PMQ Pizza Magazine June/July 2012 by PMQ Pizza Magazine

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Online at PMQ.com June/July 2012 PIZZA TV: RECENT VIDEOS

NAPICS Hot Products 2012

This Week in Pizza

From a cloud-based website management platform to chocolate pizza, check out some of the hot new products and services discovered by the PMQ staff at the 2012 North American Pizza & Ice Cream Show (NAPICS) in Columbus, Ohio.

Catch up on the latest pizza industry news every Wednesday with Pizza TV’s weekly online broadcast, This Week in Pizza, with hosts Chris Green, Brian Hernandez and Michelle McAnally.

PMQ’s TOP SOCIAL MEDIA PICKS Social media is more than just Web-based chatter—it’s a marketing revolution! Whether running a “Big Three” franchise or a mom-andpop operation, operators generate sales from steadfast Facebook and Twitter campaigns. PMQ editors monitor how industry professionals embrace social media and, in some ways, help write the rules for viral marketing. Here are some of our favorites this month:

Find PMQ at @pmqpizzamag.

PiTruckSTL Starting 5-7-12, we will donate 50% of the week’s lunch sales to Nurses for Newborns, nfnf.org. peleswoodfire Instead of battling rush hour in the rain, how about $5 Tuscan fries and $5 pizzettas? Cold beer, $5 martinis and $3 wells, too!

Find PMQ at facebook.com/ pmqpizzamagazine.

napspizza Looking for something to fill that big mouth of yours? Well, then, the Big Mouth sub is what you are looking for. Call or order online now! Pure Pizza Ummm, isn’t your mouth watering for a Pure Pizza Take-N-Bake and a fresh salad for supper tonight? Just call 980.207.0037 and we’ll have it ready. Daddio’s Pizzeria Ltd. We had a young family traveling from Fort St. John to Drayton Valley stop in the store today because they wanted gluten-free pizza. As they left after eating their meal, they said, “This gluten-free pizza was very satisfying. There was nothing missing from a real pizza experience.” Pizza King Teacher appreciation week is May 7-11. We have party trays and sides to help celebrate your teachers! Call 629-6104 and ask for Amanda.

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

Table of Contents June/July 2012 ON THE COVER 42 Band of Brothers Pizza master Filippo Giove Sr. passes on a proud—and delicious—legacy to the next generation at Brothers Pizza in Staten Island. By Rick Hynum

FEATURES 26 Olives: Gifts of the Gods Pizzeria operators find innovative new uses for the versatile and voluptuous olive. By Rick Hynum

Take advantage of the latest online ordering technologies to generate higher sales and attract younger customers with money to spend. By Liz Barrett

34 Liquid Assets

DAG BENNSTROM

30 Order Up!

Experts offer tips on how to squeeze every last drop of profitability from your beverage program. Compiled by Tracy Morin

48 Showdown in Italy The U.S. Pizza Team recently faced the world’s best pie makers and dough spinners at the World Pizza Championship in Salsomaggiore, Italy.

52 Crafting a Better Crust An industry veteran details an eight-step process for designing the perfect pizza crust. By John Correll

56 Get Smart About Your Market Learn more about local demographics to increase your profits. By Steve Dartt

IN EVERY ISSUE 6 10

Online at PMQ.com Editor’s Note

12 Letters to the Editor

Pizza Press

Product Spotlight

Advertiser Index

69 Industry Resource Guide 81

Resource Guide Advertiser Index

DEPARTMENTS 20 Zeak’s Tweaks: Flavored Dough and Garlic Bread Jeff Zeak suggests ways to add herbs to dough and integrate garlic bread into your menu.

22 Accounting for Your Money: Managing Your Tax Liability in 2012 Mike Rasmussen explains how to stay organized and prepared for the next tax season.

24 The Marketing Maven: Mavenisms From a Restaurant Marketer, Part 2 Linda Duke provides five more can’t-miss tips for building your customer base and inspiring loyalty.

40 Pizza of the Month: Greek There’s something unique about the Greeks’ technique for pizza making.

82 Time Capsule: Little Caesars This carryout chain has thrived since 1959 through innovation and a culture of giving back.

Coming Next Month Pizza of the Month: Potato Flour: Good pizza crust starts with good flour. Learn about the different varieties and uses of this pizza making staple.

Green Delivery: Learn how pizza restaurants nationwide have boosted their delivery business while reducing their carbon footprints.

Hot Bags: With so many types of hot bags using advanced technologies and materials, there’s no excuse for delivering a cold, soggy pizza.

June/July 2012 • pmq.com

Editor’s Note Rick Hynum

An Industry of Characters As a journalist and editor for the past 20 years, I’ve had the good fortune to write about all sorts of interesting, often highly accomplished people in a wide range of professions. A few of them were even famous, but those are rarely the most memorable subjects. Rather, it’s the true characters that I’ll never forget, everyday folks with unusual gifts, passions and ambitions: the wholesome-looking, pretty, blonde coed/artist who, between sorority swaps and history exams, sketched and sculpted ingeniously misshapen zombie bunnies and bucktoothed bug-men from some otherworldly dimension; the plump, kindly, country-raised mama of five who went undercover with the DEA to bust a cocaine ring; the brilliant engineer and self-styled “Chinese redneck” who rigged up an aquatic gymnasium for fish and trained them to fight. Part of the pleasure of stepping in as the new managing editor of PMQ has been getting to know the people of the American pizza industry, so many of whom are characters in their own right. And, mind you, they are “characters” in the best, most positive sense of the word—proudly individualistic, creative, driven to succeed on their own terms, maybe a tad eccentric, and not particularly concerned about what anyone else thinks of them…just as long as everyone loves their pizza. In this month’s cover story, “Band of Brothers” (page 42), you’ll meet a trio of colorful—and very successful— New Yorkers: the Gioves of Brothers Pizza, including hardworking patriarch Filippo Sr. and his elder son, the talented, breezily confident pizza chef and master dough spinner Giorgio, not to mention Filippo Jr., the Italian-stallion star of TV’s Jerseylicious and self-styled “prince of pizza.” These self-made pizzaioli operate one of the Big Apple’s most beloved pizzerias, a family business that has thrived for decades in the fiercely competitive environment of Staten Island. You’ll also want to check out senior copy editor Tracy Morin’s “Liquid Assets” (page 34), featuring dozens of smart ideas for marketing beverages and boosting your bottom line. And if you’re still taking your carryout orders exclusively by phone, I strongly urge you to read editor-in-chief Liz Barrett’s article, “Order Up!” (page 30). Love it or hate it, online ordering is the future of the carryout and delivery business. Fortunately, as Liz’s story outlines, there are plenty of reasons to love it. Finally, “Olives: Gifts of the Gods” (page 26) offers what I hope will be an edifying and engaging introduction to one of the world’s most popular pizza toppings. From the Greek goddess Athena’s heavenly hand to your favorite pie, the versatile and voluptuous olive adds a flavor and texture that’s truly “divine.” Thank you for reading PMQ, and please, let us hear from you!

Rick Rick Hynum Managing Editor PMQ Pizza Magazine

On the cover: Giorgio Giove and his dad, Filippo Giove Sr. display a signature pizza at Brother’s Pizza in Staten Island, New York. Photo by Dag Bennstrom

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

Letters to the Editor Rick Hynum I have written to PMQ Pizza Magazine before, and I was very pleased with the answer that was given to my question, so I have another one. I am going to be opening another location soon, and I was wondering what month/time of the year would be good, if not best, to open a new pizza restaurant? Gianni Pietanza Via email That’s an excellent question, Gianni. According to our publisher and resident pizza guru Steve Green, industry statistics show that autumn has consistently proven to be the best time of year to open a new pizzeria. October, in particular, is a good month, although November and December work well, too. Summertime seems to be a relatively slow season for pizza, but as the temperatures begin to drop, schools open their doors for the fall semester and customers’ schedules grow more hectic, folks often return to the convenience and comfort of pizza. October is also National Pizza Month, which creates heightened awareness for our industry. Of course, if your business will be located in a resort town that relies on seasonal business, you’ll

want to choose a time of year when tourism will be at its peak. But, for most cities, October is your best bet. Good luck to you in this new endeavor, and please let us know about your progress!

Word From the Wingman

— A Publication of PMQ, Inc. — Winner of 4 ASBPE Awards Winner of 4 GAMMA Awards ISSN 1937-5263 PMQ, Inc. Publisher Steve Green sg@pmq.com ext. 123

Co-Publisher Linda Green linda@pmq.com ext. 121 EDITORIAL

Thanks for the mention in your article (“HighFlying Wings,” April, 2012). It turned out great, and, oddly enough, due to that coverage, I’ve been reunited with friends (who own pizza shops) that I haven’t talked to or seen in years! Small world, right? Ryan Hohman Via email Thanks, Ryan. You’re right, the pizza business, although a huge industry, is, in many ways, a small—and friendly—world. Thanks for taking the time to talk to us about chicken wings, and congratulations on fulfilling your pledge to eat 2,011 wings in 2011. We were particularly impressed that you somehow managed to lose weight in the process!

Editor-in-Chief Liz Barrett liz@pmq.com ext. 126 Managing Editor Rick Hynum rick@pmq.com ext. 130 Senior Copy Editor Tracy Morin tracy@pmq.com ext. 140 Assistant Editor Michelle McAnally michelle@pmq.com ext. 124 DESIGN/PRODUCTION Art Director Ellen Kellum ellen@pmq.com ext. 135 IT Director Bernard Rueschhoff IT@pmq.com ext. 139 Video and Web Editor Daniel Morrow daniel@pmq.com ADVERTISING Sales Director Linda Green linda@pmq.com ext. 121 Account Executive Clifton Moody clifton@pmq.com ext. 138 Account Executive Dianna Seddon dianna@pmq.com ext. 127 ADMINISTRATION

High-Flying

Chief Financial Officer Shawn Brown shawn@pmq.com

Slathered in sauce and bursting with flavor, hot wings set sales ablaze in pizzerias.

Circulation Manager Sherlyn Clark sherlyn@pmq.com ext. 120

WINGS By Walter Webb

o your average barnyard chicken, wings are worthless—she’s got two of them, but, bless her heart, the poor critter still can’t Ày. For hungry humans, though, wings make for a delightful delicacy—meaty, succulent and just plain ¿nger-lickin’ good. They’re hotter than ever these days, and pizzerias around the country have responded to the ever-growing demand for chicken wings slathered in sauces that run the gamut from sweet to tripleatomic. After all, variety is the spice of life, and these juicy little appendages ¿t the bill with a plethora of options in varying degrees of heat (mild, hot or inferno), a range of sauce Àavors (Buffalo, teriyaki, barbecue, garlic Parmesan, mango habanero or lemon pepper) and cooking methods (broiled, fried or barbecued). More than 76% of the top 500 pizza chains now offer hot wings on their menus, according to research by Technomic’s MenuMonitor. And eating wings has become a fun-food phenomenon—few football fans would throw a Super Bowl party without a couple of pizzas and a bucket of wings. Since PMQ’s last look at hot wings in the September 2010 issue (“Winging It”), customers have made wings the fastest-growing item on pizzeria menus. Mark’s Pizzeria (markspizzeria.com), a 45-store chain headquartered in Fairport, New York—the very heart of Buffalo wing country—has been serving wings since the ¿rst store opened in 1985. “We see a real demand. If you don’t have wings up here, you’re not a pizzeria,” says owner Mark Crane. “If somebody has

Georgia Pecan-Crusted Wings With Hatoula Peach Sauce (Provided by McIlhenny Company/Tabasco Brand Products) 12 chicken wings 1 c. pepper sauce 4 c. pecans, coarsely crushed 2 tbsp. habanero sauce 3 c. seasoned Àour 3 eggs, beaten with 3 tbsp. water Hatoula Peach Sauce 8 oz. peach marmalade, warmed 1 oz. pepper sauce

MCILHENNY COMPANY/TABASCO® BRAND PRODUCTS

Opening a New Location

Marinate the wings in pepper sauce for about 1 hour. Toss crushed pecans with habanero sauce. Dip the wings into Àour, then egg wash and then pecans, coating evenly. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through. Mix Hatoula Peach Sauce ingredients and serve with hot wings. 26

Director of Operations/ Event Coordinator Brian Hernandez brian@pmq.com ext. 129 a pizzeria and doesn’t sell wings, they need to do it right away.” In fact, wings—available in bundles of up to 100 in a single pack—account for 25% of Mark’s Pizzeria’s sales. Indeed, despite price Àuctuations, chicken wings are causing quite a Àap in the restaurant business. “Bone-in wings continue to expand their presence, especially at certain times of the year, such as around the Super Bowl,” says Worth Sparkman, manager of public relations at Tyson Foods in Springdale, Arkansas. “When demand spikes, there are not enough wings to go around sometimes, and this, of course, can drive up the price due to limited supply. Also, more quick-serve chains have added wings to their menus, so more operations are buying wings than ever before.” Industry statistics prove Sparkman’s point. According to the National Chicken Council’s 2012 Wing Report, Americans consumed an estimated 1.25 billion-plus wing portions during Super Bowl weekend in 2012, totaling more than 100 million pounds of wings.

The Wonderful World of Wings Buffalo hot wings have been sold since 1964, when Teressa Bellissimo, owner of the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York,

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

tossed some chicken wings into the fryer, whipped together a few ingredients—including cayenne pepper—to create what’s now known as Buffalo wing sauce, and added celery and blue cheese dressing on the side. Chickens around the country would have shuddered if they’d known what was coming next—history had been made, although only Buffalonians appreciated it at the time. By the mid-1980s, the popularity of Buffalo wings had begun to spread. In 1994, Joey Todaro III, a member of the family that operated the highly successful Buffalo-based La Nova Pizzeria (lanova.com), realized that pizza and wings went together like rock-and-roll. “We served hot wings in our pizzeria, and they were so successful that I got the idea to market them to other pizzerias,” Todaro says. “I booked a booth at a convention and showed operators that pizza and hot wings were a natural ¿t.” With his La Nova Wings distribution company, Todaro says he spread the gospel of hot wings and sauces to independent pizzerias in Buffalo—and, ultimately, throughout the United States and internationally. “Somebody else might have come up with it, but I made it easy for pizzerias to incorporate wings April 2012 • pmq.com

U.S. Pizza Team Director Missy Green missy@pmq.com ext. 125 PMQ INTERNATIONAL PMQ China Yvonne Liu yvonne@pmq.com PMQ Australia-NZ Tom Boyles tom@pmqaustralia.com

Think Tank 2.0

Pizza&Food Gabriele Ancona gabriele.ancona@pizzafood.it

What’s the buzz? Log on to find out the latest industry buzz at PMQ.com/tt.

French Liaison Julien Panet jpanet@pizza.fr EDITORIAL ADVISORS

Cost of wings...

Chef Santo Bruno Tom Lehmann Joey Todaro Ed Zimmerman

Request for bread recipes/formulas... Tomato/pizza sauce king?...

CONTRIBUTORS

Split belt oven... How to approach local businesses with freebies of your food...

Chef Santo Bruno John Correll Steve Dartt Linda Duke Michael J. Rasmussen Jeff Zeak

Thank You to Our PMQ Think Tank Moderators Daddio: Member since June 2006 Tom Lehmann: Member since June 2006

Rockstar Pizza: Member since June 2006 ADpizzaguy: Member since January 2007

We want to hear from you! Have a complaint, compliment or suggestion about something you’ve read in the pages of PMQ? Send your letter via email to editor@pmq.com with “Letter to the Editor” in the subject line, or mail to PMQ, ATTN: Letters to the Editor, 605 Edison St., Oxford, MS 38655. We look forward to hearing from you! Friend us on Facebook! Visit facebook.com/pmqpizzamagazine. Managing Editor Rick Hynum 12

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Volume 16, Issue 5 PMQ Pizza Magazine 605 Edison St. • Oxford, MS 38655 662.234.5481 • 662.234.0665 Fax • linda@pmq.com PMQ Pizza Magazine (ISSN #1937-5263) is published 10 times per year. Cost of U.S. subscription is $25 per year. International $35. Periodical postage pricing paid at Oxford, MS. Additional mailing offices at Bolingbrook, IL. Postmaster: Send address changes to: PMQ Pizza Magazine, PO Box 2015, Langhorne, PA 19047. Opinions expressed by the editors and contributing writers are strictly their own, and are not necessarily those of the advertisers. All rights reserved. No portion of PMQ may be reproduced in whole or part without written consent.

Pizza Press News and Views

War & Pizza United States soldiers serving in Afghanistan will get a taste of home this year with a Fourth of July pizza party, courtesy of Pizzas 4 Patriots (pizzas4patriots.com). The nonprofit organization and its corporate partners will deliver 30,000 pizzas to 90,000 troops in all U.S. bases in Afghanistan as part of a project called Operation Eagle. Pizzas 4 Patriots was launched four years ago by retired Master Sergeant Mark Evans and his family, who came up with the idea of sending pizzas to troops serving overseas while sharing a pie around the dinner table. Since then, Evans and his sponsors have shipped 70,000 pizzas to more than 200,000 soldiers stationed around the world. Uno Chicago Grill (unos. com) provides many of the pizzas, and DHL Express ships the ready-to-heat pizzas for free with dry ice. The organization also accepts private donations. “Our goal is to raise funds to buy the best pizza to feed all the troops in Afghanistan,” Evans says. Most Americans don’t realize how much the gesture means to the soldiers, Evans says. “It is a morale boost to the troops who are out there in the desert, in the middle of nowhere, under a lot of pressure, and need a slice of home. These great combat soldiers who risk their lives are kids inside with home on their minds. When you are there, you need to know someone is thinking of you.”

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

(Clockwise from top) Master Sergeant Mark Evans has organized pizza parties for more than 200,000 troops around the world; Pizzas 4 Patriots sponsor DHL Express provides free shipping for the pies; American soldiers enjoy slices from pizzerias such as Uno Chicago Grill.

Pizza Press News and Views

Fighting Cancer With Pizza Everyone knows pizza wards off the munchies, but now scientists have discovered that it may help fight cancer, too. Researchers at Long Island University (LIU) are testing carvacrol, a component of oregano, on prostate cancer cells. The herb, which is widely used in pizza, has been shown to cause diseased cells to die off. “Some researchers have previously shown that eating pizza may cut down cancer risk,” says Dr. Supriya Bavadekar, an assistant professor of pharmacology at LIU’s Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. “This effect has been mostly attributed to lycopene, a substance found in tomato sauce, but we now feel that even the oregano seasoning may play a role. If the study continues to yield positive results, this superspice may represent a very promising therapy for patients with prostate cancer.”

Leading pizza chains, small franchisees and others have formed the American Pizza Community (APC) to highlight the importance of the pizza industry and promote policies that further its continued success. Member companies include Domino’s Pizza, Godfather’s Pizza, Hungry Howie’s, the International Pizza Hut Franchise Holders Association, Little Caesars, Papa John’s and others. According to Lynn Liddle, chair of the APC and executive vice president of communications, investor relations and legislative affairs for Domino’s, the group

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

came together over concerns about federal menu labeling laws passed in 2010 as part of President Obama’s health care reform plan. The APC sees these requirements, which include listing nutrition information on menu boards, as burdensome for pizza restaurants. “There are 34 million different ways you can order a pizza,” Liddle says. “It can be as dietetic or as indulgent as you want to make it. The menu board labeling isn’t going to work for the pizza category (of restaurants), so we want to work with the FDA to make it more flexible.” The APC kicks off its lobbying efforts with a June trip to Washington to meet with members of Congress and their staffs. “America’s 70,000 pizzerias are the personification of the American small business,” Liddle says. “We think there is a big message to talk to Washington about—encouraging small business to create more jobs and grow. The footprint for pizza is really broad. We touch manufacturing, farmers and transportation, so we have lofty goals that we think will be good for our whole industry.” The APC will also focus on issues such as fair wages and labor policies, tax reform and commodity policies. For more information about the APC or to join the organization, contact Melissa Cummings at 734-930-3878.

Pizza Press News and Views

Topper's Supports SickKids Foundation

Promoting children’s health issues is a top priority for executives from Topper’s Pizza in Ontario.

Topper’s Pizza (toppers.ca), based in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, has teamed up with SickKids Foundation as part of its corporate social responsibility program. “We’re proud to select SickKids Foundation as our corporate charity,” says Keith Toppazzini, president and CEO of Topper’s Franchise Company. “As a family-run business with strong family values, it makes perfect sense to support a charitable organization that does so much for so many families.” Funds raised through in-store donations will support AboutKidsHealth, an education resource that delivers health content for pediatric patients and their families across Canada. Special campaigns will support the foundation’s Possibilities Fund, which supports needs at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, such as training doctors, providing innovative technology and investing in ongoing research. “Topper’s Pizza has a wonderful, loyal following of families as customers, and we’re looking forward to having them on board to help promote awareness about children’s health as well as to help us raise critical funds,” says Adrian Horwood, vice president of corporate partnerships for SickKids.

Talking Scooter Delivers Pizza and Laughs Domino’s Pizza Netherlands (dominos.nl) has gone green with a unique twist on delivery that also serves as a crowdpleasing promotional gimmick. A Domino’s restaurant in Amsterdam, which is rated as Europe’s fifth-greenest city, recently started using an energy-efficient electric scooter but first needed to make an adjustment for public safety. “Electric scooters are silent, and we found that this was in some cases dangerous, and safety is our first priority,” says Carolien Ten Cate, marketing manager for Domino’s Pizza Netherlands. Electric vehicles often make simulated engine sounds, but Domino’s cranked up the quirky factor when it installed a Safe Sound system with a recording of a comical human voice making gear-shifting noises, interspersed with the words “Domino’s Pizza” and “lekker,” which means “yummy” in Dutch. The scooter has garnered worldwide attention since it hit the streets. A YouTube video that shows the scooter cruising the bike lanes of Amsterdam—to the surprise and delight of passersby—has been viewed more than 1 million times. “We like to do things in a fun way. Just as the ice cream truck has a certain sound, we wanted Domino’s to have a distinct sound as well,” Cate says. “The reactions have been very positive, and we have been amazed at the global attention it has gotten.” The new scooter makes work a lot more interesting for delivery driver Derk Jan Landzaad. “It has been a lot of fun to 18

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

drive the scooter, especially while waiting at traffic lights,” he says. Still in the testing phase, the Safe Sound scooter is the only one of its kind in the world for now. “We enjoyed this just as much as the rest of the world has and thought it was a very cool, clever idea by our Domino’s Netherlands group,” says Chris Brandon, spokesman for Domino’s. “We are constantly keeping an eye on what they are doing, and we are looking forward to hearing what they learn.”

Zeak’s Tweaks Jeff Zeak

Flavored Dough and Garlic Bread Jeff Zeak offers tips for adding herbs to dough and creating garlic bread. QUESTION: Is it a good idea to add herbs to my dough for extra flavor?

ANSWER: Herbs, spices, seasonings and flavors can be used throughout the pizza making process—in the sauce, as toppings and even incorporated into the cheese. They certainly can be added with the other ingredients during the mixing of the pizza dough as well. Typically, dried herbs, spices, seasonings and flavors are added at a starting level of 0.25% based on the amount of flour—that is, 1 ounce (28 grams) for 25 pounds (11.35 kilograms) of flour. Because of higher water content, the level of fresh herbs should be two or three times greater than that of dried herbs—0.5% to 0.75% flour basis (FB), or 2 to 3 ounces (56 to 85 grams) for 25 pounds of flour. Use caution when adding garlic or onion to the dough; both act as reducing agents due to naturally occurring enzymes. Reducing agents cause the dough to relax and make it easier to stretch, sheet and/or press. Although this can be a positive attribute in pizza dough, the reducing effect from the garlic or onion can also reduce the oven spring/volume of the resulting crust and shorten the refrigerated life of the dough. Garlic and onion powders can be added to dough mix at 0.06% to 0.12% FB, or ¼ to ½ ounce (7 to 14 grams) for 25 pounds of flour. Chopped or crushed garlic should be used at 0.25% to 0.5% FB, or 1 to 2 ounces (28 to 56 grams) for 25 pounds of flour. These levels of herbs, spices, seasonings and flavors should be considered starting levels. The levels may need to be increased or decreased to suit your tastes; for example, fresh herbs, although more expensive, have a cleaner, truer, more robust flavor than dried herbs. Keep in mind that you want to offer only a hint of these flavors and aromas in the dough. Personally, I’m not a big fan of adding herbs, spices, seasonings and flavors to the dough; I find them to be more useful in other ways when creating a delicious pizza. I want to be able to appreciate the delicate fermentation flavors from the dough in the resulting crust, and an excess of herbs or added flavors tends to mask that natural taste. I like to layer ingredients and flavor components on the pizza to ensure that each bite offers a different experience and the eater’s taste buds aren’t overwhelmed on the first bite. 20

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QUESTION: We’d like to start offering garlic bread with our pasta, but we have been struggling to find the easiest way to do it. Can you help?

ANSWER: The easiest way to add garlic bread to your menu would be to purchase loaves of baked French or Italian bread, slice the loaves into serving portions, top them with garlic-infused spread, oil or butter, and sprinkle the slices with various herbs or cheese as desired before toasting them. Ready-made garlic spreads and oils are available through most foodservice suppliers. Alternatively, you can easily assemble garlic-infused spread/butter by blending softened margarine or butter with garlic powder. Or you can add chopped garlic to melted margarine or butter, which is then painted onto the bread and sprinkled with herbs or cheese, as described above. Various oils, including olive oil, can be infused with chopped garlic, too. It should be mentioned that, when infusing fresh or jarred garlic into oils, margarine or butter, the product should be used on the same day that it’s produced to prevent the growth of botulism. Once you’ve topped and seasoned the bread, simply toast it to desired doneness and serve.

Jeff Zeak is the pilot plant manager for the American Institute of Baking (AIB). Need more dough advice? Visit the Dough Information Center at PMQ.com/dough.

PMQ’s Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Magazine

Accounting for Your Money Michael J. Rasmussen, CPA

Managing Your Tax Liability in 2012 Follow these four key steps to keep yourself organized for the next tax season. QUESTION: What can I do now to start preparing for my 2012 tax return?

ANSWER: The 2011 tax season may be behind us now, but it’s not too early to start planning ahead for your 2012 tax liability. I’ll try to make it easy for you by walking you through a few simple steps that will not require too much time. Step 1 Make two copies of your 2011 tax return—one for yourself and one for your accountant. Use this copy for keeping tax-related notes through the end of the tax year. Keep this “tax planning copy” in a place where you won’t forget it and will frequently notice it, and bring it along when you eventually meet with your tax advisor. Step 2 Make every effort to generate a profit-and-loss statement for the period ending June 30, 2012, or no later than July 15, 2012. If you’re the owner of the restaurant, make sure that the statement includes the amount of money you have paid yourself so far during the tax year as well as the amount you expect to pay yourself for the remainder of the year. Additionally, collect data on your year-to-date mileage for your business vehicle and create a list of any asset purchases and disposals that have occurred since January 1, 2012. Step 3 Use Google or another search engine to look up and learn as much as you can about these 10 important catchphrases related to tax planning and strategy: • Cost Segregation • Special Depreciation • Qualified Restaurant Property • Luxury Automobile Limitations • Business Use of Home • Passive Activity Losses • Stock and Partnership Basis • Work Opportunity Tax Credit • Employer Tip Credit • Enterprise Zones Each of these concepts has an associated tax strategy that will impact most restaurant operators. For example, there are a number of potential deductions related to utilizing a vehicle in the operation of your restaurant business, but they all come with many limitations and rules. You’ll want to better 22

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

understand the substantiation requirements that enable you to take a deduction for business use of a vehicle, such as ensuring that you establish a home office for business mileage purposes. And the more you understand about all 10 concepts listed above, the better prepared you’ll be when tax season rolls around again. Step 4 Once you’ve completed the first three steps of the process, you’ll want to get on the phone with your certified public accountant or tax advisor and invite that person to lunch. The summer months offer a good, low-stress period of time in which to have a bite to eat with your advisor, discuss the challenges of the coming year and project your estimated tax liability. The more you already know about the 10 key concepts listed above, the sooner your accountant can start the process of finding and applying tax strategies to improve your situation in the coming year.

Have a question for Mike? Send it to editor@pmq.com. Michael J. Rasmussen is the owner of Rasmussen Tax Group in Conway, Arkansas. Visit rasmussentaxgroup.com for additional insight into restaurant-specific tax strategies and technology programs.

The Marketing Maven Linda Duke

Mavenisms From a Restaurant Marketer, Part 2 Attract new customers and build loyalty with a creative marketing plan. As PMQ’s resident marketing maven, I have compiled a list of 10 “mavenisms,” or key strategies that can be implemented to improve your restaurant’s overall marketing plan. I presented the first five mavenisms in last month’s issue. In this issue, I’d like to offer five more.

MAVENISM #6 Think of your restaurant as a venue. Your establishment can serve as a venue for many types of events that will draw additional business and boost your image with the general public. Here are some ideas: • Offer to host a fundraiser for local nonprofit organizations. Return a portion of your revenue to the organization—they eat and pay, and you give 20% back to them. • Invite social groups, such as the Red Hat Society or clubs for mah-jongg players, bridge players or car enthusiasts, to use your restaurant for their regular meetings. • Get feedback from your customers by hosting an in-restaurant focus group. Select a certain day and time—preferably a Saturday afternoon—and bring in 10 to 15 customers to be interviewed about your food, service and atmosphere. Offer an incentive—such as a free entree card or complimentary menu

item—for their participation. Try to get clear responses on customers’ preferences and perceptions and solicit their ideas on what creates an emotional connection to your brand.

MAVENISM #7 Spend your food instead of cash. Instead of spending money on advertising, use food samples— such as pizza, an appetizer, chips and salsa or even signature menu items—to entice new business and drive catering sales. You can make a big impact just by taking samples to targeted businesses or groups and getting your food in their mouths! Also reach out to radio DJs and provide free meal coupons that they can give away on the air, or offer to cook one of your signature menu items on a local TV morning show. This strategy—which is easy to implement but too often overlooked—makes people want to try your restaurant or reminds them to come back again.

MAVENISM #8 Practice socially responsible marketing. A vision for your business may be necessary for success, but it is no longer sufficient—having a “social vision” is also imperative, and restaurant operators must get with the program. Green marketing and socially responsible marketing have become major focuses for businesses and consumers alike. Talk to your distributor about locally grown or locally manufactured products as well as other companies that specialize in organic foods and sustainability practices. Many distributors already have sources for organic and sustainable lines. How does this approach benefit you? It’s good public relations. Use menus, signage, check presenters and word of mouth to spread information about your socially responsible efforts, and, in turn, your actions will generate good will, attract more loyal customers and turn your guests into “ambassadors” who are willing to share your story with others.

MAVENISM #9 Get on the LSM Diet. Restaurant operators should focus their marketing efforts within a radius of three to five miles and create their own niche. Community involvement is the glue that holds all marketing and advertising efforts together and makes them effective. It’s also your best chance to compete against the larger chains that can 24

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

afford mass media and advertising. But local store marketing won’t work unless you make a commitment to change behaviors and habits. I call it the LSM Diet, a philosophy for understanding the importance of local store marketing and how it can provide ROI—that is, “return on involvement.” Any restaurant operator can follow the LSM Diet, and it can be implemented at any time. But the plan will be different for each operator. You’ll want to create your own LSM Diet plan and schedule time to step beyond your four walls to interact with the community, schools and local nonprofit companies. If your restaurant is located near a hospital or a business park, for example, start there. Adhering to the LSM Diet takes time and effort, but it’s worth the trouble. You will benefit from a strong return on involvement in the form of guest loyalty, frequency and sales success.

MAVENISM #10 Inspiration is the secret ingredient! In today’s economic climate, if you think nothing has changed and you can simply wait for guests to walk through the door, you’re wrong. It’s a new world for restaurant operators, and you’ll be left behind unless you find a way to inspire and motivate yourself and your crew. Be creative in developing new tactics for driving sales and encourage that same creativity in your staff. Success will come to those operators who develop and implement creative marketing tactics that reap return on involvement. Finally, following my top 10 mavenisms is a great start, but you should also take inspiration from them and develop original ideas of your own!

Linda Duke is the CEO of Duke Marketing and author of Recipes for Restaurateurs (marketing-cookbook.com), a “cookbook” of marketing ideas for restaurant owners. She publishes a quarterly industry resource, Restaurant Marketing Magazine, and an educational program, LSM-U, Local Store Marketing University. Find out more at dukemarketing.com.

June/July 2012 • pmq.com

Olives:

Gifts of the Gods Versatile and voluptuous, olives satisfy cravings for meat lovers and vegans alike. By Rick Hynum To the ancient Greeks, the olive was, literally, the ultimate gift from the gods, bestowed by Athena, the goddess of wisdom. For modern-day pizza lovers, the olive ranks among the 10 most popular toppings in the country, according to a 2011 survey by Technomic’s MenuMonitor—not quite heaven-sent, perhaps, but still a keeper. And its uses in appetizers and entrees are myriad, from dips and antipasti to focacce and bruschette, packing zesty flavor into every bite. In fact, the olive—and the tasty, heart-healthy oil it yields—is the quintessential Mediterranean food, so important that Israel treats olive production as a national security issue. It’s a cornerstone of the economy in parts of Spain, Greece and Italy and throughout the Middle East. California harvests olives as a cash crop, too, and even Texas has gotten into the business in recent years. But if you’ve ever tasted a raw one plucked fresh from the tree, you probably wondered how olives made it onto anyone’s plate at all. According to Adin Hester, executive director of the Olive Growers Council of California, a nonprofit industry association in Visalia, California, eating a raw olive is “an experience that stays with you for a lifetime.” But not in a good way, he adds. “It’s just a very, very bitter flavor. That’s why we have to process the olives before canning them; processing neutralizes the high level of acid that gives raw olives their strong, bitter flavor.” As unpleasant as raw olives may taste, some long-forgotten culinary genius figured out how to make them not only palatable, but also downright delicious. It’s not easy to do; lengthy, elaborate curing and marinating processes are required to make such an intolerably bitter fruit so flavorful, and these processes vary from one producer to another. Olives can be cured in water, brine, lye or oil, and curing time depends on the type of olive and the desired taste and texture. From start to finish, the process may take between six weeks and a year. But a good, tasty olive is worth the trouble, notes veteran chef and food writer Vicki Chelf, author of Vicki’s Vegan Kitchen: Eating With Sanity, Compassion and Taste. “I’m a fan of olives,” Chelf says. “They have been around since antiquity and 26

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

A Divine Fruit Olives come in a dizzying array of cultivars, as many as 700, including the Manzanilla, Queens, Hojiblanca, Sevillano, Kalamata, Mission and Gaeta varieties. They’re available in green or black hues; with or without the pit; seasoned with herbs, spices and hot peppers; or stuffed with pimentos, cheese, anchovies or almonds. “The sliced Hojiblanca ripe olive has long been used as a topping on pizza and adds a salty, woody flavor, which also works well with other toppings, such as meat and mushrooms,” says Rick Ennis, president of sales and marketing at Hojiblanca USA, an importer of olives from the Andalucia region of southern Spain. A key advantage of the Hojiblanca, Ennis adds, is that it “doesn’t shrink with the heat of the ovens.” Thanks to ideal climate and soil conditions, Spain has dominated the global olive market for decades, but California’s Central Valley—which has a Mediterranean-like climate—emerged as a strong competitor in the late 19th century. “We developed the black ripe olive for the pizza industry 30 or 40 years ago,” Hester says. “But we stumbled in 1980 and had a short crop.” Importers from Spain, Morocco, Turkey and Egypt quickly stepped in to fill the gap and now account for roughly 75% of the olives used for pizzas in the United States, Hester adds. California growers continue to play a game of catch-up with importers. Table olive acreage in that state has declined from 40,000 acres to between 26,000 and 28,000 acres. And, unlike

PIE-TANZA

were important in those early days not only as a food, but for health reasons and for their oil, which was used for everything from body lotions to fuel.” Loaded with healthy monounsaturated fats, iron and vitamin E, olives, according to numerous scientific studies, help ward off heart disease and breast and colon cancers, prevent asthma and can even improve the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. And for a dedicated herbivore like Chelf, they also satisfy cravings for certain foods that are forever forbidden. “I haven’t eaten bacon in nearly 40 years,” she says. “I eat those little oil-cured black olives instead. They have the taste that I like in bacon. They’re meaty in a way, and they have a firm texture and such a rich flavor.”

Fried stuffed olives have become a popular southern-style appetizer at PieTanza, a Neapolitan-style pizzeria with locations in South Carolina and Virginia.

harvesting olives for their oil, harvesting table olives requires a delicate touch—meaning expensive hand labor rather than machinery—to prevent damage to the fruit. “We haven’t been able to convert to machines that will get a large percentage of the olives off the tree,” Hester says. “We have to pick them when they’re not quite ready to come off the tree, so they’re hard to remove. With equipment that shakes the trees, we can get about 60% of the fruit, but you can’t leave 40% of your crop hanging on the tree and expect to make any money. And shaking tends to bruise the fruit, which is not acceptable to the consumer.” California’s growers have been working with researchers at the University of California, Davis, to develop a machine that will suit their needs and to improve planting techniques for a higher yield. “I wouldn’t say we’re struggling,” Hester says, “but we’ve got some big issues to deal with.”

Striking a Balance For pizzeria operators, the biggest issue is how to make the best use of the versatile and voluptuous olive. The ripe black olive remains the preferred variety for many pizza recipes. “Our CU Signature Pizza includes black olives, and our customers say that, with the additional toppings, the olives balance the flavors,” says Katherine Telushkina, owner of CU 29 Copper Bar & Grill (cu29bargrill.com), a Brooklyn, New York, restaurant specializing in Italian, American and Latin fare. “We also have a create-

Like an Extra Virgin As more consumers recognize the health benefits of olive oil, Shary Thur may have hit upon the perfect name and theme for her Arlington, Virginia, restaurant, Extra Virgin. With its olive oil-inspired menu and decor, Extra Virgin specializes ializes in wood-fired pizzas, pastas, seafood and vegetarian options. “Olive oil not only tastes great, but, increasingly,, we are learning about its health benefits for our bodies,” says executive chef Paul Anthony Fario. “And it is quite versatile, making it easy to incorporate into your diet.” Fario outlines several important health benefits of using olive oil: Anti-inflammation—Along with containing a naturally occurring chemical that helps reduce inflammation in the body, olive oil also has anticlotting properties, making it a good choice for heart-healthy recipes.

Monounsaturated fatty acids—Olive oil iss high in monounsaturated fatty acids, which helpp to control a person’s LDL—or “bad”—cholesterol and raise the body’s good, heart-healthy cholesterol.

Antioxidants—Olive oil contains powerful antioxidants called polyphenols, which slow the progression of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). One of the most important polyphenols is DHPEA-EDA, which has also been shown to protect red blood cells from damage.

Secoiridoids—Scientists have been studying dying this category of polyphenols, also found inn olive oil, for their anticancer properties. Additionally, they are believed to protect the digestive tract.

JJune/July 2012 • pmq.com

CU 29 COPPER BAR & GRILL

A pizza offered by CU 29 Copper Bar & Grill in Brooklyn proves that black olives, green olives and meat toppings can coexist harmoniously on a pizza. 28

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

MICHAEL P. MORIARTY

your-own-pizza selection that includes black olives and Kalamata olives along with other toppings. Our wood-burning brick oven allows the olives to maintain their texture while seasoning the pizza with their flavor. “At times our guests request green olives as well,” Telushkina adds. “The olives are commonly used to accentuate our toppings, which allows a free-for-all suited to the individual customer’s taste preferences.” Southerners like olives, too, not to mention anything deepfried. That’s why Pie-Tanza (pie-tanza.com), a Neapolitan-style pizzeria with locations in Columbia, South Carolina, and Arlington and Church Falls, Virginia, offers an innovative appetizer called Fried Stuffed Olives, jumbo green olives stuffed with sweet tomatoes and rich Gorgonzola cheese. Lightly breaded and dusted with Parmesan cheese, the olives are served with sweet tomato puree and marinara sauce. According to Evan Frangos, a marketing specialist at Mario Camacho Foods in Plant City, Florida, olives have become increasingly popular as high-end starters in American restaurants. “We’ve noticed that olives are being served more as appetizers in the European style,” he says. “They will typically be a mixture of Kalamata and green olives, often served on a plate with a little olive oil and seasonings or paired with sun-dried tomatoes or various cheeses. And olives packed in pouches without brine can be eaten as a snack and seasoned with garlic, chili or thyme. They haven’t made it into restaurants yet, but a lot of hotels and airlines have been picking them up, and we expect to see them in restaurants over time.” Mark Muscoreil, head chef at Vero Amore (veroamorepizza. com), a Neapolitan-style pizza restaurant in Dove Mountain, Arizona, also experiments with the salty fruits whenever he can. “The standard ones we use are Kalamata olives,” Muscoreil says. “I like their flavor, and I like how they hold up, especially on a pizza, in a hot oven. I also like their saltiness paired with other products we use. We have green olives that are a little milder—

Mark Muscoreil, head chef at Vero Amore in Dove Mountain, Arizona, serves up a taste of New Orleans with a white pizza that combines Kalamata olives and andouille sausage.

sometimes we’ll make a tapenade with green olives and other specialty olives and add capers and anchovies.” For a recurring special, Muscoreil developed a white pizza that combines Kalamata olives and andouille sausage. “I didn’t really create it for Mardi Gras, but I was going for a Mardi Gras feeling with it,” he says. “It has an extra-virgin olive oil base with garlic and Parmesan cheese; we add basil, sliced red onions and feta, which gives it a sharp saltiness and contrasts with the Kalamata olives nicely. The saltiness from the olives and cheese help cool down the andouille sausage a bit. Then we put our housemade mozzarella on it and finish it with pepperoncini.” Not everyone cares for a meat-centric pizza, of course, and some prefer no meat at all. Fortunately, olives work nicely as a substitute. The popular Veggie Lover’s Pizza at Studio Pizza (thestudiopizza.com) in Hancock, Michigan, boasts both green and black olives along with portobello mushrooms, red onions and green peppers. “Many of our pizzas were developed over the course of months, even years, but this one was just a spur-of-themoment combo early in our history,” says owner Mike Shupe. “The real reason behind it was to make a true vegetarian meal out of it, and olives, which are a fairly dense and strongly flavorful topping, go a long way toward making it a meal rather than a salad on a pizza.” The versatility of olives appeals to chefs, especially as more and more customers have adopted a meat-free lifestyle, Chelf notes. “I’m into good health as much as I’m into the taste of the food,” she says. “I think good food has to be both tasty and healthy, and I believe you can have both. “If someone’s cooking a vegetarian meal, leaving out the meat and the cheese may not make a satisfying dish,” Chelf adds. “You still need to get some fat and protein in there. With olives, you get a healthy fat and a satisfying richness of flavor. You don’t miss the meat and cheese anymore. Sometimes the simplest things can be really good.” Rick Hynum is PMQ’s managing editor.

Order Up!

By Liz Barrett

Part 1 of 2

The soaring popularity of smartphones offers new moneymaking potential for pizzerias with online ordering capabilities.

The era of online ordering has arrived, and the topic is so big we couldn’t fit it all into one article. Read on to find out what’s shiny and new, and check next month’s issue for how to effectively market your online ordering.

ake a moment and think back to the days when you handwrote orders that came in over the phone. Where did all of that chicken scratch end up? In a big folder? A bigger cabinet? Was any of it used to market to your customers? It wasn’t until POS systems came around that pizzeria operators had the opportunity to start building robust customer lists and monitoring guests’ ordering habits. Each time a new order came in, you would key in all of the customer’s data and save it for future use. Then, with the advent of online ordering, your customers started doing all of the work for you and, according to statistics, increasing the sizes of their orders to boot. Talk about a win-win situation! With consumers becoming more selfsufficient every day (think self-checkout at the grocery store and online banking/ bill paying), online ordering was a natural progression for food ordering—with pizzerias leading the way. And, as those in the younger generation continue to prove that they’re more comfortable talking with their fingers instead of their mouths, online and mobile ordering capabilities have been growing at a steady clip.

Evolving Online We’ve all watched the evolution of online ordering as it has grown from something very simple to a technology offering a lot of bells and whistles. Gary Ziegler, founder and CEO of Sunnyvale, Californiabased eThor, has been working with online ordering technology for eight years and remembers when you could receive orders only via fax. “We were one of the first to go to POS integration,” recalls Ziegler. 30

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

“Even in the last five years, we’ve seen a lot of changes, including online hubs, social media and group buying.” Ziegler says that most restaurants view online ordering as a commodity now and as an important avenue for selling more pizza. As online ordering technology has evolved, so have consumer expectations. James Sinclair, a business growth consultant at OnSite Consulting in Los Angeles, says the consumer’s expectations have changed in recent years when it comes to online ordering. “It used to be this sequence of order it and pray,” says Sinclair. “Now ordering is part of a fun experience and incredibly personal, from mobile applications to website widgets to fun Twitter engagements and everything in between.” With companies such as Domino’s Pizza (dominos.com) allowing consumers to track their pizzas from start to finish, consumers feel more connected to both the product and the store, with mobile ordering making it even easier, Sinclair notes. “Memory, rewards—all in one click; everything is consumer-driven,” he says.

Operator Needs As consumer needs have changed, so, too, have the needs of operators who are interested in offering online ordering to their customers. But pizzeria operators don’t necessarily have the time or energy to invest in setting up a website or integrating it into their POS systems. Thankfully, nowadays, most of the work is done for you, with companies offering solutions that will have you up and running in a matter of minutes. At the same time, other companies allow a do-it-yourself approach for those who enjoy building their own site (a comprehensive list of providers can be found on pages 32 to 33). Arlington, Texas-based Breakaway Restaurant Solutions has been offering its IRIS online ordering option to its POS customers since January, and, according to director of sales and operations Michael Stuhlman, the system can build an entire menu online in less than

10 minutes with the click of a button. “If the store wants to add something to the menu, they just add it to the site and resynchronize it with the store,” Stuhlman says. “It allows a restaurant to bring new features to customers quicker.” But some features of online ordering can be trickier than others, says Jason Kiefer, president and founder of Real Time Ordering (RTO), based in Fullerton, California. According to Kiefer, whose company boasts a pizzeria client list of about 400 (one-quarter of which are small independents), pizzeria operators’ No. 1 need is an easy topping strategy. Apparently, with all of the different coupon deals and menu combinations, this is an area that has been difficult to perfect in the past with online ordering modules. Because of so many requests, Kiefer says, RTO is now able to customize any topping combination a pizzeria requires. Meanwhile, with the topic of nutritional information requirements dominating the news lately, One Click Dining has taken notice and integrated a feature into its online ordering module that allows for the addition of nutritional data as well as Weight Watchers points. And company owner Richard Allen says he’ll soon introduce technology that could further revolutionize the online ordering process: an app that utilizes interactive voice recognition software. Texting creates safety issues, and a few cities have even begun issuing fines for “careless walking” or “distracted walking.” Allen says his “click-n-speak” technology will allow smartphone users to place online orders using voice commands instead of pushing buttons. “What I’m working on is entirely voiceactivated, including the ability to locate a restaurant, call in a reservation, place an online order and even pay for the order, all without ever dialing the phone.”

The Numbers As technology has grown to meet consumer demand, we’ve also seen online

ordering numbers mirror that growth. Andrew Schrage, co-owner of Chicagobased Money Crashers Personal Finance, notes that online orders at Domino’s and Papa John’s (papajohns.com) now account for more than 30% of each of the companies’ overall business. Additionally, recent statistics show that an average online order is an estimated 18% larger than one placed over the phone. “Consumers have reacted very well to the concept of online ordering,” Schrage says. “They can take their time, browse an online menu and make their choice without feeling rushed or pressured. This is a key reason why online orders are higher than those placed by phone.”

Social Ordering Integrating online ordering into Facebook seems like a no-brainer. There are close to 1 billion people on Facebook, and, according to Mintel, a leading market research company, nearly 50% of consumers surveyed consider online ordering to be an important restaurant option. “Many online ordering programs today have developed or are in the process of developing applications that re-

“Now ordering is part of a fun experience and incredibly personal, from mobile applications to website widgets to fun Twitter engagements and everything in between.” June/July 2012 • pmq.com

Twitter profiles. The restaurant operator is able to obtain all types of new insight into guest demographics, hobbies and interests, education, jobs and interactions. That’s information they can use to design more effective promotions.”

App Attack

side in various social media platforms such as Facebook and Google+,” says Eric Abrams, director of enterprise sales for the Central/Midwest at Alexandria, Virginia-based Fishbowl. “This allows guests to share their ordering information with friends and create a viral marketing opportunity for brands.” POS companies are also on board with this new online ordering approach. “We’re seeing a lot more of our customers take advantage of mobile ordering and Facebook ordering for their restaurants,” says Jennifer Wiebe, marketing manager at Lynden, Washington-based SpeedLine Solutions. “We just had our first group of customers go live with a new, full-circle social media marketing and mobile ordering solution, which hooks into guests’ Facebook and

While the number of users on Facebook may seem staggering, it doesn’t even compare to those using smartphones. According to recent research by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 46% of Americans own smartphones, many of which utilize apps. “By far the biggest change to online ordering is the growth in mobile orders over the past couple of years,” says Christopher Webb, co-founder and CEO of Santa Monica, California-based ChowNow. “I’d also note that mobile apps are seeing much more demand compared to mobile websites, which have limited capabilities and offer an inferior user experience.” According to Mintel, Pizza Hut is credited with being the first national restaurant chain to launch an iPhone ordering app. The chain raised the bar for other multiunit pizza brands to enter the digital-ordering world, and they’ve quickly followed suit. Domino’s launched its Android smartphone ordering app in February, and in two weeks the app exceeded 140,000 downloads (its iPhone app launched the previous June). The app extends many

of the features of the Domino’s online ordering platform, including coupon search, full national menu, GPS store locator and the ability to follow an order with Domino’s Tracker. The Domino’s app for iPhone and iPod Touch achieved $1 million in sales in just 28 days, proving the viability of selling pizza through a mobile device. “Online ordering is traveling with us everywhere we go as more applications are being developed for smartphones to provide online ordering opportunities optimized for these mini-computers,” says Abrams. “These applications allow customers to repeat their favorite orders with ease or create new orders with screens and menus optimized for the smartphone.” Each year brings added innovation to online ordering as smartphones, social media sites and apps enter the picture. So what’s coming up? Abrams projects that online ordering will lead to an increase in on-site digital ordering. “You’re seeing it already, with iPads in place of menus and digital kiosks in place of menu boards,” he says. “Interactive, in-store online ordering is taking off, creating a whole new way for guests to interact within the four walls of a restaurant. Where this technology is best suited and other benefits from this new interaction are still being figured out, but you can bet you’ll be seeing more of it.” Liz Barrett is PMQ’s editor-in-chief.

Online Ordering Resources Company Name

Phone Number

Website

Basic Setup Fee

Monthly Fee

Website Example

POS SYSTEMS WITH ONLINE ORDERING Breakaway Restaurant Solutions (IRIS)

817-299-4500

breakawayiris.com

$99

$59.95

n/a

EZ Software Solutions

877-853-1263

ezdinepos.com

n/a

Granbury Restaurant Solutions

800-750-3947

granburyrs.com

n/a

pizzaguys.com

Meridian Star P.O.S.

855-853-6485

meridianstarms.com

$299

$79

n/a

Microworks POS Solutions

800-787-2068

microworks.com

$295

$100

gostarpinos.com

OrderCounter.com

866-777-2928

ordercounter.com

$0-$700

$89

salvatores.com

POSnet

866-976-7638

posnet.us

n/a

Restaurant Manager (ASI)

800-356-6037

rmpos.com

n/a

$99

chatnchew.net

Revention POS Solutions (HungerRush)

877-738-7444

revention.com

$495 (1st) $395 (add.)

$59

gattispizza.com

Selby Soft

800-454-4434

selbysoft.com

$120-$995

$50-$70

see website

Signature Systems (PDQ POS)

877-968-6430

pdqpos.com

$250

$79.99

see website

Speedline Solutions

888-400-9185 Ext 2217

speedlinesolutions.com

$250

$49

pizzahut.com

Touch Pro

877-713-0300

gotouchpro.com

n/a

jetspizza.com

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

Online Ordering Resources Company Name

Phone Number

Website

Basic Setup Fee

Monthly Fee

Website Example

ONLINE ORDERING SEARCH SITES 411eat.com

832-607-9110

411eat.com

$299

$79

n/a

GrubHub

877-805-5081

grubhub.com

10% of order

n/a

Pizza.com

310-961-2090

pizza.com

$500

$500-$1,000

lamppostpizza.com

WEB-BASED ORDERING PROVIDERS BigHoller

888-244-4655

bigholler.com

$150

$60

Brygid Technologies

866-427-9443

brygid.com

Varies

ChowNow

888-707-2469

chownow.com

$199

$89

Frontstream Payments (Click to Go)

800-687-8505

frontstreampayments.com

n/a

See website

Compel Cart

800-419-8480 ext. 376

compelcart.com

Varies

$60

cottageinn.com

DashOrder

650-906-3676

dashorder.com

$25-$75

pontillospzza.com

bantonios.com unos.com, extremepizza.com facebook.com/ zeldascorner

DineBlast (SoftTouch POS)

954-531-0471 ext. 102

online.dineblast.com

n/a

buongiornopizza.com

Emenusolutions

800-883-5939

emenusolutions.com

$45

n/a pizzashuttle.com

eHungry.com

sales@ehungry.com

ehungry.com

$19.95/.15 per order

eThor

403-666-9931

ethor.com

$49

garlicjims.com

Geomerx

941-400-7191

geomerx.com

$899

$99

janandtonyspizza.com

HighSpeed Waiter

877-847-2885

highspeedwaiter.com

$0 (PMQ Special)

$50

stangelos.com mamamimis.com cocosbakery.com

iMenu360

866-629-9646 ext. 2

imenu360.com

$99

$10 + 3% net sales, capped at $150

IT Problem Solver

866-755-4877

smartertakeout.com

$250

$45

LetsGet.net

314-397-6576

letsget.net

Varies

marcospizza.com

MenuScale

888-786-7357

menuscale.com

$399

$89

n/a

Merosys

888-575-0276

merosys.com

$149.95

$19.95/5% trans. fee

n/a

MunchAway

888-588-4620

munchaway.com

$800-$1,000

$80-$120

reginapizza.com n/a netwaiter.com/pizzabarn

MyPizza.com

888-974-9928

mypizza.com

$0/$2 per order

NetWaiter

866-638-9248

netwaiter.com

$0-$295

$39-$139

Nextep Systems

866-654-8730

nextepsystems.com

$300

$30-$60

n/a

OLO

877-466-6260

olo.com

Varies

n/a

mazziostogo.com

One Click Dining

877-328-8040

oneclickdiner.com

$150

$35

taqueriazamora.net

OnlineMenuOrdering

310-429-9364

onlinemenuordering.com

$199

$49.95

dollyspizza.com

OnlineOrdering.com

888-666-1015

onlineordering.com

$50

$39

paparonis.com

Online Orders Now

888-673-3710

onlineordersnow.com

$895

$69.95 w/ mobile

westshorepizza.com

ONOSYS

888-666-7976

onosys.com

$3,000-$5,000

$60-$90

order.bostonpizza.com

Order Network

888-676-7337

ordernetwork.com

$50

Orders On the Fly

800-331-8882

ordersonthefly.com

$300 setup

n/a

Ordyx

561-807-1502

ordyx.com

Varies

$29.95 $197 annual fee $50

PatronPath

866-900-6368

patronpath.com

$499

$99

Pizza Galaxy

203-230-9662

pizzagalaxy.com

$175

$24.95

bigalspizzanyc.com

QuikOrder

312-222-1750

quikorder.com

n/a

pizzahut.com

Real Time Ordering (RTO)

866-932-4782

realtimeordering.com

$250-$1,000

$75-$110

figaros.com

SnapFinger

678-739-4650

snapfinger.com

Varies

n/a

fazolis.com

Vrindi (Restaurant Wave)

877-987-4643 ext. 1

vrindi.com

$1,000-$3,000

n/a

bambinospizzact.com

Zeno's Pizza

815-642-9720

zenospizza.com

n/a

obriens.com

piola.it pipizzeria-delmar. patronpath.com

The prices quoted above are estimates and are subject to change depending on the options chosen by each restaurant. n/a = not available at time of publication or not disclosed by company June/July 2012 â&#x20AC;˘ pmq.com

liquid

ASSETS

Experts offer tips for a better beverage marketing program, leading to increased sales and enhanced customer satisfaction. Compiled by Tracy Morin

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

Beverage marketing can easily become an afterthought in the pizzeria setting, but operators would be wise to look more closely at this category. Not only can a great beverage program and expanded options for customers differentiate your pizzeria from competitors, but it can add to the customer’s overall experience, encouraging loyalty and leading to increased revenues. Regardless of whether you offer sodas only or a full-service bar, chances are you can beef up your beverage sales with a few tricks of the trade— such as these culled from marketing experts and pizzeria and restaurant operators. By tapping into the full potential of these high-profit-margin items, you’ll turn afterthoughts into major assets.

Adam Holmes, manager, Due Forni (dueforni.com), Las Vegas, NV

Zarin Thomson, owner, Caffe Royale, Stellenbosch, Cape of Good Hope, South Africa

Reduce the size of the glass without making it look like there has been a reduction—this works well for draft beer. The better-looking the glass is, the more people will be willing to pay for what is inside of it. This has a profound effect on the bottom line. I use footed 330-milliliter glasses and charge R25.00 [approximately $3.15] per unit for a microbrewery’s imported beer. While the standard is 500 milliliters, people look at how nice the glass is (and often remark on it), pay the money and are very happy—and so am I. My beer was selling at a loss due to theft and now makes a very good profit.

Chip Mims, CEO, Mims Distributing Company, Raleigh, NC

One of the best things operators can do is to make recommendations—either on the menu or a board—to match pizzas with beer styles. For example, a pilsner like Lagunitas Pils will go well with a cheese pizza, because the pilsner will cut the sauce nicely. If you have a meaty pizza, something like an IPA would do, or, depending on the spiciness of the toppings, a spicy beer. The biggest thing is to experiment with your unique creations, trying them with different styles and brewing companies. Then give your customers recommendations based on the results.

Marketing beverages is actually one of the fun parts of our trade. We have always enjoyed educating people about a new product, whether it’s alcoholic or not. In return, we take on the responsibility of only carrying products we firmly believe in. One great attribute that comes with Italian food is that there are so many flavors that we get to mix and match with wine. Pairing wine with specific items has always been a big part of what we do. Dessert liquors also play a big part in tying the dining experience together. Our wine list can appear intimidating, to a certain extent, at first glance. One of our biggest challenges is keeping our staff knowledgeable about our list. Questions must be answered, and recommendations need to be fluent—as well as accurate—to gain the trust of our guests. We have had great success with our wine flights, which allow our guests to try three different wines at a time, thus allowing them to taste and fall in love with new varietals. Our wine flights are a useful tool that we also use to display some of our reserve wines. We have a great happy hour that features two of our wines from Sicily and, if a customer is having commitment issues, our one-ounce tastings allow our guests to take a test drive of the wine! Writing a creative menu is key in grabbing the client’s attention. Cocktails listed need to have a rhyme and reason. The more you can captivate your guest with a story that ties the cocktail together, the better. For example, one of the unique things Due Forni does is list cocktails by feeling rather than spirit—such as “Roman Goddess–subtle, delicate and captivating–truly a nectar from the goddesses” or “Sicilian Sunset– slightly sinister romance set in Sicily– complex, blood orange.” It’s always great to have sole ownership of a certain product in town—offer something that none of your competitors does. This, along with other driving factors, ensures the guest will come to you rather than a close competitor. This also gives the guest a reason to talk about your establishment outside of its confines.

June/July 2012 • pmq.com

Amy Armstrong, EVP, managing director, ID Media, New York, NY Promotional print can be a powerful beverage marketing/sales driver and has proved to be effective in QSRs. When featuring products in a free-standing insert (promotional print material commonly inserted in newspapers, magazines and/or print catalogs), we’ve seen in-store coupon redemption rise 80%. For casual dining, inserts featuring additional products drove coupon redemption by almost 50%.

Linda Duke, CEO, Duke Marketing, San Rafael, CA

Jonathan Raduns, consultant, NationalRestaurantConsultants.com, Golden, CO

Here a few tips that I would provide for pizzerias to drive beverage sales: • Stop automatically bringing water to tables before taking drink orders. • Try combo menu offerings, such as a slice with a fountain soda or a whole pizza with a two-liter. • Depending on the market, artisanal or unique beverages, such as gourmet sodas, are a special treat. • In more upscale, natural pizzerias, offer effervescent kombucha instead of soda. • Consider coffee shops’ strategies and try custom French or Italian sodas made with club soda/sparking water and flavored syrups. For better merchandising: • Keep coolers fully stocked with beverages. • Place highest-profit beverages at eye level. • Create color contrasts between beverage offerings. For example, do not place root beer directly next to cola. Put a lighter-color beverage between them, such as a lemon-lime option. This strategy visually conveys more offerings from a distance and is less confusing to the eye. • Fix or add lighting to beverage cases. Keep beverage cases well-lit at all times. • If you don’t have a beverage refrigerator, talk to your foodservice or soda supplier about obtaining one.

• Selling beverages is a simple matter of suggestion. Be sure your servers or cashier offer beverages before ringing up takeout customers. • Promotions mix things up and get guests’ attention. Whether it’s March Madness or Merlot Mondays, there is always something to promote. Get creative. • Offering wines by the glass, wine pairings and wine dinners all are great ways to promote your beverages. • Seasonal ingredients make a splash with guests. Try strawberry martinis for spring and orange Italian sodas for Halloween. Run promotions on lighter wines in the summer/spring and heartier wines in the fall/winter. • Offering a slice-and-soda special is a great—and inexpensive—way to kick-start a successful and fruitful happy hour. Incorporate other food and beverage offers to entice the happy hour and value-driven crowd.

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Donna Cataldo, VP, account director, Media Partnership, Norwalk, CT Consumers may not necessarily come to a pizza establishment for beverages, but the sales opportunity should not be neglected. Beverages are likely not a product you’re handcrafting, but they can still boost your revenue. One way to boost beverage sales is to use in-store advertising, which gives operators the opportunity to boost sales by flexibly testing a variety of promotions to discover the greatest return on investment.

Joseph Radwan, president, Red Boy Pizza (redboypizza.com), San Rafael, CA

At Red Boy Pizza, we recently held VIP Tasting events to introduce new managers at their locations. By partnering with our wine vendor, we were able to secure someone to pour wines and educate our guests about the brands we serve. The vendor also provided some additional bottles without charging us to help promote its brands. And we always keep half-size bottles of wine by our register, so if customers picking up to-go orders want to grab one, they see it while they’re paying.

Lindsey Sherman, marketing consultant, The Lindsey Craze, Frederick, MD

The simplest thing a pizzeria/restaurant can do is to perch a vertical drink menu on the table, so that when a couple sits down they cannot see each other without moving the menu. I would recommend a drink menu where the wine/beer list faces outward. That way, customers see the menu and even if they weren’t planning on buying an alcoholic beverage, they might change their minds after they see that the pizzeria has a beer they like. Another tip would be to offer a drink special. Posting a drink special on a chalkboard or whiteboard informs customers that the restaurant carries alcoholic beverages. Even if the drink special doesn’t interest the customer, he may ask what else the pizzeria/restaurant has to offer. For nonalcoholic beverages, offer some sort of rewards program, such as “Buy five sodas, get the 6th free!” If the customer is choosing between a pizzeria that gives a free soda the sixth time and one that doesn’t offer any reward for purchasing from them, he will likely stick with the establishment that offers the rewards program. Encourage customers to dine in. If they get orders to go, chances are they won’t purchase a beverage at your pizzeria. Price simply. Offer beverages at whole-number prices with the tax included. For example, $1 for a can or $1.50 for a bottle makes it easier for a cash-paying customer to whip out exact change. Offer variety. Too many times I’ve eaten at a restaurant that offers only soda or water. I’d rather not pay for water, and I often don’t want to drink soda. I usually end up asking for a glass of tap water. If the establishment offered lemonade, iced tea, milk or juice, I would have purchased a beverage. Provide free refills. When I see this sign, even though I hardly ever get a refill, my mind goes “Cha-ching!” I think customers enjoy drinking while they eat and being able to fill up for the ride home.

Tracy Morin is PMQ’s senior copy editor.

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Pizza of the Month:

Seafood

Greek

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

Zorba the Veggie Recipe and photo provided by Jeff and Lori Walderich, owners of Top That! Pizza, a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based pizza chain specializing in personal-sized pizzas with unlimited toppings for a single price. 6 oz. pizza dough ¼ c. spicy Alfredo sauce 6 whole spinach leaves BACO’S PIZZA

½ c. whole-milk mozzarella cheese 10 pieces (1 oz.) artichoke hearts 6 slices Roma tomatoes 10 pieces (½ oz.) caramelized onions Small pinch of roasted garlic 15 slices (½ oz.) black olives 2 tbsp. feta cheese

Note: Top That! Pizza sells only personal-size pizzas; this recipe yields a 10” pie.

Greece Is the Word Build a loyal clientele for your Greek pizzas with these marketing tips: •

What’s in a name? Plenty, if it’s catchy and evocative. Thanks to a pantheon of well-known mythological characters, such as Medusa, Apollo, the Cyclops, Atlas and Aphrodite, Greek pizzas lend themselves to fun, colorful names that your customers won’t soon forget.

•

Create a Greek Week promotion with a different Greek specialty pie for each day and specials on Greek wines.

•

Celebrate Greece’s rich cultural history with a Greek Dance night and invite customers to join in traditional Greek dances. Hire a belly dancer, offer lessons and host Best Belly Dancer contests for men and women.

Cooking with Greece When it comes to pizza, what’s unique about the Greeks? Harry Bacoupolos, owner of the Greek-themed Baco’s Pizza (bacospizza.com) in Enfield, Connecticut, says the major difference is the baking process, as Greeks bake their pies in pans instead of directly on an oven’s stones. Additionally, Greek sauce is made with tomato paste and added spices instead of whole tomatoes. “The really traditional Greeks allow the pizzas to proof in pans for at least eight to 12 hours before cooking,” Bacopoulos adds. “The dough is allowed to rise for two to three hours, then they’re sauced and placed in the cooler until they’re ready for toppings and cooking.” Greek pizzas may not outsell their Italian rivals in a traditional pizzeria, but they add flair to any menu, as the following examples illustrate: Greek Pizza Kitchen (greekpizzakitchen.com) in Tarpon Springs, Florida, offers a bounty of Grecian selections, including the Keftedes Pizza, featuring Greek meatballs, spinach and feta cheese, and the Venetian Grecian, with a tzatziki sauce base, Italian sausage, gyro meat, sauteed onions, tomatoes and feta. The Panhandle Restaurant (panhandlesf.com), a San Francisco pizzeria, appeals to vegetarians with its Greek Specialty pie, topped with marinated eggplant, olives, red onions, spinach and feta. Specializing in Greek pizzas and pastas, Suni’s Gourmet Express (sunispizza.com) in Shoreline, Washington, serves up the Chris Special, loaded with fresh garlic, mushrooms, olives, green peppers, onions, spinach, imported Greek feta, mozzarella and diced tomatoes, topped off with shredded pepperoni and unsalted sunflower seeds. Simplicity is the key at Pittsford, New York’s Olive’s Greek Taverna (olivespittsford.com), where the Santornini pizza features only Kalamata olives and Kasseri cheese, and the Rhodes boasts portabello mushrooms, goat cheese, tomatoes and onions.

June/July 2012 • pmq.com

Band of Brothers Two generations of Gioves keep a family legacy thriving at Brothers Pizza in Staten Island. By Rick Hynum Photos by Dag Bennstrom

hyness has never been a problem for the Giove family, the longtime owners of Brothers Pizza in Staten Island, New York. Giorgio Giove, elder son of Brothers co-owner Filippo Giove Sr., is a world champion dough spinner and pizza maker. His younger sibling, Filippo Jr., has a featured role on a reality TV show. And neither needs a spotlight or a soundstage to strut his stuff. On any given day, you’ll find the siblings, both in their 20s, working the counter at the celebrated pizzeria like a pair of seasoned pros, dishing out fresh, hot pies with witty banter, winning smiles and a heavy dose of Italian swagger. 42

The three original Giove brothers founded Brothers Pizza in 1975.

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

(Clockwise from top left) Giorgio and his dad Filippo Sr. strike a confident pose. Giorgio and a Brothers Pizza employee get ready to pop a pie into the oven; Giorgio jokes with a customer.

Many pizza chefs claim to make their pizzas with passion. But, like their dad, 53, and their uncles Bartolo and Pietro, who co-founded Brothers Pizza in 1975, the Giove boys throw in another ingredient—a sense of pure, cocksure joy, wielding their peels like Major League sluggers aiming for the fences, joshing with customers and boasting about the high quality of their fare to anyone who will listen. “It’s the food and the people I enjoy,” says Giorgio, 27, who currently manages the pizzeria. “I love seeing different faces every day along with my regular customers. I give them good service and high-quality food, and I watch them walk out of here with smiles on their faces. They’re happy to be here, getting served a fresh, hot, quality pie straight out of the oven.” Filippo Jr. puts it more bluntly. “This is the best pizzeria you’ll ever walk into for the rest of your life,” he tells a visitor while his father stands nearby. Filippo Sr. gives his namesake a nudge. “Tell him what they call you.” “They call me the pizza prince,” Filippo Jr. says, grinning. “The prince of pizza.” “Why?” “Because you’re the king!”

Fast Learners Like many Italian pizzaioli in New York, Filippo Sr. wasn’t born into restaurateur royalty. He was 14 when his family immigrated to the United States from Gravina, Italy. Before long, Filippo Sr. found himself working in a pizza restaurant. “I couldn’t even reach high enough to put the pizza in the oven,” he recalls. “It was so high, I’d get burned under my arms every time. The owner put a milk box under the oven. Every time I put a pizza in the oven, I had to pull the milk box out.” Soon, Filippo Sr. and his older brothers launched their own pizzeria, Gino’s, on 13th Avenue in Brooklyn. A few years later, they bought another property in Staten Island and started Brothers Pizza, then moved up the street to their current location at 750 Port Richmond Avenue. “Around that time, Uncle Pete decided he wanted to go back to Italy, so it’s been my dad and Uncle Bart running the show here for the past 30 years,” Giorgio says. Giorgio grew up in the pizzeria. “I’ve been here since I was 10 years old,” he

(From top) Filippo looks on proudly as elder son Giorgio shows off his dough spinning moves; Brothers Pizza emphasizes quality ingredients and consistency in pie preparation; the ever-gregarious Giorgio chats with a customer.

Check out our exclusive video coverage of Brothers Pizza on PizzaTV.com. June/July 2012 • pmq.com

says. “From day one, I felt a passion for pizza: for making it, cutting the cheese, rolling up the dough balls, working in the kitchen. It was kind of set in stone that this was my ideal job. “I started making my own pies at around 15 years old. I snuck them into the oven when my father would go to the bathroom. Every time he’d slip away, I thought it was a golden opportunity to rise to the occasion. The pies never really came out round, though, more like an oblong shape. But my father saw I was

taking the initiative, and, little by little, I started getting better. He would let me make a couple of pies during the week, usually toward the end of the night, so I could start getting the hang of it.” Filippo Sr. admired his son’s industriousness. After all, he and his own brothers taught themselves the pizza business. “We picked everything up on our own,” Filippo Sr. says. “Where I come from, we didn’t know anything about pizza. We only knew foccacia. That’s all my mother used to make.”

Luckily, they were fast learners. Within a few years, the Gioves owned three pizzerias in the New York area, but the quality of the food began to suffer as the family enterprise expanded. “Two pizzerias were easy to manage, but the third was different because we just couldn’t be everywhere,” Filippo Sr. says. Hiring a nonfamily member to manage one of the operations led to disappointment, and the Gioves eventually sold two of their restaurants. Now Filippo Sr. warns against the temptation to create a franchise concept. “When you franchise the name, it’s not easy because you can ruin the other business,” he says. “If you can’t run that second place the same way you run the first one, you may ruin the first one because your reputation goes bad.”

Simplicity Is Best While Filippo Jr. spends most of his time these days training for a career in the salon business—and setting female viewers’ hearts aflutter—on the Style Network’s series Jerseylicious, Giorgio has dedicated himself to preserving the Giove family’s pizza making legacy. After graduating from The Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan, he served an internship at Staten Island restaurant Italianissimo and later spent three months touring Italy, where he plied his trade in various restaurants and picked up techniques and recipes from noted chefs. “I was there to learn and put 110% effort into it,” he recounts. “I was working with porcini mushrooms, chestnuts, wild boar, rabbit, quail, stuff that you don’t see every day. I’d hold $3,000 worth of black truffles in my hand on a daily basis.” He also worked on his grandfather’s olive farm in Gravina and spent time with his grandmother and his Aunt Rosetta. “I learned my family’s tradition of recipes there,” Giorgio says. “That was very important to me. You want to hold on to your heritage; once you lose that, you start to lose everything. “The whole heart of Italian cooking, I learned, is that simplicity is best. Don’t overdo it. Keep it simple, follow the proper techniques, and nothing can go wrong.” Meanwhile, Giorgio, a member of the U.S. Pizza Team, also built a name for himself in national and international pizza making and dough spinning contests. He has won two gold medals for pizza acrobatics at the American 44

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

Pizza Championship in Milwaukee, and his specialty pizza, made with porcini mushrooms and butternut squash purée, placed third in that competition’s prestigious classic pizza category.

The Pizza Speaks for Itself Despite his dad’s negative experience with running multiple restaurants, Giorgio still aims to expand the family enterprise. “My idea is to open another place that offers more upscale dining,” he says. “I’m also looking at doing private catering for corporate events and maybe buying some food trucks. Within a year or two, we should have a blueprint for expansion.” Although the pizzeria business is highly competitive in Staten Island, the Gioves have thrived without clever

marketing ploys. Aside from a Facebook page, Brothers Pizza doesn’t even have a website. “Believe it or not, we don’t do any advertising or specials on the menu,” Giorgio says. “We let the pizza speak for itself, and it’s worked for us over the past 35 years.” There was, however, one notable exception. The Gioves commemorated Brothers Pizza’s 35th anniversary in 2010 with a three-day promotion that offered pizza specials at 1975 prices. Customers paid $1.50 for two slices and a soda, $4 for a round pie and $6 for a square Sicilian pie. “That was my father’s and my uncle’s idea,” Giorgio notes. “They wanted to give something back to the community. It was a madhouse, with lines all the way down the block. We made over 7,000

(Clockwise from top) Giorgio enjoys a brief respite during a busy day at the popular pizzeria founded by his dad and uncle; after more than 35 years in the business, Filippo Sr. has turned Brothers Pizza’s reins over to Giorgio; another tasty pie is prepared for a hungry customer.

THE MAN WHO BEAT BOBBY FLAY Pizzeria Giove’s founder learned pizza making lessons the hard way. When Brothers Pizza co-founder Pietro Giove packed up his family and returned to Italy in 1992, he wasted no time getting back into the pizza business. But, as owners of The Big Apple pizzeria in Bari, the Gioves learned a hard lesson about making true Italian pies, says Pietro’s eldest son, Giorgio. “We used our New York recipe, and, if we hadn’t woken up and smelled the coffee—or the pizza—we would have shut down in six months,” Giorgio recalls. “People in Italy did not like our pizza, which we’d sold by the thousands in New York every week. They had a different palate. They know pizza better than we do. It was a rude awakening.” Giorgio, then a teenager, set out to learn piemaking from the Italian masters. Now back in Staten Island, he owns the popular Pizzeria Giove, has won three world championships in Italy and even bested the star of the Food Network’s Throwdown! With Bobby Flay. Master pizza chef Giorgio Giove from Pizzeria Giove Giorgio relied on sampling and word of mouth when he opened Pizzeria Giove in early 2011. He distributed 4,500 fliers around the city and brought in customers for two days of pizza tastings. “For $4 per customer, I served eight to 12 slices of my different award-winning pizzas,” he says. “By the third day, a Sunday, we were selling all those pizzas to people we hadn’t seen on Friday or Saturday. People kept coming in, saying, ‘My cousin was here last night’ or ‘My sister emailed me about you.’ They already knew what our menu was all about.” Ironically, selling “bad” pizza in Italy motivated Giorgio to become a successful chef and restaurateur. “I appreciate it because, today, I can call myself a real-deal pizza chef,” he says. “I went from being the worst in Italy to No. 1 in the world.” June/July 2012 • pmq.com

pies in three days. That’s something we might do again for our 50th anniversary, but not anytime soon.” Filippo Sr., a plainspoken man with spectacles and a graying goatee, cares more about the quality of his product than flashy promotions. A successful operator must pay attention to the details of the pie making process, he says, and employ staff members who know how to do it right every time. “You have to be consistent, use the right amount of dough, the right amount of cheese and the right amount of sauce. It’s not about the quantity—you put a lot of stuff on it and a lot of sauce, and the pizza will never come out right. “I’ve got a good pizza man,” he adds, referring to Giorgio. “A different pizza man can change your pizza because he doesn’t have the same touch as you. Giorgio has the same touch. That’s why our pizza is consistent. ” Even as he ponders plans to open new restaurants, the ever-ambitious Giorgio, like his dad, remains focused on honing his craft, developing creative new recipes and, at every opportunity, providing a

warm, personal experience for his guests. Whether at work or out in the city, any conversation with him will likely get interrupted as he stops to chat with a customer. “When I’m out and about, forget about it,” he says, with a laugh. “I see everybody. I’m like a natural movie star. I go into a store or some other place, and I see people who are my customers. I stop and talk with them. It’s rewarding. It’s like we’re all a family.” Even during the busiest hours at Brothers Pizza—with dozens of hungry customers lined up while six deck ovens churn out up to 24 pies every 10 minutes—Giorgio can’t think of anywhere else he’d rather be. “You feel like you’re really alive,” he says. “It’s like climbing that mountain and, when you reach the top, you’re a different person.” “I’ll always stay in the food business for sure, whether it’s in this location or another location or a food truck,” Giorgio adds. “I’ll be in it for life.”

THE STATS: BROTHERS PIZZA Headquarters: Staten Island, New York Owners: Filippo Giove Sr. and Bartolo Giove Total Units: 1 Year started: 1975 Oven: Bari deck ovens Dine-in, takeout Number of employees: 16

Rick Hynum is PMQ’s managing editor.

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

June/July 2012 â&#x20AC;¢ pmq.com

Showdown

in I taly By Missy Green

Smoked sausage and piney rosemary evoke the wilderness on Greg Spaulding’s Campfire Pizza.

World Pizza Championship pits the U.S. Pizza Team against top international competitors.

Visit PizzaTV.com to view exclusive video from the event.

Members of the U.S. Pizza Team (USPT) recently squared off against some of the best pizza makers on the planet in the 21st annual World Pizza Championship in Salsomaggiore, Italy. After landing the gold as a team in 2011, members competed individually this year in both culinary and skill contests. Several U.S.

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

members took home prizes for pulling off the best American pizzas abroad, while Massimo Bruni, longtime member of the U.S. Pizza Team International (USPTI), reigned victorious with the best pan pizza in the world. Meanwhile, USPT member Tom Carfrae, owner of Tomaso’s Pizza (tomasos

online.com) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, earned Best in the U.S. in the pan category, while his teammate Mike Amheiser, owner of Pizza Dock in Fredericktown, Ohio, ranked in the top 10 in the world for his gluten-free pie. Additionally, Greg Spaulding, an employee of Lexington, Kentucky-based Puccini’s Smiling Teeth (puccinissmilingteeth.com), won the Best in the USA award in the classic pizza category.

Championship Recap More than 400 expert pizza makers and master dough spinners from 20 countries and 6,000 spectators crowded into the arena April 16 to 18 for the event. Culinary categories included classic, pan, gluten-free and Neapolitan STG (the Italian abbreviation for “Traditional Specialty Guaranteed”) while competitions were also held in the freestyle acrobatics, dough stretching and fastest pizza maker categories. The year’s competition radiated energy. For the first time in its history, the entire event was streamed live by PMQ and hosted by former MTV Italy personality Johnny Parker. Recorded footage of the event can still be viewed at PizzaTV. com. Following three days of competition, pizza and prosecco were cheerfully passed around at the awards gala. Amid clinking cups and flashing cameras, sheer hilarity ensued when the winner of the most prestigious category, pizza classica,

was nowhere to be found. Having already hit the road to work a regular night in his Venetian pizzeria, Cristian Bertoldo had to be telephoned from the stage and congratulated for being declared the finest pizza maker in the world. First-place acrobatics champion Dan Ioan Leicu was also in high spirits, stunned at his accomplishment. “How do I feel? I don’t feel anything!” said Leicu, smiling brightly after his win. “For some things you have words and some you don’t. For this, I don’t.” Originally from Romania, Leicu has lived for nearly a decade in Pescara, Italy, and has worked for more than a year at Siren’s Corner. Bruni, a frequent pizza competitor and member of the USPTI, dominated the

Michael Amheiser (left) gets ready to present his glutenfree Mike’s Favorite. Access to different types of glutenfree grains in the United States gave Amheiser a unique advantage in Italy.

Fittingly called “The Winner,” Tom Carfrae’s Detroit-style deep dish took The Best in the USA award.

June/July 2012 • pmq.com

APC Culinary Competition 1st Place: Tom Carfrae (middle), Tomaso’s Pizza (tomasosonline.com), Cedar Rapids, IA (won trip to compete in Italy) 2nd Place: Drew Sassi (left), Pizzeria DaVinci (davincict.com), Killingworth, CT 3rd Place: Giorgio Giove (right)

The heat is on as Jamie Culliton presents his spicy Salamino Picante pie. Culliton appealed to local tastes, aiming for a typically Italian pizza with regional ingredients, such as Parmigiano-Reggiano.

pan pizza category. He took home the gold with a vegetable pizza inspired by a traditional country recipe from the Italian region of Abruzzo and topped with ventricina spicy salami and meatballs. Bruni also took first place in the culinary team competition last May at the Ultimate Italian Pizza Championship with fellow USPTI members Bernardo Garofalo and Donato Olivieri.

The Long Road Team members earned trips to Italy by competing in trials around the United States in 2011. Jamie Culliton, an employee of Grimaldi’s Pizzeria (grimaldis pizzeria.com) in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, placed first in the culinary category at the American Pizza Championships in Orlando, Florida. He also claimed first place in the freestyle acrobatics and box folding categories in the U.S. Pizza Team Trials. Culliton’s entry in the Salsomaggiore contest was a pie called the

Salamino Picante, with fresh mozzarella made by Culliton himself the night before, San Marzano tomatoes, spicy salami and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese from the region. As coach of the USPT, Dave Smith of Emporium, Pennsylvania-based Pizza Palace Plus (pizzapalaceplus.com) competed in Salsomaggiore’s classic category with a pie called Paola’s Pizza (named after the team’s Italian translator, who selected the ingredients). Ingredients included sautéed peppers, garlic cloves, fresh mozzarella, ricotta, oregano and Parmesan cheese. To add a touch of flair, Smith’s pinwheel-shaped crust was lit on fire with fine-grain alcohol. Amheiser journeyed to Italy after winning first place in the Gluten-Free Pizza Competition in Orlando. He made a gluten-free version of his classic red pie, Mike’s Favorite, which is loaded with meats, veggies and topped with garlic butter and romano cheese. He made the

Dan Leicu performs his winning act. Watch his full routine at USPizzaTeam.com.

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

same pizza for the pan category using a traditional wheat crust. Carfrae earned his Italy trip by winning the pan event in the American Pizza Championship. Called The Winner, this Detroit deep dish-style pie is made with onions, orange peppers, red peppers, tomato sauce, mozzarella and sausage. Spaulding won a trip to Italy thanks to a sponsorship from PizzaOvens.com with his strong performance at the Bluegrass Pizza Bake-Off in Lexington, Kentucky. In Salsomaggiore he competed in the classic and pan categories. His classic pie, the Campfire Pizza, features an onion marmalade sauce, mozzarella and gorgonzola cheeses, aged cured salami and fresh rosemary. His pan pizza, the Shrimp Santori, consisted of mozzarella, fontina, shrimp, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh basil and red onion. Also joining the team was Wilhelm Rodriguez from Papa’s Pizza in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. He competed in the individual freestyle and largest dough stretch categories. Meanwhile, in a display of camaraderie, Rodriguez and Culliton were often seen pounding out dough and rolling dough balls for other competitors and moving set pieces for other teams’ routines. This year, the USPT watched from the sidelines while various Japanese and Italian teams took the spotlight for the acrobatic competitions. Bringing in first place was Team Acrobatic Salento, whose professional wardrobe, lights and handmade set helped seal their victory. “I missed the thrill of performing in team acrobatics this year,” says Jamie Culliton, director of the USPTs winning performance last year. “That’s why we’re putting together pizza professionals from all over the country this year to set up the most spectacular routine we’ve ever done. ” The World Pizza Championship highlights the diversity of the pizza industry and brings together pizzaioli from around the world to exchange advice and contact/correspondence information. Find out how you can join the USPT next year by visiting USPizzaTeam.com.

USPTI Wins 2nd Place in Fiumicino Members of the U.S. Pizza Team International (USPTI) recently won second place in the culinary National Team World Cup competition at the Ultimate Italian Pizza Championship (Il Campionato Italiano Assoluto di Pizza) in Fiumicino, Italy. The event, hosted by the Italian Pizzeria Association, took place on May 16 to 18. The USPTI, consisting of Massimo Bruni, Bernardo Garofalo and Donato Olivieri, battled 17 teams from 13 countries to create the best re-sauce pizzas and white pies. Olivieri also placed third in the traditional round pizza category, while Bruni placed first in the pizza-by-the-meter competition and third for the best pan pizza.

THANKS TO OUR U.S. PIZZA TEAM GOLD SPONSORS:

THANKS TO OUR U.S. PIZZA TEAM SILVER SPONSORS:

THANKS TO OUR U.S. PIZZA TEAM BRONZE SPONSOR: Off The Wall Magnetics

Crafting a

Better Crust

Follow these eight simple steps to design the pizza crust of your dreams. By John Correll

ew styles of pizza crust have generated headlines around the world recently as Pizza Hut, Domino’s and other chains tinker with their recipes. Some of these permutations border on the bizarre, such as Pizza Hut’s experiments with hot dog-stuffed crusts in the United Kingdom and crusts made from cheeseburgers and chicken strips in the Middle East. Most pizzeria operators avoid such drastic changes, but some still look for new ways to jazz up their crusts and add variety to their menus. If you’re looking to formulate a new pizza crust, the task can appear daunting. However, you can make it easier by following these guidelines:

1. Set up and Equip a Test Kitchen Recipe development usually progresses in small steps. It’s a trial-and-error process that advances from batch to batch, with each batch being slightly different from—and, hopefully, an improvement upon—the prior one. Dozens of batches must be tested sometimes before arriving at the desired result. So mixing 20-pound batches in a pizzeria-size mixer is not an economical approach. You’ll need a way to make one-pound or two-pound batches, and that requires a small test kitchen. Your test kitchen can be set up in a pizzeria or, for more privacy and convenience, in your home. You’ll need a small 52

mixer, preferably one that simulates your pizzeria mixer. For a planetary type mixer, purchase a used five-quart or 12-quart table model. For a less expensive domestic version, buy a mixer at a home kitchen supply store. For a cutter mixer, choose from sizes ranging from three quarts to 15 quarts. One advantage of a cutter mixer is that you can make several recipe variations quickly. Additionally, it can be used for chopping cheese and blending sauce. A large-model food processor will also do the job, whipping up a 16-ounce dough ball in about 90 seconds. You’ll also need some utensils, including an accurate 32-ounce portion scale, a stem thermometer, measuring spoons, bowls, pans, screens, peels and other baking items. If you want to take the temperature of baked pizzas, an infrared thermometer can be handy. Generally speaking, the best size for testing purposes is a medium pizza, typically a 12” round pie. Stock a small inventory of test ingredients, such as flour, yeast, salt and sugar, and use pizzeria-type supplies. In short, duplicate the ingredients that you’ll be using in actual largebatch production.

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

Finally, you’ll need an oven. Table model pizza ovens are available in gas, electric, deck and conveyor models. If that’s too expensive, a small, electric single-pizza oven with a slide-out wire rack can be used. If none of those suit your budget, use a home oven. Baking on the lowest rack will usually produce the best result. To simulate hearth baking in a home oven, you can buy a baking stone from a restaurant supply store. Bake the pizza at between 450° to 500° and allow at least 45 minutes for the stone to heat up.

2. Write it Down Breakthroughs often come when you least expect them. If you don’t know exactly how you achieved the breakthrough, you might not be able to repeat it. So, for every test batch, you must write things down. Keep a record of what you did, how you did it and how it turned out, no matter how insignificant each step might seem. Use a three-ring binder filled with lined paper. For each batch, use one sheet of paper and record the date, the exact recipe, any special procedures you followed, and the results. Make note of any special

properties of the dough and final crust, such as color, rise, texture, taste and aroma. In the beginning, keeping a notebook might seem to slow down the testing process, but, over time, it will become a valuable resource, a guide for reviewing past tests and planning new ones.

3. Compare Each Test Batch to a “Best-Yet” Recipe At some point, one of your test batches will turn out to be the best one so far— call it your “best-yet” recipe. The objective in making each subsequent batch will be to achieve a small improvement on the best-yet recipe. You can compare the crust resulting from the latest test batch to the crust from the best-yet recipe by conducting a baking test or bakeoff. Bake two pizzas simultaneously, one made from the best-yet recipe and one from the test-batch recipe, and compare the crusts. In every case, measure each ingredient with an accurate scale or volume measure, such as a measuring cup. When comparing your test crusts, consider features such as size and uniformity of air cells (grain); height of the crust (volume); crumb color (whitish, grayish,

etc.); crumb texture (tough, tender, dry, moist, gummy, etc.); color of the crust’s bottom (light, dark, uniform, etc.); texture of the bottom surface (soft, crispy, crunchy, leathery, etc.); color of the collar, which is the crust’s outer edge; texture of the collar (soft, tough, dry, burnt, etc.); crust aroma (best perceived at the collar); flavor of the collar with no sauce or cheese; and flavor in the middle with sauce and cheese. In comparing the crusts, the guiding question should be, “Is this newest crust better than the crust of the best-yet recipe?” If not, you’ll reject the newest test recipe and keep the best-yet recipe. If the newest one is better, then it becomes your new best-yet recipe and should be used for comparing future test batches. This process will move you, step by step, toward designing the pizza crust of your dreams.

4. Make Informed Guesses One big challenge in recipe development is deciding which changes to test from one batch to the next. It’s a guessing game, and the more guesses (that is, test batches) you make, the more time and money is required. Sometimes your test dough

The Right Portion Use the following information as a guide to typical portion amounts. The amounts are expressed as a percent of flour weight. For example, if you’re mixing a batch of dough that involves 20 pounds of flour and you want to use 50% water, you would use 10 pounds of water. This figure is derived from the following calculation: 20 pounds × 50% (0.50) = 10 pounds. • Water Acceptable Range Percent: 40% to 60% Typical Range Percent: 48% to 58% • Yeast (compressed) Acceptable Range Percent: Whatever gives desired rise Typical Range Percent: 0% to 3.0%

• Oil Acceptable Range Percent: 0% to 30% Typical Range Percent: 0.5% to 3% for lean dough, 4% to 15% for rich dough • Nonfat Dry Milk Acceptable Range Percent: 0% to 6% Typical Range Percent: 0% (1% to 2% when used)

• Salt Acceptable Range Percent: 0.5% to 2.5% Typical Range Percent: 1% to 2%

• Eggs Acceptable Range Percent: 0% to 5% Typical Range Percent: 0% (1% to 2% when used)

• Sugar Acceptable Range Percent: 0% to 10% Typical Range Percent: 0% to 5%

• Egg Whites Acceptable Range Percent: 0% to 2% Typical Range Percent: 0% (1% to 2% when used) June/July 2012 • pmq.com

may have one property that you like and another that you don’t care for. In that case, try to figure out which ingredient is causing each result. Strong knowledge of ingredients helps a lot. By knowing what each ingredient actually brings to the recipe, you can hit upon the right combination with fewer test batches.

5. Follow Your Intuition Along with using logic, we also recommend testing your whims and hunches. Logic can be helpful, but, since we lack to-

tal knowledge, it may not provide the full answer. Some of the best breakthroughs come from our creative sides—that is, trying out a crazy idea. Even an idea that doesn’t work can bring new knowledge that’s helpful down the road.

6. Vary Amounts and Types of Ingredients To change the properties of a dough or crust, vary the amount of ingredients as well as the types. However, it’s best to

change only one variable at a time. Otherwise you won’t know how each change affects the resulting product. (See the sidebar for typical portion amounts.) For ideas on unique or specialty ingredients, take a stroll through a supermarket and look for items that might enhance your pizza dough. You might be surprised by how many ideas you can get. Additionally, dozens of “home pizza cookbooks” have been published in the past 20 years. You may uncover a breakthrough idea—or an idea that triggers a breakthrough idea—in one of them.

7. Convert the Best Test Recipe to Large-Batch Size Once you get the recipe you want, convert it to a large-batch size for your pizzeria mixer. You can do this by multiplying every ingredient in the recipe by a factor. To determine the factor, divide the total amount of flour in the large batch by that used in the test batch. For example, if your pizzeria batch size takes 25 pounds of flour and your test batch uses 8 ounces (0.5 pounds), the large batch would be 50 times bigger than the test batch (25 ÷ 0.5 = 50). So, to convert the test-batch recipe to the large-batch recipe, you would multiply every ingredient in the test batch by 50. In the case of teaspoon measurements, convert them to weights, if possible, for the large recipe. To do this, determine how many level teaspoons of an ingredient equals one ounce (weigh it out), and use that information to translate teaspoon measures into ounces. Remember that 3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon.

8. Create a Written Procedure and Follow It Many pizzeria owners blame their dough and crust problems on a faulty formula when inconsistent procedure is the true culprit. Once you’ve settled on a recipe, create a simple written procedure for making the new dough. If possible, have it neatly printed or typeset for easy reading and laminate it to keep it well-preserved. Require everyone on your dough-making staff to follow it every time. John Correll is the author of The Original Encyclopizza, a comprehensive guide to purchasing and preparing the ingredients that make a quality pizza. Visit his website at correllconcepts.com. 54

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

June/July 2012 â&#x20AC;¢ pmq.com

Get Smart

About Your Market Detailed research on key demographics can help unleash your pizzeria’s profit-making potential. By Steve Dartt

ow well do you know your market? Most pizzeria operators know how many households are in their markets and where their competitors are located, and most know where area schools are located. Sadly, however, this is all many of them know. A lack of knowledge of your market could be costing you a lot of money in unrealized sales and wasted marketing dollars. While you can get as much detailed demographic information as you’re willing to pay for, this information often can be collected for free or fairly inexpensively. Here’s what you should know, at minimum:

households versus four or more people in the household? Are these households single family or multifamily? What are the median incomes of these households? Where are the pockets of ideal pizza eaters? Ideal pizza eaters can be single people, couples and younger individuals. They are often young couples with children and an active lifestyle. As a good rule of thumb, consider customers who are under 50 years old. How many businesses are located within a mile of your pizzeria? What schools (elementary, junior high, etc.) are located near your pizzeria? (In this case, you can look outside the one-mile radius.) Where are your competitors? How many are located within two miles of your pizzeria? Again, it’s OK to look outside the one-mile boundary, because their service areas will overlap with yours.

How many households are located within one mile of your business? Convenience is a major buying trigger, and your pizzeria is very convenient for those living within one mile of your shop. Once you become familiar with who’s in that one-mile radius, you can expand to a bigger swath of your service area. Additionally, your service area in a city setting may be geographically smaller than a rural location. Regardless of the kind of market you’re in, the principle of convenience still applies.

How does the quality of your pizza compare with competitors in your immediate area? This may be the most difficult question to answer, but it’s an important one.

What is the makeup of these households? What percentage of these households has kids? How old are the people living there? How many people live in the household? What’s the breakdown of single-person

Of course, there is more data that you can and probably should know about your market, but answering these basic questions will enable you to target the best customer prospect zones within your market and build nontraditional sources of

XX PMQ PMQPizza PizzaMagazine Magazine––The ThePizza PizzaIndustry’s Industry’sBusiness BusinessMonthly Monthly 56

What is the quality of your competition? Are they routinely busy?

revenue with businesses, schools and social organizations, thus providing a consistent boost to your business.

Customer Prospect Zones You’re probably wondering, “What the heck is a customer prospect zone?” Think of the saying “Birds of a feather flock together.” Customer prospect zones are specific sections of your market where pizza eating prospects are clustered together. Families with kids tend to live near other families with kids, while single people in their 20s and 30s want to live near other people their age. Similarly, older people tend to live near other older people as neighborhoods transition from family-oriented households to empty nesters, then to retirees and, eventually, back to young families again, at which time the cycle begins anew. By knowing where these clusters are, you can target your marketing message directly to them and generate big sales without wasting marketing dollars. One pizzeria operator was sending out shared-mail flyers to 20,000 households that stretched more than three miles from his store. He was getting minimal bang for his buck with these ads, generating about 200 orders (a 1% response). A market analysis revealed a cluster of households (about 600 homes) located a half-mile from his store in a single postal carrier route. Nearly 80% of these households had kids, obviously a prime indicator for pizza consumption. Talk about customer prospects! A single direct mailer was sent to this carrier route, and the pizzeria generated more than 200 orders with a very high ticket average, creating substantially more revenue than the shared mailer that had gone to 20,000 homes! It was found that the original shared mailer had not been delivered to this more desirable 600-home cluster because the cluster was located in a different ZIP code than those targeted by the pizzeria operator. Had he known his market better, he could’ve targeted that one lucrative carrier route from the beginning and pocketed a lot more cash.

Asking the Right Questions Important demographic information can be gleaned from several sources, but keep this tip in mind: When obtaining demographic data, zero in on the smallest geographic area possible. If the information is available only by ZIP code, that’s OK, but if you can narrow the data down to the carrier route level (several carrier routes make up a ZIP code), that’s even better. Here’s the basic information you want to collect: • Number of households by carrier route in the onemile radius around your store. Determine this information by using simple, rough boundaries, such as “North Boundary—Main Street” and “South Boundary—First Street.” • Median age of residents in those carrier routes. “Median” means that half the group will be above the median number and half will be below. Median numbers are considered more accurate than average numbers. • Percentage of households with children by carrier route. It’s helpful, but not necessary, to break this down by specific ages. • Median income by carrier route. • Location of apartment complexes. Use common sense

here but focus on the apartment complexes with a younger, hipper demographic.

Sources of Information One good source of demographic information is the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). Since the USPS creates carrier routes, it can provide demographic data for you. Visit your local post office and ask for demographic information for the specific region you’d like to target. Simply give them the boundaries, and they’ll give you the carrier routes. Don’t worry if a carrier route extends slightly beyond the boundaries on which you’ll be focused—it’s no big deal. (The USPS may refer you to its website for this information, and I’ve found the site to be user-friendly. In fact, overall, I’ve found postal workers to be helpful and patient in my interactions with them, so don’t be shy about asking them for help.) If you use Valassis (Advo), Mail South, Val Pak or any other shared-mail program, these vendors (as well as your local newspaper) should have this information. Just ask. Additionally, consult your beverage provider—distributors for CocaCola and Pepsi have massive amounts of relevant demographic and market information. Even better, their marketing people should be happy to explain the data in detail if you have questions. Use your sales representative as the main point of contact and have that person do the legwork for you. The Yellow Pages and other directories also may have key demographic data for your market, so, again, ask your sales representative about the type of information that’s available. Finally, if you’re willing to pay for it, direct-mail vendors and marketing/advertising agencies in your area will have access to a wide range of demographic information that will be helpful to you. You can never know too much about your market, so it’s important to gather as much demographic information as possible to stay ahead of the game. Even subtle changes to a market area’s demographics can mean big changes to your bottom line— for better or worse. A little research will go a long way toward boosting your sales, profits and competitive edge and can help to insulate you against inevitable market changes. Steve Dartt is a strategic partner for Creative Stream Marketing, a full-service marketing and communications company (creativestreammarketing.com). Dartt focuses on the pizza and restaurant industries and has been helping pizza operators sell more pizzas for more than 25 years, including a long stint as director of marketing for Marco’s Pizza. June/July 2012 • pmq.com

PMQ’S IDEA ZONE

ADVERTORIAL

Restaurant Depot

Supremo Italiano Caters to New Pizza Generation Over the past decade, the neighborhood pizzeria has undergone a significant transformation. While consumer spending slowed down in all markets in 2009, pizzerias held on to their customers by extending their menus and offering healthier options. But expanded menus require an expanded grocery shopping list; today’s chefs need new ingredients and products that they never needed before. That may explain why Restaurant Depot, the nationwide wholesale warehouse chain, has seen a steady increase in the number of pizzeria operators who visit every week. Restaurant Depot is a one-stop warehouse where a proprietor can not only buy his favorite mozzarella cheese and imported tomatoes, but can also find a full line of frozen appetizers and fresh produce to enhance his growing menu. And the addition of the Supremo Italiano and Big C lines has been an astounding success, says Tom Casey, a senior perishable foods buyer for Restaurant Depot. “The Supremo Italiano line offers a variety of high-quality foods that enable our customers to add a significant profit to their menus without sacrificing quality,” Casey says. “For years, there were only one or two cheeses on the market that pizzerias would use; they couldn’t chance their livelihood on the quality of a lesser brand. Now our pizzeria customers are turning to

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

Supremo Italiano as their first choice, not only for their mozzarella cheese, but for their olive oil, tomatoes and other imported products as well. Meanwhile, the Big C brand offers quality frozen foods and appetizers to flesh out pizzerias’ extended menus both creatively and profitably.” “Once I knew I was going to run my own place, I knew I was going to be a customer of Restaurant Depot,” says Genero Martinez, who recently opened a pizzeria in Queens, New York. “I would never even think of shopping anywhere else. I’ve shopped at various Restaurant Depot locations while working for other people over the years, and, trust me, nothing is easier than getting everything in one place.” Restaurant Depot has changed the foodservice industry, allowing customers to save an average of 15% on their purchases by picking up the products themselves. There are no hidden fees built into the prices, and, since customers can inspect every product on the spot, there is no chance of receiving a damaged or defective product. And no minimum purchase is required, so customers can buy what they need when they need it. The Supremo Italiano and Big C brands are available exclusively at Restaurant Depot. View the company’s list of more than 90 locations nationwide at restaurantdepot.com.

Product Spotlight What’s On the Market ONLINE ORDERING MADE EASIER One Click Diner will soon make online ordering even easier with its “click-n-speak” voice interactive service. One Click Diner is adding interactive voice recognition software to its smartphone app, allowing customers to place online orders using voice commands instead of pushing buttons. The app is tailor-made for today’s on-the-go customers who want to order pizzas while driving in their cars. The company also provides services for group ordering, SMS texting for daily specials, customer loyalty and nonprofit referral programs and newsletters. 877-328-8040, oneclickdiner.com

WONDERFUL WINGS Wy’s Wings Premium Gourmet Wing Sauces will help you create demand for your wings. With 10 incredible flavors available in both foodservice and retail sizes, Wy’s sauces help pizzeria operators attract new customers and create repeat business. Wy’s also offers private labeling services for chain restaurants looking to market their products in retail outlets and supermarkets. Drive business, don’t just serve wings! 800-997-9466, wyswings.com

THE BEVERAGE BOOST Sports fans love their stadium cups. Now Dynamic Drinkware provides its pizzeria customers with the same cups that are used at NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA and college sports stadiums around the country. The company’s cups, which are made in the United States, feature top-to-bottom, photoquality, picture-perfect graphics, and its patented lenticular cups always deliver that wow factor. Cups with reusable lids allow pickup and delivery options that boost your bottom line. All cups are BPA-free, recyclable and dishwasher-safe. 920-230-3232, dynamicdrinkware.com

GETTING THE EDGE Manufactured by MF&B Restaurant Systems, all EDGE modulating conveyor pizza ovens now come standard with a full five-year parts and labor warranty. EDGE has offered energy-efficient, quiet and affordable ovens since 1997; now the products come with the added security of the company’s Five-Year Worry-Free Warranty. Call or visit the company’s website to learn how an EDGE oven can help you save money, increase production, control labor costs and eliminate costly downtime. 888-480-EDGE, edgeovens.com

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

BUILDING A BETTER WEBSITE Your website is your most important way of reaching customers. Menuscale will transform your current site with a customized design and smartphone application to reach today’s tech-savvy customers. Menuscale also offers its popular online ordering module to help boost your sales. Best of all, you’ll have total control of your content! Just log in from any Internet connection to your Menuscale platform, and you can easily make changes to the menu, manage online orders and more! 888-786-1357, menuscale.com

PMQ Pizza Magazine â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Pizza Industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Businesss Monthly

June/July 2012 â&#x20AC;¢ pmq.com

PMQ Pizza Magazine â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Pizza Industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Businesss Monthly

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

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Advertiser Index June/July 2012 Display Advertiser

Phone

Website

Page

AM Manufacturing ............................................. 708-841-0959 ............................................ ammfg.com ...................................... 25 Bellissimo .......................................................... 800-813-2974 ...................................... bellissimofoods.com ................................ 21 Best Choice Printing ........................................... 800-783-0990 ............................................... bcms.us.......................................... 65 Breakaway Restaurant Solutions ........................ 817-299-4500 ...................................... breakawaypos.com ................................. 44 CrustSaver ......................................................... 877-437-4743 .......................................... crustsaver.net ..................................... 64 EZ Dine .............................................................. 877-853-1263 .......................................... ezdinepos.com ..................................... 65 FISPAL ............................................................... 704-365-0041 .......................... btsinforma.com.br/credenciamento ..................... 61 Fontanini ........................................................... 708-485-4800 .......................................... fontanini.com .................................... 17 Gordon Food Service ........................................... 800-968-6747 ............................................... gfs.com .......................................... 47 Grande...............................................................800-8-GRANDE ....................................... grandecheese.com ................................... 3 Hojiblanca ......................................................... 201-384-3007 ....................................... hojiblancausa.com ........................... Cover 2 HTH ................................................................... 800-321-1850 ........................................... hthsigns.com ...................................... 64 iFranchise .......................................................... 708-957-2300 ..................................... ifranchisegroup.com ................................ 55 La Nova.............................................................. 716-881-3355 ............................................ lanova.com ............................... Cover 4 Le 5 Stagioni ...................................................... 800-780-2280 ........................................... le5stagioni.it ...................................... 23 Liguria ............................................................... 800-765-1452 ......................................... liguriafood.com ................................... 47 Lillsun................................................................ 260-356-6514 ............................................. lillsun.com ...................................... 53 Meridian Star POS .............................................. 855-853-6485 .......................... meridianstarmerchantservices.com ..................... 67 MF&B Restaurant Systems .................................. 888-480-EDGE ......................................... edgeovens.com .................................... 46 Marsal & Sons .................................................... 631-226-6688 ......................................... marsalsons.com ................................... 54 Melissa Data ....................................................... 800-MELISSA ................................. melissadata.com/pmq.drive .................... Cover 3 Microworks ........................................................ 800-787-2068 ......................................... microworks.com ................................... 11 Middleby Marshall ............................................. 877-34-OVENS .......................................... wowoven.com ...................................... 7 Moving Targets .................................................. 800-926-2451 ...................................... movingtargets.com ................................ 59 One-Click Diner .................................................. 877-328-8040 ........................................ oneclickdiner.com .................................. 62 PDQ Signature Systems, Inc. ............................... 877-968-6430 ............................................ pdqpos.com ...................................... 39 Pendelton Flour Mills ......................................... 800-545-5640 ............................................ pfmills.com ....................................... 29 Petra Molino Quaglia Flour ................................. 631-804-1879 ......................farinapetra.it/Benvenuto/Eng_Petra.html ................ 64 Perfect Crust ...................................................... 800-783-5343 ........................................ perfectcrust.com ................................... 66 Picard Ovens ...................................................... 800-668-1883 ........................................ picardovens.com ................................... 37 Pierce Chicken ................................................... 800-336-9876 ............................................ poultry.com ...................................... 19 Pizza Prints ........................................................ 800-806-2595 ......................................... pizzaprints.com .................................... 15 Prox Print........................................................... 888-310-7769 .......................................... proxprint.com ..................................... 64 Real Time Order.................................................. 866-932-4782 .................................... realtimeordering.com ............................... 64 Restaurant Depot ........................................................................................................... restaurantdepot.com ................................ 58 Sommerset ........................................................ 800-772-4404 ............................................ smrset.com ....................................... 62 Stanislaus .......................................................... 800-327-7201 .......................................... stanislaus.com ...................................4, 5 System Filtration ............................................... 877-508-0777 ..................................... systemfiltration.com ................................ 64 The Menu Express............................................... 877-250-2819 ..................................... themenuexpress.com ................................ 63 Univex ............................................................... 800-258-6358 ......................................... univexcorp.com ................................... 66 XLT .................................................................... 888-443-2751 ........................................... xltovens.com ...................................... 13 PMQ provides this information as a courtesy to our readers and will not be held responsible for errors or omissions. To report an error, call 662-234-5481 x127. 68

PMQ’s Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Magazine

Industry Resource Guide Grab a direct weblink to every advertiser in this guide at PMQ.com

ADVERTISING

CHEESE

APPAREL

COMPUTER SYSTEMS: POINT OF SALE BAGS

BAKING SCHOOLS AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF BAKING .............................................Manhattan, KS 785-537-4750 ....................................................................Fax: 785-537-1493 66

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June/July 2012 • pmq.com

PMQ Industry Resource Guide COMPUTER SYSTEMS: POINT OF SALE, CONT. Technology choices for every taste. p p p

p Loyalty Programs Point-of-Sale Online Ordering p Automated Marketing Smartphone Ordering

COMPUTER SYSTEMS: POINT OF SALE, CONT.

FREE POS SYSTEM Meridian Star offers a free POS system with no gimmicks. Included in a low-cost processing account, merchants can enjoy an all-in-one touch screen, a thermal printer, a kitchen printer, an electronic cash drawer and PC America restaurant management software, all at no cost.

As Seen in Product Spotlight!

855-853-6485, meridianstarms.com CONSULTING

CRUSTS BAKER’S QUALITY PIZZA CRUSTS, INC. ..................................... Waukesha, WI Par-baked, Sheeted, Pressed and Self-Rising Crusts; Custom Crusts; All sizes. www.BakersQualityPizzaCrusts.com ......................................800-846-6153 MOUNTAIN HARVEST PIZZA CRUST CO.......................................... Billings, MT Contact: Eric LeCaptain ........... 800-342-6205.................... Fax: 406-248-7336 Sheeted Dough, Prebake Crusts, Dough Balls, Freezer to Oven, Self-Rising Crusts in Standard, Wheat and Nine Grain. ...eric@mountainharvestpizza.com

CUTTING BOARDS - EQUAL SLICE

DOUGH

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

PMQ Industry Resource Guide DOUGH, CONT.

DOUGH PRESSES, ROLLERS, CONT.

DOUGH DIVIDERS/ROUNDERS

DOUGH TRAYS/PROOFING TRAYS DoughMate® by Madan Plastics Inc.

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• Dough Trays – extremely durable and airtight! • Dough Tray Covers – designed to fit! The Leaders in • Plastic Dough Knives – two ergonomic designs! Dough Handling Products • Dough Tray Dollies – heavy duty! • Excellence in Customer service since 1955! The preferred dough tray of the largest pizza companies in the world. Buy direct from the manufacturer with over 20 years experience in dough trays.

Call 800-501-2458........... www.doughmate.com......... fax: 908-276-9483

FLOUR, GLUTEN-FREE BAY STATE MILLING GLUTEN-FREE PIZZA MIX.............. baystatemilling.com Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour, Custom-blends and Co-Packing Dedicated production area for exceptional purity.........................800-55-FLOUR DAKOTA PRAIRIE is a dedicated manufaturer of Gluten-Free flours, 37 pre-mixes, custom-mixes and many packaging options. By far the best grinds and the highest standard of purity ..............dakota-prarie.com............ .............701-324-4330

DOUGH PRESSES, ROLLERS

FLOUR

June/July 2012 • pmq.com

PMQ Industry Resource Guide FLOUR, CONT.

GELATO

True Artisan Gelato

(888) 316-1545 www.stefanosgelato.com

FOOD DISTRIBUTORS GLUTEN-FREE PRODUCTS

1051 Amboy Avenue, Perth Amboy NJ

800-997-0887 or 732-346-0600 Fax:732-346-0882

Serving NY, NJ, PA, DE, CT

www.vesuviofoods.com

INSURANCE

FOOD COSTING

MACHINERY/OVENS/EQUIPMENT

FRANCHISE Should You Franchise Your Restaurant? Call today to receive your free DVD on â&#x20AC;&#x153;How to Franchise Your Businessâ&#x20AC;? and learn about one of the most dynamic methods of expanding your business in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s marketplace.

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PMQ Industry Resource Guide MACHINERY/OVENS/EQUIPMENT, CONT.

MACHINERY/OVENS/EQUIPMENT, CONT.

June/July 2012 â&#x20AC;¢ pmq.com

PMQ Industry Resource Guide MARKETING IDEAS, CONT.

MAGNETS

JUMBO PIZZA SLICE MAGNETS 399-2966 WE DELIVER

www.magneticadconcepts.com

977 Butternut Dr. Holland

MAILING SERVICES MARKETING, MOBILE

Eighty-Six Slow Sales Mobilize your best customers with a free mobile website and low-cost texting.

MANAGEMENT ...mobilize & connect

ruxter.com 800.763.1953

MEAT TOPPINGS KEEP MORE OF YOUR HARD EARNED DOUGH! 3 MONEY SAVING PROGRAMS:

SCHEDULING • ATTENDANCE • DAILY LOG

FAST, PAINLESS SCHEDULING • MONITOR LABOR COSTS • REDUCE TURNOVER • NOTIFY EMPLOYEES • ELIMINATE BUDDY PUNCHING • IMPROVE COMMUNICATIONS • WEB-BASED

SAVE TIME AND INCREASE PROFITS!

WWW.TIMEFORGE.COM 866.684.7191

MARKETING IDEAS BURKE CORPORATION .................................................. www.BurkeCorp.com Italian, Mexican-Style and Specialty Fully Cooked Meats Contact: Liz Hertz............ sales_info@burkecorp.com............. 800-654-1152 SUGAR CREEK PACKING CO., Private Label Precooked Meat Topping Specialists www.sugarcreek.com .................. 800-848-8205 ............ sales@sugarcreek.com

MIXERS

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

PMQ Industry Resource Guide ON HOLD MARKETING

MIXERS, USED USED HOBART 60 QT. MIXER FOR SALE AT US $4980.00 PLUS SHIPPING. Call Lynn at 214-552-3218........................................ or e-mail tbfm@tbfm.com

MOBILE CATERING TRUCKS/UNITS

ONLINE ORDERING

MOISTURE ABSORBENT TOPPINGS CONDITIONER KRISP-IT LTD. .............................................800-KRISP-IT (800-574-7748) Keep it Crisp with Krisp-It! www.krisp-it.com........................................................nick@krisp-it.com

OLIVES

PIZZA BOXES

PIZZA BOX LINERS

PIZZA DELIVERY THERMAL BAGS

pmq.com/tt2/recipe

BAG SOLUTIONS ................................................. Home of the Pizza Jacket Deliver that pie HOT and DRY! 866-Bag-To-Go (866-224-8646) ........................ www.deliverybags.com June/July 2012 â&#x20AC;¢ pmq.com

PMQ Industry Resource Guide PIZZA DELIVERY THERMAL BAGS

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

PMQ Industry Resource Guide PIZZA OVENS, CONT.

PIZZA DELIVERY THERMAL BAGS, CONT. ELECTRIC HOTBAG

DELIVER GUARANTEED OVEN PIZZA • Heats and stays at 160-175° • Dry electric heat = no moisture • Removable heating elements • Made of rugged 1000 Denier nylon • Easily cleaned

• Buy one bag or make a system • Wired with AC power • Heats all bags simultaneously • Quick release connectors, no hassle

800-927-6787

Made in the USA

www.HOTBAG.com

Thermal Bags by Ingrid Best Selection of Pizza Delivery Bags Keep Pizza HOT! 800-622-5560 or 847 836-4400, 24/7 ordering ..... www.ThermalBags.com

PIZZA PANS PIZZA OVENS MARSAL & SONS, INC. ....................The new standard in the Pizza Industry Brick Lined Deck Ovens • Standard Deck Ovens • Prep Table Refrigeration 631-226-6688 .............. marsalsons.com ........... rich@marsalsons.com ROTO-FLEX OVEN CO. ........................................Contact Richard Dunfield 135 East Cevallos, San Antonio, TX 78204 PH 800-386-2279 ...... www.rotoflexoven.com .......... Fax 210-222-9007

Bakeware Specialists

Manufacturer & Distributor of Pizza Smallwares www.paprod.com 734-421-1060 June/July 2012 • pmq.com

PMQ Industry Resource Guide PIZZA OVENS, CONT.

PIZZA SUPPLIES

EARTHSTONE OVENS, INC. .. 6717 San Fernando Rd....Glendale, CA 91201 800-840-4915 .........Fax: 818-553-1133 ...... www.earthstoneovens.com All units UI listed. FISH OVEN & EQUIPMENT CORP. 120 W. Kent Ave........Wauconda, IL 60084 TOLL Free 877-526-8720 ....... Fax: 847-526-7447 ...... www.fishoven.com

i feel preƩy.

oh, so preƩy!

PLASTIC DOUGH CONTAINERS

Non Stick • Easy to Clean • FDA Approved Plastic Heavy Weight • Last 10X longer than metal! Replace your dented ones TODAY ! Manufacturers’ Direct Pricing For free* sample email us at:

SunsetPlastics@aol.com

(*Does NOT include postage & handling)

Call Vito:

718-200-1013 The Marsal MB Series is designed to fit your restaurant’s specific needs. Not only is it equipped with our exclusive burner system and 2” thick brick cooking surface to ensure the most evenly baked crust, but it looks great too. You can customize the exterior decor of your MB Series oven easily either with our prebuilt finishing kits or your own brick of tile design. Attract customers with a great looking oven and a great tasting pizza.

Seƫng the new standard. visit us online at www.marsalsons.com

(631) 226-6688 FAX (631) 226-6890

& sons, inc. Pizza Ovens and Equipment

PIZZA PEELS PRINTING BEST CHOICE PRINT & MARKETING EXPERTS ...................... For over 25 Years Best Prices & Quality: ..........................Menus, Flyers, Door hangers, Post Cards Print & Mail, Menus or Postcards .............................. Includes postage 27.5 ea WWW.bcms.US ............................................................. or call 800-783-0990

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

PMQ Industry Resource Guide PRINTING, CONT.

PRINTING, CONT.

PRINT SPECIALS

FLYERS / BROCHURES 60# Gloss Text 8 1/2" x 11" 4-color, both sides

12,500

25,000

50,000

$ $

100,000

395.00

695.00 995.00

1,895.00

DOOR HANGERS S 100# Gloss Text or Card Stock 4 1/2" x 11"

100# Text

5,000

10,000

20,000

Card Stock

375.00

479.00

585.00

889.00

995.00 $1,595.00 OR

MAIL A EDDM

REFRIGERATION

4-Color Both Sides, Post Card For Only

25¢

Per Piece

800-783-0990 www.bcms.us

SPECIALTY FOODS CASTELLA IMPORTS, INC. ............................................... www.castella.com 60 Davids Drive, Hauppauge, NY 11788 ....................................... 866-Castella

June/July 2012 • pmq.com

SPICE FORMULATION, BLENDING & PACKAGING

TOMATO PRODUCTS

CALIFORNIA BLENDING, INC. ........ Confidential Custom Blending & Packaging. Bill Mooreheart, Jr. ....................... Serving Industiral Spice needs since 1976. 2603 Seaman, El Monte, CA 91733.............................................626-448-1918 CASTELLA IMPORTS, INC. ............................................... www.castella.com 60 Davids Drive, Hauppauge, NY 11788 ....................................... 866-Castella MCCLANCY SEASONING ........................... One Spice Road, Fort Mill, SC 29707 Contact: Dominic Damore 800-843-1968 .................................................................info@mcclancy.com

SAUCE ARMANINO FOODS ..............................................................Fine Italian Sauces 30588 San Antonio Street, Haywood, CA ..................................... 866-553-5611 Email: customerservice@armaninofoods.com ......... www.armaninofoods.com

TELEPHONE EQUIPMENT/SUPPLIES/SERVICE Specializing in voice and data communications service, repair, installation, sequencers and on-hold messaging.

GUARANTEED LOWEST INDUSTRY PRICE!

STICKY NOTES

www.fidelitycom.com.........................800-683-5600

VENTILATION

TAKE AND BAKE TRAYS

WINGS

pmq.com/tt2/recipe 80

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly

Resource Guide Advertiser Index June/July 2012 Resource Advertiser

Phone

Page

411eat.com..........................................................213-622-4247 ............................. 77 AFC Insurance ......................................................800-411-4144 ............................. 74 Allied Metal Spinning ...........................................800-615-2266 ............................. 78 AM Manufacturing ..............................................800-342-6904 ............................. 71 American Institute of Baking ................................785-537-4910 ............................. 70 American Wholesale.............................................216-426-8882 ............................. 79 Armanino Foods ...................................................866-553-5611 ............................. 80 Arrow POS ............................................................888-378-3338 ............................. 69 Bacio ................................................................... 855-BACIO85 .............................. 69 Bag Solutions.......................................................866-224-8646 ........................76, 77 Baker’s Quality Pizza Crusts ..................................800-846-6153 ............................. 71 Bay State Milling ..................................................800-55-FLOUR ............................. 72 Belissimo .............................................................800-813-2974 ............................. 73 Best Choice Print & Marketing Experts ..................800-783-0990 ........................78, 79 Best Point of Sale .................................................866-285-7613 ............................. 70 Burke Corporation ................................................800-654-1152 ............................. 75 California Blending ..............................................626-448-1918 ............................. 80 Campus Collection ................................................800-289-8904 ............................. 69 Capstone Headwear .............................................888-551-8311 ............................. 69 Caputo .................................................................708-450-0074 ............................. 69 Castella Imports ...................................................866-CASTELLA ............................. 79 Chef a la Mode .....................................................888-804-3375 ............................. 69 Chef Santo Bruno .................................................813-230-8108 ............................. 70 Color Vision ..........................................................800-543-6299 ........................75, 78 CoverTex ..............................................................800-968-2310 ........................77, 79 Crown Custom Metal Spinning ..............................800-750-1924 ............................. 78 Crust Saver ...........................................................877-437-4903 ............................. 77 Dakota Prarie Flour ..............................................701-324-4330 ............................. 71 DeIorio’s...............................................................800-649-9212 ............................. 70 Domata Living Flour .............................................417-654-4010 ............................. 71 Dough Xpress .......................................................800-835-0606 ............................. 71 DoughMate ..........................................................800-501-2450 ............................. 71 Dutchess Bakers’ Machinery .................................800-777-4498 ............................. 71 Earthstone Ovens .................................................800-840-4915 ............................. 77 EDGE ....................................................................888-480-EDGE ............................. 77 Electric Hotbag.....................................................800-927-6787 ............................. 76 Epic Insurance ......................................................925-244-7719 ............................. 72 Escalon ................................................................ 888-ESCALON.............................. 80 Erica Record .........................................................973-614-8500 ............................. 72 Fidelity Communications ......................................800-683-5600 ............................. 80 Fish Oven & Equipment ........................................877-526-8720 ............................. 76 Fluid Media Group ................................................408-837-2346 ........................69, 72 Fontanini ............................................................ 800-331-MEAT ............................. 75 FreePOSPlace.com ................................................800-856-5175 ............................. 71 GI. Metal ..............................................................630-553-9134 ............................. 76 Granbury Restaurant Solutions .............................800-910-3947 ............................. 70 Grande Cheese Company ..................................... 800-8-GRANDE ............................ 69 Hojiblanca ...........................................................201-384-3007 ............................. 75 Hudson Refrigeration Manufacturing ...................800-924-8687 ............................ 74 iFranchise Group ..................................................708-957-2300 ............................. 72 Incredible Bags ....................................................888-254-9453 ............................. 76 Imperial Bag & Paper Co., LLC ...............................800-794-7273 ............................. 69 J & G Mills ............................................................734-469-4504 ............................. 74 Krisp-It ................................................................800-590-7908 ............................. 75 La Nova............................................................... 800-6-LANOVA............................. 80 Le 5 Stagioni ........................................................800-780-2280 ............................. 71 Liguria Foods .......................................................800-925-1452 ............................. 75 Lillsun..................................................................260-356-6514 ............................. 78 Lindsay ................................................................800-252-3557 ............................. 75 Lloyd Pans............................................................800-840-8683 ............................. 78

Resource Advertiser

Phone

Page

M.Press Packaging ...............................................541-548-9889 ............................. 80 Magnetic Ad Concepts ..........................................800-365-3351 ............................. 74 Mario Camacho Foods...........................................800-881-4534 ............................. 75 Marsal & Sons ......................................................631-226-6688 .................. 74, 77, 78 Max Balloons .......................................................800-541-5961 ............................. 75 McClancy Seasoning .............................................800-843-1968 ............................. 80 Melissa Data ........................................................800-635-4772 ............................. 74 Menu Powerhouse ...............................................888-210-8189 ............................. 79 MenuPro ..............................................................800-907-3690 ............................. 71 Menu Scale ..........................................................888-786-1357 ............................. 75 Meridian Star MS..................................................855-853-6485 ............................. 70 Message On Hold..................................................800-392-4664 ............................. 77 MFG Tray ..............................................................800-458-6050 ............................. 71 Microworks POS Solutions.....................................800-787-2068 ............................. 70 Molino Caputo .....................................................201-368-9197 ............................. 72 Mountain Harvest Pizza Crust ...............................800-342-6205 ............................. 71 Moving Targets ............................................. 800-926-2451 ext. 356 ..................... 75 Mr. Peel ...............................................................888-994-4664 ............................. 78 Musco Family Olive ...............................................800-523-9828 ............................. 75 MyPizza.com ........................................................888-974-9928 ............................. 75 Neil Jones Food ....................................................800-291-3862 ............................. 80 NMI .....................................................................800-994-4664 ............................. 78 Northern Pizza Equipment....................................800-426-0323 ............................. 74 NoteAds ...............................................................800-309-9102 ............................. 80 Off the Wall Magnetics .........................................800-337-2637 ............................. 74 Pacific Coast Producers .........................................800-510-3706 ............................. 80 P.A. Products ........................................................884-421-1060 ............................. 78 PDQ Signature Systems ........................................877-968-6430 ............................. 70 Peel A Deal...........................................................877-563-5654 ............................. 75 Peerless Ovens .....................................................800-548-4514 ............................. 77 Picard ..................................................................800-668-1883 ............................. 77 Pizza Dough .........................................................718-951-3555 ............................. 70 Pizza Equipment Warehouse.................................888-749-9237 ............................. 77 Pizza Ovens.com...................................................877-367-6836 ............................. 77 Pizza Trucks of Canada ..........................................204-297-7667 ............................. 75 POSnet ................................................................866-976-7638 ............................. 70 Portion Padl .........................................................330-608-5928 ............................. 70 Presto Foods ........................................................800-589-8604 ............................. 72 Proxprint .............................................................888-310-7769 ............................. 79 Red Gold ....................................................... 877-908-9798 ext. 163....................... 80 Redi Heat .............................................................888-556-2024 ............................. 77 Restaurant Depot .................................................................................................... 72 Ruxter .................................................................800-923-1953 ........................75, 76 Saputo .................................................................800-824-3388 ............................. 70 Somerset .............................................................800-772-4404 ............................. 71 SpeedLine ............................................................888-400-9185 ............................. 71 Stanislaus Food Products ......................................800-327-7201 ............................. 80 Star Pizza Box ......................................................800-626-0828 ............................. 77 Stefano’s Gelato ...................................................888-316-1545 ............................. 72 Sugar Creek Packing .............................................800-848-8205 ............................. 75 Sunset Plastics .....................................................878-200-1013 ............................. 78 Superior Menu .....................................................800-464-2182 ........................74, 78 T&T Graphics .......................................................800-557-9914 ............................. 79 Tasti Grain............................................................315-624-2748 ............................. 72 Tasty Breads.........................................................888-352-7323 ............................. 70 Thermal Bags by Ingrid.........................................800-622-5560 ............................. 76 Thunderbird .........................................................800-7-MIXERS ............................. 73 Timeforge ............................................................866-684-8791 ............................. 74 Toscana Cheese ....................................................201-617-1500 ............................. 69 Univex .................................................................800-258-6358 ............................. 75 June/July 2012 • pmq.com

(

time capsule

)

Little Caesars Since 1959, this carryout chain has grown through innovation and giving back. In 1959, Michael and Marian Ilitch opened a single pizza shop in Garden City, Michigan, with their $10,000 life savings, taking a chance on a little-known snack food called pizza—and on a carryout-only model that many told them would fail. However, the concept proved a success, with the couple selling its first franchise in 1962 to grow the business. The first international franchise opened in Canada in 1969, and, by 1987, Little Caesars had stores in all 50 states; today, the business has locations on five continents. With this rapid expansion came innovations that changed the pizza industry: The iconic mid-’70s “Pizza! Pizza!” campaign, with a two-for-one pizza offer, prompted the early development of a conveyor oven designed for pizzas to meet growing demand; Crazy Bre made breadsticks a common pizza accompaniment; and the pizzeria was Br Bread tth he first to have a drive-thru, open a stadium location and serve lunchtime pizza the in nm minutes (it’s now known for its line of Hot-N-Ready products, which cater to on non-the-go consumers). And, throughout the decades, low prices have kept the cco om company afloat even in times of economic hardship. “Since Marian and I opened ou u first store, Little Caesars has been focused on providing families with great our vvaal value,” said Michael Ilitch upon the business’ 50-year anniversary in 2009. “It’s f a formula that has worked for five decades and will work for many more.” Giving back has also been a driving force in the company from its beginni ni nings. Early on, Little Caesars sponsored youth hockey and eventually created th h Little Caesars Amateur Hockey League. The Little Caesars Love Kitchen, the a pizza kitchen on wheels, has provided free hot meals to millions, including tth h homeless as well as disaster survivors and rescue workers; a second Love the Kitchen was added in 2008. And dozens of U.S. veterans have received credits and benefits through the company’s Veterans Program to become franchisees. Now entering its sixth decade, the company wants to continue its focus on fun, value and growth. “Little Caesars is well-positioned to reach countless more milestones,” says David Scrivano, president of Little Caesars. “We have achieved consistent growth for many years and expect the momentum to continue.” –Tracy Morin

(Top to bottom) Mike Ilitch checks out an oven; the original Little Caesars opened in 1959; the first franchise was intended to grow the Ilitch’s business.

Has your pizzeria been in business for 50 or more years? If so, contact us at tracy@pmq.com. 82

PMQ Pizza Magazine – The Pizza Industry’s Business Monthly