n spending power through increasing affluence, rather than increasing numbers.General trends in the industry are continuing to move toward prepared foods, and pizza with takeout and home delivery, should continue to do well.Overview of the Food Service IndustryThe fast food sector consists of sandwich stores, pizza stores and chicken units. The sandwich stores encompass hamburger chains and Mexican food varieties such as tacos. The pizza segment features various types and forms of pizza such as thin-crust, deep dish, Chicago and New York style pizzas. Some chains offer exclusive home delivery, such as Domino's, while others offer a combination of in-store and home delivery.Quick-service (fast food), full-service restaurants and other establishments make up the sector of retail trade. Within this sector, quick and full-service restaurants account for approximately 90% of all food service sales. Quick-service restaurants have been expanding the fastest. They have gone from a 28% share of food service sales in 1970 to approximately a 48% share in 1996.History of the Pizza Segment of the Fast Food & Restaurant Industry The history of pizza had its beginning when it was considered a peasant's meal in Italy for centuries; however, modern pizza is attributed to baker Raffaele Esposito of Napoli (Naples) in the Italian region of Campania. In 1889, Exposito of Pizzeria di Pietro baked pizza especially for the visit of Italian King Umberto I and Queen Margherita. The pizza was very patriotic and resembled the Italian flag with its colors of green (basil), white (mozzarella) and red (tomatoes) and was favored by the Queen. The pizza was named "Pizza Margherita" after the Queen and set the standard by which today's pizza evolved. It firmly established Naples as the pizza capitol of the world. In 1830 the world's first true pizzeria, Antica Pizzeria Port' Alba, opened and is still in business today at Via Port' Alba 18 in Naples.The worl...
