Hungry? Hell carves up the lunch market

Hell Pizza is now selling its pizza by the slice in one of its Auckland City stores.

Edgy pizza company Hell has moved to start selling its pizza by the slice - hoping the move will appeal to busy city shoppers wanting less than the traditional full box.

Pizza by the slice is a staple in the Europe and the US, but it's the first time Hell has tried it. General manager Ben Cumming said it was a new way for the fast food chain to gain an even bigger slice of the market.

"It's a bit of a natural area for us to move into so that we can target that really quick order which we don't tend to get a cut of because our orders tend to take at least 10 minutes, so it's all about, especially with the positioning of that store in Auckland CBD - people whizzing past on their lunch break or on the way home from a night out - it suits that market perfectly."

Hell's Victoria Street store in downtown Auckland is now offering favourites including meat pizza Lust, chicken pizza Pandemonium and a vegetarian option for $3 a slice.

New York- style pizza company Sal's has been offering pizza by the slice since it opened here in New Zealand in 2009.

Depending on how well the initiative works in Auckland, Hell plans to introduce single slice pizza in other busy areas and city centres. It predicts this could boost its national presence by around 20 per cent.

"It's been very successful so far," Cumming said. "A lot of people just want one or two slices, they're not after a whole pizza. There's a lot of foot traffic past the store which has been good and it means people can get more variety."