Hell Pizza turns 30 after its toughest trading year

Hell Pizza is marking its 30th anniversary after what chief executive Josh Drake described as the toughest year in the franchise’s history. The Kiwi-owned and operated business now has 78 New Zealand stores and one in Brisbane, but its milestone comes against a backdrop of subdued consumer confidence and rising costs.

From a Wellington squash club to 30 years

Founded by Callum Davies in 1996 out of a Wellington squash club, Hell Pizza has grown into one of New Zealand’s largest pizza businesses. Its anniversary offers a view of both the durability of an established local brand and the pressures facing its franchise partners.

Speaking to the New Zealand Herald in a report published on 7 November, Drake said the previous year had been the most difficult in the brand’s history. He joined the business in 2024 and has been guiding it through that challenging trading period.

Drake highlighted franchisees’ resilience and their ability to adapt, alongside customers’ continued trust in the brand. However, that loyalty has not insulated the network from changes in spending behaviour.

For New Zealand’s franchise community, the distinction is important: an established customer relationship and a long trading history do not necessarily translate into customers placing orders as often as before.

Customers remain loyal but order less often

According to Drake, Hell has maintained its return customer rates, while customers overall are ordering less frequently. That points to a challenge around purchasing frequency rather than simply whether people return to the brand at all.

The pressures are not uniform across the country. Drake identified Wellington and its surrounding areas as the network’s most difficult sales territory, with Auckland also proving tough. He said the business’s experience broadly followed consumer confidence data.

The South Island had been comparatively resilient, although Drake said it had begun to show some decline during 2026. He described conditions as difficult despite higher dairy payouts and increased tourism.

Those regional differences matter when assessing the anniversary story. Hell’s national footprint does not mean every franchise partner is experiencing the same conditions, and the relative strength of one area should not be taken as evidence of a recovery across the network.

Drake’s account also separates customer retention from sales momentum. Maintaining repeat custom is a positive sign for the brand, but fewer ordering occasions still create a demanding environment for store operators.

Costs and changing ordering habits shape the response

Alongside weak consumer confidence, Hell has faced food inflation affecting ingredient prices. Drake also singled out insurance as a significant pressure over the past couple of years, highlighting the difficulties facing franchise partners in the Wellington region.

The competitive backdrop adds another dimension. New Zealand’s two largest pizza businesses, Pizza Hut and Domino’s, are international chains with significantly more capital available to invest in products and locations.

Hell’s response has included introducing products, adjusting existing menu items and changing ordering processes to accommodate third-party sites and late-night trade. These are changes to the customer offer and the way orders reach stores, rather than a reliance on the anniversary alone to attract business.

Drake’s comments describe an established franchise adapting to altered purchasing habits while managing cost pressures. They do not suggest that brand recognition, by itself, is enough to overcome the trading conditions.

Future openings depend on committed franchisees

For future locations, Drake emphasised the importance of finding a committed franchisee to open a store. He said the strongest greenfield sites developed by Hell in recent memory had come from opportunities brought to the business by franchisees themselves.

He also identified deep connections with local communities as a characteristic of the best stores. That makes local knowledge and owner commitment central to his account of how the network should grow.

The approach puts the prospective operator alongside the location in expansion decisions. Rather than treating a potential site as the whole opportunity, Drake’s comments underline the role of the person who will build the business locally.

Practical takeaway: Prospective franchisees should test local demand, likely ordering frequency and operating costs carefully. Hell’s anniversary account is a reminder that a recognised brand matters, but so do regional conditions and an owner’s connection with their community.