Round Table Pizza and Dr. Pepper Put a New Spin on the Grocerant Game

 

Football season has always been about food, friends, family and gathering around the table. But in 2026, gathering around the table means something different than it did a generation ago.

Consumers increasingly think about the meal occasion, not the traditional restaurant category according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Pizza, wings, sides, beverages and snacks can come from different places, different channels and different brands. The consumer doesn't care about the industry's organizational chart. They simply want to answer one question:

“What's for dinner—and what are we going to share?”

That is precisely why Round Table Pizza's new collaboration with Dr Pepper and The Dairy Alliance deserves attention from foodservice marketers.

Round Table Pizza is introducing what it describes as its first nationwide Dr Pepper-inspired pizza, along with a limited-time lineup built around the distinctive flavor of Dr Pepper. The promotion includes a Dr Pepper BBQ Pizza, Dr Pepper BBQ Classic and Boneless Wings, Bacon & Cheese Tots with Dr Pepper BBQ Dipping Sauce, and a Margherita Pizza.

The promotion is available through Jan. 3 and is designed squarely around football-season sharing.

From my perspective as the Grocerant Guru®, this isn't simply another limited-time offer. It is a lesson in Mix-and-Match Meal Component Bundling, brand collaboration and trial generation.

The Grocerant Consumer Doesn't Buy Categories—They Build Meals

For years, foodservice companies organized themselves around categories:

Pizza.

Wings.

Sides.

Beverages.

Desserts.

Grocery.

Convenience stores.

Restaurants.

Consumers don't think that way.

They build meals from components.

That consumer behavior is becoming increasingly important as restaurants compete not merely with other restaurants, but with every food retailer capable of supplying a Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat component.

The National Restaurant Association's 2024 research specifically identified meal blending as an important consumer behavior, noting that restaurant food increasingly supplements food prepared at home.

That is the foundation of what I call Grocerant Mix-and-Match Meal Component Bundling.

A consumer might purchase:

Pizza + wings + tots + beverage

or

Pizza + salad + beverage

or

Wings + sides + beverage

The consumer is assembling an occasion rather than ordering from a predetermined restaurant-category box.

Round Table's Dr Pepper promotion understands that dynamic.

The Pizza Is the Platform. The Beverage Is Part of the Experience.

The Dr Pepper BBQ Pizza is particularly interesting because the beverage brand isn't simply sitting beside the pizza on the menu.

Dr Pepper becomes an ingredient and flavor cue.

Round Table's signature crust is paired with creamy garlic sauce, Dr Pepper BBQ sauce, three cheeses, bacon, mini pepperoni and green onions.

That changes the marketing proposition.

Instead of:

“Buy a pizza and a Dr Pepper.”

the proposition becomes:

“Experience Dr Pepper in a completely new way.”

That is a much more powerful reason to try something.

Dr Pepper brings decades of brand recognition and a distinctive 23-flavor identity to the collaboration. KDP describes Dr Pepper as having built a passionate consumer following around its unique flavor profile.

And the brand's recent innovation strategy reinforces the importance of flavor exploration.

In 2025, KDP said Dr Pepper Creamy Coconut had become its most successful limited-time carbonated soft-drink offering to that point. The company also reported that its 2025 beverage research showed consumers were highly interested in flavor innovation.

In 2026, KDP continued that strategy, reporting that 44% of Americans—and 72% of Gen Z—try new beverages each month.

That creates an important marketing opportunity.

Dr Pepper isn't merely supplying a beverage. It is supplying curiosity.

Brand Equity Can Lower the Cost of Trial

Trial is one of the hardest things for a restaurant brand to generate.

A consumer may have no particular reason to visit a restaurant they've never considered.

But introduce a familiar brand into an unfamiliar product and the consumer has a reason to investigate.

That is the power of borrowed brand equity.

Round Table Pizza supplies the pizza credibility, food preparation expertise and restaurant experience.

Dr Pepper supplies recognition, flavor identity and consumer familiarity.

The Dairy Alliance adds another dimension around dairy and cheese.

Three organizations therefore bring different forms of brand equity into one food occasion.

The consumer doesn't have to understand the partnership structure.

They simply see something they recognize—and something they've never tried.

That combination can be a powerful trial mechanism.

2024, 2025 and 2026 Tell the Same Story: Value Is Bigger Than Price

The timing is particularly important.

In 2024, the National Restaurant Association reported that 7 in 10 adults often looked for a daily special or discount, while 85% said they were flexible about when they dined if a deal was offered.

But value has continued to evolve.

In 2025, the National Restaurant Association reported that consumers increasingly define restaurant value through a combination of experience, hospitality and affordability, rather than price alone.

And in its 2025 off-premises research, the Association found that value deals—including limited-time offers, BOGO promotions and other value mechanisms—resonated with about 8 in 10 off-premises customers.

Now look at 2026.

The National Restaurant Association's latest consumer research reports that 40% of consumers are using more discounts or value promotions than they usually do, up from 35% in the prior quarter.

That tells us something important:

Value isn't disappearing. It is becoming more sophisticated.

Consumers want a compelling reason to spend.

That reason can be price.

But it can also be novelty, convenience, social connection, portion flexibility, flavor discovery and perceived experience.

Round Table's Dr Pepper promotion brings several of those elements together.

This Is Where Mix-and-Match Meal Component Bundling Gets Interesting

The real opportunity isn't just selling the Dr Pepper BBQ Pizza.

It is selling the occasion.

Think about the menu architecture:

Pizza — the meal anchor.

Wings — a highly shareable protein component.

Tots — a snackable side.

Dr Pepper BBQ sauce — the flavor bridge.

Dr Pepper — the beverage component.

Margherita Pizza — a familiar alternative for consumers who don't want the experimental flavor.

This is a textbook example of giving consumers multiple components from which to construct their own meal.

And that matters because consumers don't all want the same thing.

One person wants the Dr Pepper BBQ Pizza.

Another wants wings.

Another wants a traditional Margherita.

Another wants tots.

Someone else wants the beverage.

The group can still eat together.

That's Mix-and-Match Meal Component Bundling at work.

The Consumer Doesn't Have to Choose Between Familiar and New

This may be one of the smartest aspects of the promotion.

The Dr Pepper BBQ Pizza is the discovery vehicle.

But the Margherita Pizza provides a familiar choice.

That creates a menu architecture of:

New + Familiar + Shareable.

It lowers the perceived risk of experimentation.

A family or football gathering doesn't have to commit the entire order to something new.

One new pizza can be the trial item.

Wings can satisfy another preference.

Tots can become the snack.

The traditional pizza can satisfy the consumer who doesn't want to experiment.

And Dr Pepper can tie the entire occasion together.

This is how brands can introduce innovation without requiring every member of the party to become an adventurous eater.

The Real Test Is What Happens After the Promotion

Here is where the promotion gets particularly interesting.

A limited-time offer creates trial.

But trial isn't the final objective.

The objective is migration.

A consumer who normally orders from another pizza chain tries Round Table because of Dr Pepper.

The consumer likes the food.

The food arrives on time.

The order is accurate.

The price feels reasonable.

The service experience is positive.

Now the consumer has a new restaurant consideration.

That is customer migration.

But there is an important condition:

The service and price have to be right.

The National Restaurant Association's 2025 off-premises research identified speedy service, good customer service, easy ordering and payment, value offers and loyalty programs as critical attributes for repeat business.

The Association also reported that 94% of consumers consider speed critical and more than 9 in 10 identify customer service as a priority.

So the Dr Pepper promotion can get the customer through the door—or onto the app.

Round Table then has to earn the second order.

That's the difference between a promotion and a customer-acquisition strategy.

The Beverage Is No Longer Just the Beverage

This is another important lesson.

For decades, restaurant beverages were frequently treated as an attachment sale.

Today, that thinking is changing.

KDP's 2026 foodservice beverage analysis describes beverages as increasingly capable of influencing where consumers go, what they order and how they experience an occasion, with younger consumers particularly interested in variety, flexibility and novelty.

That makes the Dr Pepper partnership strategically interesting.

Dr Pepper provides:

Recognition.

Flavor equity.

Novelty.

Consumer conversation.

Cross-brand discovery.

A reason to try something new.

And potentially, a reason to order again.

That is considerably more valuable than simply putting a fountain drink next to a pizza.

Football Makes the Marketing Even More Powerful

Football is fundamentally a group eating occasion.

That makes the menu architecture particularly relevant.

Pizza is shareable.

Wings are shareable.

Tots are shareable.

Beverages are shareable in the sense that everyone has a personal choice.

The promotion therefore fits the occasion rather than trying to force the occasion to fit the menu.

That is good food marketing.

The restaurant isn't simply saying:

“Here is our new pizza.”

It is saying:

“Here is something interesting to bring to the football gathering.”

That is a much larger marketing proposition.

The Price-Value-Service Equilibrium

I've long argued that consumers evaluate foodservice through a Price Value Service Equilibrium.

Price matters.

Quality matters.

Service matters.

Convenience matters.

Experience matters.

And increasingly, the ability to customize the meal occasion matters.

A promotion can have a spectacular flavor concept and still fail if the customer believes the price is too high.

A low price won't rescue poor service.

Great service won't necessarily overcome a disappointing product.

And a great product won't guarantee repeat business if the ordering experience is frustrating.

The equation has to work together.

Price + Quality + Service + Convenience + Experience = Consumer Value.

That's why Round Table's Dr Pepper promotion should be viewed as more than a seasonal menu.

It is a test of whether brand collaboration can create trial and whether restaurant execution can convert trial into migration.

The Grocerant Lesson: Don't Sell the Product. Sell the Meal Occasion.

This is the larger lesson for restaurants, grocery retailers, convenience stores and every other food retailer competing for the consumer's next meal.

Consumers increasingly want food that is:

Ready-2-Eat.

Heat-N-Eat.

Portable.

Shareable.

Customizable.

Affordable.

Interesting.

And increasingly, they want to assemble the meal themselves.

The National Restaurant Association's research reinforces this movement toward expanded off-premises choices, including snack items and bundled meals.

That is the Grocerant opportunity.

The winning food retailer doesn't necessarily have to own every component.

It needs to understand how consumers want to combine the components.

Round Table Pizza, Dr Pepper and The Dairy Alliance have created a particularly interesting example.

Pizza brings the platform.

Dr Pepper brings the flavor equity.

Cheese brings the indulgence and culinary credibility.

Wings and tots create shareability.

Football creates the occasion.

The limited-time offer creates urgency.

And the restaurant experience determines whether trial becomes migration.

That is modern food marketing.

Three Insights from the Grocerant Guru®

1. Mix-and-Match Meal Component Bundling is the future of the meal occasion.
Consumers don't think in restaurant categories. They think in meals, snacks and occasions. Pizza, wings, sides and beverages become components consumers can combine to build the meal they want.

2. Brand collaboration can manufacture trial—but execution creates migration.
Dr Pepper brings enormous flavor recognition and consumer curiosity to Round Table Pizza. That can motivate a customer to try something new. But price, product quality, speed and service determine whether that customer considers Round Table again.

3. The beverage can be the marketing engine, not merely the meal attachment.
Dr Pepper demonstrates how a beverage brand can become an ingredient, an innovation platform, a flavor cue and a consumer acquisition vehicle. When the right brands are combined around the right food occasion, the beverage can help sell the entire meal—not just the drink.

The Grocerant Guru® bottom line:
The consumer doesn't care whether the pizza company, beverage company or dairy industry created the promotion. The consumer cares whether the price, value, flavor, convenience and experience come together at the moment they are deciding what to eat.

And that's why this Round Table Pizza–Dr Pepper collaboration is worth watching.

It isn't just about a Dr Pepper BBQ Pizza.

It's about getting consumers to try something new, giving them a reason to gather, and creating enough value and satisfaction that the first order isn't the last.

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