The cheapest mozzarella pizza in São Paulo is found in Capão Redondo. On average, it goes out in the south zone neighborhood for R$27 — but that doesn’t mean it’s cheap for those who live in the region.
This is what the “Mozzarella Index” shows, which calculates how much pizza consumes from the family income. The survey, carried out by researchers from Fatec Sebrae with 2,715 pizzerias, compared the average price of the mozzarella option in the 96 districts of São Paulo and crossed it with the average income of the residents.
According to the index, despite the fact that the outskirts have the lowest price on the menus, pizzas consume a greater share of the families’ income than in the city’s upscale neighborhoods.
The difference in purchasing power between districts is 170%.
Taking into account the Mozzarella Index of each region, the most affordable pizza is no longer that of Capão Redondo and becomes that of Vila Sônia, which consumes 0.44% of the residents’ income. In the region, the average income is R$8,028 and the price of the simplest option on the menu is R$35.6.
In Capão, the mozzarella pizza takes up 0.7% of family income and is proportionately more expensive for families — an average income of R$3,855 and an expense of R$27.
For motoboy Fábio Alcantara, 33, the options available in the region are not lacking when compared to other neighborhoods in the city. “It’s a good pizza, and the more stuffed, the better.”
The most expensive pizzas in the city, in absolute terms, are in Jardim Paulista (average price of R$59.2), Consolação (R$54.6) and Vila Andrade (R$54) — regions where the average income varies from BRL 8,000 to BRL 10,000.
“The richer you get, the less you pay proportionately”, explains Rodolfo Ribeiro, a doctor in administration and one of the research coordinators.
In the entire city, the most expensive pizza is proportionally Perus, in the north zone. In the neighborhood, a pizza represents 1.20% of family income.
Market analyst Diego Acedo, 32, lives in the region and puts forward a hypothesis for the weight of pizza in his pocket: the difficulty of access.
As the district is geographically further away from the other neighborhoods, couriers from other places do not reach the location. “The guy has to come by Rodoanel. If he comes from Caieiras, which is the closest city, he has to come by road. It’s more difficult to eat options from outside the neighborhood”, he says.
In other regions, pizzerias in a neighborhood end up serving the neighborhood as well. This is the case, for example, of the PMJ pizzeria, in Jardim São Luís, south of the capital, which delivers to neighborhoods like Campo Limpo and Morumbi.
“Many customers are from the region, but many are from outside as well. We deliver on the Itapecerica road, on Giovanni Gronchi”, says the owner of the space, José da Silva Santos, 48, citing some of the main roads in neighboring neighborhoods.
The price of mozzarella pizza, which costs R$32 at PMJ, increases for customers from other locations, who have to pay a higher delivery fee.
Even so, the pizzas cross up to 9 km to find loyal consumers already at the time of Morumbi Stadium.
“When we deliver a pizza to [avenida] Giovanni Gronchi, we charge a much higher delivery fee because the distance is greater. And the customer doesn’t complain, because he already knows it’s a quality pizza. Even because it is a slightly higher class neighborhood.”
Programmer Daniel Douglas, 25, is one of PMJ’s clients. Today a resident of Vila Andrade, where the average family income is R$8,025, he discovered the pizzeria when he lived in Jardim São Luís and continues to this day to buy the option in the old neighborhood.
He says that as soon as he moved he noticed the difference in the amount charged in the region. “We paid R$ 25 [no Jardim São Luís] and when we moved it was R$ 60 [o preço]”.
Inflation puts pressure on pizzeria owners
The owner of the restaurant, which has been open for 15 years, explains that the economic crisis has caused prices to rise in recent times. “There’s no way you can pay R$30 for a kilo of mozzarella and charge less than R$30 for a pizza. A couple of years ago I was charging R$26.90.”
Even with the adjustments to the menu, he says he can’t charge much more than what he charges today. “We have to charge that amount down. If we charge more, people will complain about the price.” Recently, José says that he had to fire two employees and today he is the only pizza maker in the restaurant.
The owner of a pizzeria in Jardim Jangadeiro, in the Capão Redondo region, Alex Garcia, 40, also had to change prices to balance the bills. “Unfortunately we had to follow a little [a alta dos ingredientes]if not the budget does not balance”.
He runs the Tony Family Pizzeria along with his father. The establishment has been open for almost 22 years and today has its own app to serve customers. The mozzarella pizza costs R$38.
“Our company is legal, I pay all taxes and I have eight registered employees, with due rights as well. You don’t just charge the product that goes in it, you charge the aggregate, as a whole”, says Alex.
On the east side, the pizza sold in districts like São Lucas and Guaianases also weighs heavily on the residents’ family income. The Mozarela Index in São Lucas is the fourth highest in the city: 1.02%. In Guaianases, the percentage is 0.99%.
A resident of São Lucas, educator Kelly Nascimento, 45, orders pizza once or twice a month. She says that she noticed a change in the value of products with the crisis.
“I noticed a small increase in the last two months, but even so, the value is still lower than the other pizzerias.” There, the product costs R$ 36.9.
If the amount paid for pizza in São Lucas consumed the same proportion of family income as in Vila Sônia, where the Mozarela Index is 0.44%, Kelly and her family would pay R$15.92, less than half the current value.
And if those who live in Vila Sônia paid proportionally the same as residents of São Lucas, the final price of pizza in the neighborhood would rise from R$35.6 to R$82.53.
Source: Folha
I have over 8 years of experience in the news industry. I have worked for various news websites and have also written for a few news agencies. I mostly cover healthcare news, but I am also interested in other topics such as politics, business, and entertainment. In my free time, I enjoy writing fiction and spending time with my family and friends.
