R a y
S a l t i The Prince of Pizza,
founder of multiple
by Marene Gustin
R
ay Salti is a pizza lover. So much so that he’s spent the last three decades building a family owned and operated pizza province that now stretches from Houston to surrounding counties with 16 locations, nine of which are family owned and seven that are franchised. Originally from Jerusalem, Salti attended Manhattan College and graduated with a degree in business marketing from Southern Illinois University, before settling in Texas, where his wife Rima is from. It was her brother that started a little pizza place in Sugar Land in 1990 where Salti came in as a partner, and, a year later, bought him out. That Pepperoni’s was the beginning of a foodie empire. “People think it happened overnight,” says Salti. “But I didn’t open the second location until 1997. I spent a decade on the line making pizzas, cleaning bathrooms and everything else.” But the family business continued to grow, as people fell in love with the concept of fast takeaway and delivery pizzas made from better ingredients. Salti and family still go to food shows and talk to suppliers searching for the best and healthiest ingredients. Pepperoni’s uses Di Napoli Italian tomato products, natural wheat flour, and whole milk cheese. Despite the problems of the pandemic the last two years, Salti’s family business has done well. “Even before the pandemic,” he says, “we were switching to updated technology. We went to a central call center for all the locations,” But things such as staffing shortages did impact the company. “We had a difficult time getting delivery drivers,” he says, due in part to the increase 14 | HEIGHTS |March + April 2022
