A pizzeria in Metro Vancouver is charging $450 for its gourmet pie, and the hefty price tag has landed it in the Guinness World Records.
The C6 pizza at Steveson Pizza in Richmond is covered in smoked salmon, tiger prawns, Alaska cod, lobster and mushrooms, and topped with heaping piles of Russian caviar.
It was born out of owner Nader Hatami’s love of fresh seafood.
“It’s not your usual Friday night pizza,” said Hatami. “I kept on going with ingredients and eventually I priced it. It was quite expensive.”
The 12-inch pizza, which works out to $45 a slice, beat out Gordon Ramsay’s 2005 white truffle pizza to win the honour of being the world’s most expensive pizza.
The distinctive seafood pie may be the most talked about on the menu, but it’s not the most popular: there have only been eight sold since its inception two years ago.
“I have had people buy it for a retirement party, for special occasion[s] or to impress a crowd,” said Hatami.
But Hatami doesn’t mind the slow sales. He’s happy for the worldwide recognition for his tiny pizza parlour.
“It’s been quite famous,” he said.
Simon Fraser University Marketing Professor Lindsey Meredith agrees, saying the buzz is worth its weight in marketing gold.
“Who's gonna buy it? Very few people. Who's gonna talk about it? Absolutely everybody,” he told CTV News.
Putting an exorbitant price tag onto gourmet food has proven successful for several B.C. restaurants.
Related: Food porn: Social media makes $60 Caesar a star
A Vancouver pub has garnered press clippings from across the globe for its $60 Caesar cocktail topped with a variety of pub food, and Vancouver’s Dougie Luv holds the Guinness record for the most expensive hotdog.
The cognac infused Dragon Dog, which will set you back $100, has had hundreds of buyers thanks to social media attention.
“This is called the best advertising in the whole world,” Meredith says of the “Tweet before you eat” phenomenon. “This is social network advertising this gets passed from one phone to another and it flies like wildfire.”
