped the brand adjust to changing consumer habits as a result of GLP-1 weight loss drugs and economic challenges.
“I think the GLP-1s are definitely changing the market a little bit. We’re seeing the guests still want their pizza and their wings—they just want less of it. For us, that created an opportunity,” Beall said. “We’re also seeing a little tightening of the belt, where guest counts are up, but check averages are down a little bit … That’s kind of a challenge, but creating a smart value deal also creates an opportunity. With every challenge, there’s an opportunity.”
Same struggles for sit-down
Similar to Ledo, No. 176 Mountain Mike’s is reinvigorating growth efforts by highlighting brand values and community relationships.
Mountain Mike’s has restaurants in California, Arizona, Oregon, Texas, Idaho, Colorado, Nevada and Utah, and offers delivery, takeout and dine-in options.
“We’re always looking to ensure we give the best product and the best service to our guests,” said Jim Metevier, Mountain Mike’s CEO. “Over the last year, one of the things we’ve been trying to get back—which has been core to who we were [pre-COVID-19]—was being very much involved in our communities.”
That strategy paid off for Mountain Mike’s in 2025, with sales up 2.8 percent to $353 million. The brand added 22 units, a 7.4 percent increase, to close the year with 321 locations.
“We wanted to reintroduce our brand to the communities again and say, ‘Remember, we are the place where the Little League teams and the soccer teams and football teams come after the game and celebrate around mountain-sized pizzas,’” Metevier said. “I think a lot of people forgot about that.”
Mountain Mike’s was one of just three sit-down pizza concepts to report sales growth exceeding 1 percent, with the rest of the group seeing a sales decline or miniscule uptick.
The segment as a whole reported a 0.6 percent dip to just under $3.5 billion on the year. Unit count moved in the same direction, down 2 percent from 2024.
No. 83 Boston Pizza, with stores in the U.S. and Canada, reached $1 billion in sales for a 2.2 percent increase.
Julie Schaffner, director of franchise sales for U.S. operations (where the brand goes by Boston’s Pizza) said robust unit-level fundamentals and strategic site selection were crucial as the company dives deeper into U.S. franchise development.
“We have tremendous white space across the U.S.,” said Schaffner, “so we’re really trying to be strategic about identifying the markets where the demographics fit Boston’s and where, ultimately, we can build that density rather than operating isolated restaurants all over the country.”
Product value continues to matter, she said, as the brand reacts and adapts to evolving guest connection points.
“The consumer nowadays is just a little more selective. With all the choices they have competing for that same dining dollar, we need to earn that visit now every time,” Schaffner said. “I think that helps with our positioning because Boston’s isn’t just a pizza restaurant; we’re also a sports bar and can serve family dinner, a gameday occasion, happy hour, takeout delivery. The concept gives us multiple ways to connect with that same guest.”
Additional sit-down standouts included No. 445 Happy Joe’s, up 19 spots on the Top 400 with a 30.8 percent sales increase to $48 million alongside a 16.7 percent unit increase.
No. 314 Mr. Gatti’s, No. 192 Blaze Pizza and No. 162 Round Table Pizza round out the segment’s bottom three, reporting respective sales declines of 3.8 percent, 7.1 percent and 7.6 percent.
