Hunk or Whole Pizza?

How to Know What Works Best for Your Store—and Why Offering Both Might Be the Smartest Play

When it comes to maximizing your Hunt Brothers® Pizza program, there’s one question that comes up a lot: Should I focus on selling Whole Pizzas or Hunks? The answer depends on your customers, your location, and your goals—but often, the best strategy is to offer both.

In this post, we’ll break down the differences between Hunk and Whole Pizza sales, how each supports your business, and why flexibility can give you an edge.

Understanding the Products: Hunks vs. Whole Pizzas

Hunk A Pizza is a quarter of a Whole Pizza, pre-sliced and easy to serve. It’s perfect for grab-and-go customers who want a fast, filling snack or meal. Hunks are often merchandised in warmers near the register and offer quick access with zero wait time.

Whole Pizza is just that—an entire pie, sliced into eighths and served hot and fresh. Whole Pizzas are great for families, friend groups, shift workers, and anyone feeding more than one person. They can also be prepped and held in the warmer or made to order for call ahead convenience.

Both are made with the same fresh ingredients, quality crusts, and crowd-pleasing flavors. The difference is in how your customers want to buy and how your store is set up to meet those needs.

When Hunk Sales Make Sense

Hunks work especially well in stores with steady foot traffic and high grab-and-go appeal. If your customers are:

• Commuters on the go
• Students or young adults looking for a quick bite
• Local workers grabbing lunch

Then Hunks are likely your bread and butter. They’re easy to display, fast to serve, and ideal for warmer merchandising—especially during busy daytime hours.

Benefits of Hunk Sales:

• High-volume, single-serve convenience with shorter wait time
• Easy upsell opportunities (add a drink, chips, wings, or WingBites®)
• Less commitment for new customers trying your pizza for the first time
• Perfect for peak traffic times like lunch and mid-afternoon when shoppers want something fast and satisfying

Make Hunks even more profitable with combo deals (think Hunk + wing/WingBites + Drink) and smart POP placement near the register and front door.

When Whole Pizzas Win

Whole Pizzas shine in stores that serve families, evening traffic, or large-volume buyers. You might see more Whole Pizza sales if your customers are:

• Heading home from work or school
• Feeding a group or family
• Picking up dinner during evening hours
• Looking for value in bulk or a full meal solution

Benefits of Whole Pizzas:

• Higher ticket value per transaction with minimal additional labor
• Great for pre-orders and call-ahead sales, especially for dinner rushes
• Ideal for dinner and weekend traffic when families are looking for easy options
• Simple to prepare with high margin return, especially when baked in batches

Whole Pizzas also work great with promotions or limited time offers (LTOs) that encourage families or repeat customers to buy more.

Why You Should Offer Both

You don’t have to pick one or the other. In fact, the most successful stores often sell both. By offering Hunks and Whole Pizzas, you:

• Serve different needs at different times of day—snackers and family meal shoppers
• Capture more revenue from more types of buyers
• Create flexible options that work for single customers and group purchases alike

Some customers want a quick bite. Others want to feed a crew. When you give them both options, you maximize sales and keep everyone happy. You also build trust and loyalty by giving customers what they want, when they want it.

Use Your Warmer Wisely

Your warmer plays a big role in how you sell pizza. Here’s how to use it to support both Hunk and Whole Pizza sales:

• Display Hunks during the day when traffic is fast-moving and grab-and-go is key. Keep your most popular varieties stocked and rotate them frequently.
• Keep a Whole Pizza ready in the evening when dinner buyers are looking for an easy solution. Having a hot, fresh pie ready to go can turn browsers into buyers.
• Keep your oven on all day to allow for impulse whole pizza orders. Customers might be willing to wait five to ten minutes for a pizza, but they don’t want to wait 20-plus minutes for your oven to heat up.
• Keep warmers clean, well-stocked, and properly labeled with POP materials for both products. Customers should never have to guess what’s in the case or how much it costs.

Your Account Manager and the Hunt Brothers Pizza Build To charts can help you determine the best schedule for what to stock and when.

Upselling Opportunities

Whether you’re selling Hunks or Whole Pizzas, upsells can drive higher profits. You just need to give your team the right tools and training.

• Suggest add-ons like wings, WingBites, drinks, chips, or desserts with every order
• Offer meal deals or pizza combos that pair well with other items
• Use signage to promote add-ons at the register and point of sale
• Train staff to make friendly suggestions based on what the customer is already buying

Simple prompts like “Want to add a drink?” or “Grab some WingBites for later?” go a long way toward building ticket size. Learn more about Suggestive Selling here. 

FAQ: Hunk vs. whole pizza

Q: Can I just focus on Hunks?
A: Yes, especially if you’re in a high-traffic area with lots of grab-and-go customers. But you could be leaving Whole Pizza money on the table—especially during dinner hours.

Q: Is Whole Pizza prep harder?
A: Not at all! It’s the same product, just sold whole instead of by the slice. Whole Pizzas can even be made ahead and held warm for easy service.

Q: How do I know what works best for my store?
A: Your TBHC Delivers Account Manager can help you track what sells, when it sells, and how to stock your store for success.

Q: Can I set up promos for both?
A: Absolutely. Many stores offer bundle pricing for Whole Pizzas and combo deals for Hunks. Both approaches work—just match the offer to your customer base.

Final Tip: Let the customer decide

At the end of the day, it’s not about choosing between Hunks or Whole Pizzas—it’s about meeting your customers where they are. Give them options. Keep your warmer fresh and your signage clear. Ask for the upsell. Make the decision easy, and you’ll see the results in your bottom line.

And don’t forget: your Account Manager is your partner in this. We can help you track sales, adjust strategy, and make the most of every pie.

Talk to your TBHC Delivers Account Manager about what mix makes sense for your store.