Posted in Dessert on June 24, 2026
For pizza operators looking to increase check averages, dessert concepts featuring recognizable branded ingredients can help drive incremental sales and add variety to the menu.
Because they tap into the social and experiential side of dining, desserts can drive both repeat visits and higher check averages, especially among families and groups. Leaning into communal and experience-driven occasions with incremental items like desserts, especially as limited-time offers to jumpstart sales, is a low-risk way to build customer loyalty and frequency.
For pizza operators looking to increase check averages, dessert concepts featuring recognizable branded ingredients can help drive incremental sales and add variety to the menu.
Because they tap into the social and experiential side of dining, desserts can drive both repeat visits and higher check averages, especially among families and groups. Leaning into communal and experience-driven occasions with incremental items like desserts, especially as limited-time offers to jumpstart sales, is a low-risk way to build customer loyalty and frequency.
Consumer behavior underscores the revenue opportunity. A quarter of consumers have a dessert daily, and 57% report having had one within the past day.1 What’s more, consumers look to dessert for emotional fulfillment. Fifty-two percent say “to treat myself” is their main motivation to order dessert, followed by 51% who cite “to satisfy a craving.”1
To meet growing demand, operators across segments are increasingly diversifying their menus with desserts. Forty-four percent cite adding desserts as a reason for increased sales, compared to 35% in 2023.1
As a result, desserts are not just nice-to-have add-ons; they’re high-impact drivers of traffic, frequency and per-table spending, particularly in family and group dining occasions, like pizza nights, where sharing and socializing are central.
Why Branded Desserts Are Pizza Operators’ Secret Sauce
Brand-name ingredients instantly signal quality, familiarity and flavor appeal — and the more well-known the brand, the better. Bear in mind that 43% of consumers favor classic, traditional dessert items, and 27% cite brand as important when choosing a dessert.1
As America’s #1 cookie brand2, OREO is a leading dessert ingredient, a widely available and adaptable classic used across cheesecakes, milkshakes, ice creams and baked goods. From McDonald’s OREO McFlurry to the OREO Cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory, it adds high name recognition, nostalgic appeal and a distinctly gratifying flavor to a diverse range of dessert concepts.
Limited-time offerings featuring quality ingredients like OREO stand out in the marketplace, lending themselves well to signature dessert concepts that keep customers coming back.
Captain D’s OREO Cheesecake and Cold Stone Creamery’s Birthday Cake OREO Party received high composite scores of 96 and 95, respectively, from Datassential for their strong branded purchase intent and uniqueness.3
With minimal long-term investment and built-in consumer trust, dessert LTOs that feature branded ingredients like OREO can help operators capitalize on specific occasions to test demand and drive urgency and exclusivity.
Casey’s General Stores, for example, introduced OREO Cake Pops as part of a promotional push for Valentine’s, “Galentine’s” and Family Day, using a familiar brand in a bite-size, portable format to drive incremental add-ons and occasion-based visits.
With 54% of consumers expressing interest in mini desserts,1 pizza operators may also want to consider Pastry Bites filled with OREO Cookie Pieces or Cookies ’n’ Creme Hand Pies made with OREO Cookie Pieces.
Pizza Operators Bite Into More Dessert Business
Pizza chains are increasingly proving how effective branded dessert LTOs can be, particularly when tied to family occasions and shareable formats.
- Cicis Pizza’s OREO Brownie Pizza exemplifies how shareable dessert LTOs in a pizza format can encourage group sampling and increase per-table spend. Consider a Dessert Pizza made with OREO Cookie Pieces as another fun, flavor-packed dessert option to help drive sales on family pizza night.
- Peter Piper Pizza launched an OREO Crunch LTO created by an Arizona Culinary Institute student who won the brand’s Innovation Oven Contest. Inspired by childhood memories, the concept underscores the appeal of nostalgic desserts like S’mores Fudge Brownies made with OREO Cookie Pieces and HONEY MAID Grahams.
- Chuck E. Cheese uses branded desserts as part of bundled experiences and kid-focused promotions to enhance perceived value and its family fun theme. For a dessert with loads of colorful and flavorful kid appeal, consider Movie Theater Ice Cream Sandwiches made with OREO & SOUR PATCH KIDS.
- Pizza Hut offers family-style deal options that include desserts and cater to busy families on the go. Given the high volume of to-go orders typical of the segment, pizza operators may also want to menu LTOs that are ideal for delivery or carryout as well as eat-in, like Stuffed Sugar Cookies made with OREO Cookie Pieces.
Examples like these show how pizza chains can feed demand with branded dessert LTOs that turn routine meal occasions into memorable, shareable experiences that drive incremental spend and repeat visits. By pairing familiar, high-equity brands with limited-time urgency and family-friendly formats, pizza operators can differentiate their offerings and create a compelling reason for customers to choose their brand again, whether dining in or ordering at home.
For more dessert inspiration, dig into our report 2026 Away-From-Home Trends: The Sweet 6. To keep pace with culinary trends and feast on industry insights, sign up for our emails.
1 Datassential, Desserts 2026 Keynote Report, 2025
2 Nielsen, xAOC plus Convenience—Full Year 2025
3 Datassential, Name Brands on Menus, October 2025
