Nick Swanson – Urban Field Pizza & Market
Co-founder/Culinary Director
Longmont and Loveland, Colorado
(This Q&A is part of a series about pizzerias’ New Year’s resolutions. To read other operators’ resolutions, click here.)
How do you plan to improve pizzeria operations and profitability in 2026?
All industries that rely on disposable income need their heads on a swivel in 2026!
Even though pizza is a food staple – and, in fact, a super food – it’s paid for with disposable income. All fourth-quarter (2025) indications point toward holiday spending driving the consumer toward a conservative beginning to 2026 in terms of spending.
At UF Pizza, we’re putting everything we have toward adopting the consumers’ perspective because we know these are times of economic uncertainty and rising cost for basic life needs.
To improve business operations and profitability in 2026, we’re going to take a step toward the consumer to:
- Hold prices where they are despite slipping margins.
- To create packages, bundled deals and creative programs geared toward value.
- Double down on our already incredible hospitality program to simply make people feel better.
We make it our goal to improve every guest’s day – and, more than ever, we’re reconfirming our commitment to that as we approach 2026.
How do you plan to support your employees’ growth and encourage retention in the new year?
I’ve always believed in a learning kitchen, and I think this is what rising cooks and chefs want more than any benefit. In 2026, I’m driven to deepen this commitment to helping young folks find the passion I found in food.
I’m happy to report that when we built the UF business model, we found efficiencies that allowed us to focus on employee compensation including wages, a retirement program, health insurance, dental insurance, a vision program, paid vacation, sick time and restaurant credit for each hour worked. We always knew our greatest resource was our folks, and we’re constantly trying to find ways to better support our UF Family.
The push of the day for UF is to find resources for mental health support for our team because, as we all know, mental health has been ignored in this most stressful of industries.
What’s one skill or area of knowledge you’d like to improve as a pizza business owner in 2026?
Right now, it’s all about getting to know the business owner down the street from you, your local downtown development authority, city council, the mayor. Wherever you are operating, it’s time to come together as local communities to show what we can accomplish to support each other. Things are tough for local businesses as well as those supporting them. The knowledge I’d like to see UF Pizza water and grow in 2026 is just how important connection is. As communities, we’re in this together, and it’s only by being in the same room and listening that we can help each other become better. And in the end, that’s what encourages our communities to thrive.
