During Rockaway Pizzeria’s first week in business in January 2017, owner Josh Sickels discovered the downside of long lines. He’d used social media to build excitement for his restaurant, located at the time in White Oak, Pennsylvania (relocating soon to Pittsburgh). But as a novice operator, he wasn’t ready to churn out pies for hungry crowds. After one customer “started an uprising” about the wait time, Sickels recently told Peel: A PMQ Pizza Podcast, “I was, like, ‘Look, lady, I just opened. I know this is ridiculous. I know you shouldn’t have to wait two hours for a pizza….But, please, I’ve never owned a business before. I don’t know what I’m doing.’” He even offered free pizzas in exchange for customers’ patience. Stressful as the situation was, he got home that night to find positive reviews pouring in online. “I just broke down in tears because...on my second day, I wanted to quit. I was like, ‘I’m not cut out for this. I love making pizza, but I don’t want to do it for a living.’” Good thing he stuck with it: In September 2024, Dave Portnoy gave Rockaway Pizzeria an 8.2 score, and we all know what that means for business.
ELEVATING THE BUSINESS OF PIZZA
Scan this code to subscribe or renew your subscription to PMQ! Or visit PMQ.com/subscribe
CONTENT
EDITOR IN CHIEF Rick Hynum rhynum@wtwhmedia.com
SENIOR EDITOR Charlie Pogacar cpogacar@wtwhmedia.com
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Tracy Morin tmorin@wtwhmedia.com
ASSOCIATE EDITOR/USPT COORDINATOR Brian Hernandez bhernandez@wtwhmedia.com
VP, ASSOCIATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Allison Dean adean@wtwhmedia.com
VP, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Danny Klein dklein@wtwhmedia.com
ART & PRODUCTION
ART DIRECTOR Eric Summers esummers@wtwhmedia.com
SENIOR ART DIRECTOR Tory Bartelt tbartelt@wtwhmedia.com
DIGITAL PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Blake Harris bharris@wtwhmedia.com
VICE PRESIDENT Peggy Carouthers pcarouthers@wtwhmedia.com
WRITER Ya’el McCloud ymccloud@wtwhmedia.com
WRITER
Abby Winterburn awinterburn@wtwhmedia.com
SALES & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
VP, SALES
Lindsay Buck lbuck@wtwhmedia.com
NATIONAL SALES MANAGER
Tom Boyles tboyles@wtwhmedia.com
VP, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Eugene Drezner edrezner@wtwhmedia.com
CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE
Brandy Pinion bpinion@wtwhmedia.com
FOUNDER
Steve Green
PMQ PIZZA Issue 1 January/February 2025 (ISSN 1937-5263) is published monthly in January, March, April, May, June, August, September, October, November and December by WTWH Media, LLC, 1111 Superior Ave #2600, Cleveland, OH 44114-2560.
Periodical postage pricing paid at Cleveland, OH. Additional mailing offices at Bolingbrook, IL.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to PMQ PIZZA, 1111 Superior Ave #2600, Cleveland, OH 44114-2560.
Cost of U.S. subscription is $25 per year. International $35.
Opinions expressed by the editors and contributing writers are strictly their own and not necessarily those of the advertisers. All rights reserved. No portion of PMQ PIZZA may be reproduced in whole or part without written consent.
January/February 2025
26 Is Store No. 2 for You?
How do you know when the time is right to open a second location? A veteran pizza chain operator explores the crucial questions every owner should consider.
32 Hiring the Next Generation
Industry experts share their strategies for attracting and retaining young team members— and for encouraging top-notch performance once they’re on-board.
40 The Art of Dough Management
Your pizzeria’s success hinges on understanding your dough capacity and mastering the craft and science of dough—all while avoiding common mistakes.
48 Giovanni Labbate: Building a “Sexy” Pizza Truck
The U.S. Pizza Team member behind Tievoli Pizza Bar upped the wow factor to design a mobile unit that sparks intrigue and stands out at crowded events.
A Servant’s Heart
Tom Sacco’s grandfather taught him to put others’ needs ahead of his own. It’s a philosophy that has helped turn business around for Happy Joe’s Pizza & Ice Cream.
By RICK HYNUM
COVER PHOTO BY AL GAWLIK PHOTOGRAPHY
Since 1995, Bellissimo Foods has been a trusted name in the world of pizza and Italian cuisine, setting the standard for quality and consistency. The Bellissimo brand has become synonomous with exceptional products crafted to meet the high expectations of pizzerias and Italian restaurants.
Born with a passion for authenic flavors and dedicated to excellence, Bellissimo has grown by embracing innovation and strives to stay ahead of culinary trends and cater to evolving tastes, ensuring our offerings remain as dynamic as the industry itself.
As we approach our 30th anniversary, we are excited to introduce more exceptional products and experiences that embody the heart of who we are today – modern, bold, and passionate about bringing families together through great food. This milestone is a testiment to our unwavering promise; to uphold the highest standards in taste, sustainability, and community.
We remain proud to support restaurateurs with a comprehensive range of authentic ingredients designed to elevate their menus that will enhance their businesses. To our loyal distributors and customers who have stood with us throughout this journey, we extend our deepest gratitude. Thank you for being an integral part of the Bellissimo Foods family.
Here’s to 30 years of unforgettable flavor – and many more to come!
A ROAD TRIP TO REMEMBER
FERNANDO GRECO, A.K.A. OG PAPAFERN/LA IMPERIAL on Instagram, is a pop-up pizzaiolo in New York City who specializes in Argentinian pizza. While teaching special-needs students is his full-time job, Greco’s nights, weekends and summers are dedicated to his other passion: making pizza from the country where he was born. In the summer of 2024, Greco and his 13-year-old daughter, Sofia, embarked on a 10,000-mile road trip. The trip’s main goal was father-daughter bonding time, but the duo also conducted pizza pop-ups and collabs
at 11 different pizzerias across the country. Greco was impressed by Sofia’s ability to thrive under pressure. “She did amazing,” he recalls. Greco learned a lot on the trip, too—though he’s an experienced pop-up pro, his ability to be resourceful and adaptable was tested. Each stop presented culinary challenges and nuances that forced him out of his comfort zone. Still, the trip went so well that Greco and Sofia are preparing for a repeat: They’ll be hitting the road again in 2025. And if your pizzeria would like to host them, Greco’s DMs are open.
Fernando Greco watched his daughter, Sofia, grow up before his eyes on a recent 10,000mile pizzeria pop-up trip across the U.S. “I was really, really proud of her,” he says.
PLAYING HOST TO A PASTA REBEL
When the owners of V&M Bistro, located in Wilmington, Delaware, offer their guests a ticketed dinner, it’s guaranteed to be unforgettable. Case in point: a December 7 event spotlighting renowned Italian chef and pasta rebel Celso Laforgia, who blew actor/gourmand Stanley Tucci’s mind on CNN’s Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy in 2022. “Celso’s cooking method goes against everything I know about cooking pasta,” Tucci said at the time. Sisters Vincenza and Margherita Carrieri-Russo, the V and the M behind V&M Bistro, won’t argue the point. Vincenza notes that Laforgia relies on “innovative cooking techniques that just might challenge your conventional beliefs about pasta preparation.” Laforgia, who owns Urbana L’Assassineria Urbana in Bari, Italy, has earned worldwide fame for complex, delicious and visually stunning dishes like spaghetti all’assassina, a wildly unique pasta entrée that starts with raw noodles tossed into a pan of oil and seasonings— sans water (that comes later). For the V&M Bistro event, Laforgia presided over an extraordinary prix fixe dinner that showcased three courses—including spaghetti all’assassina—paired with wine selections from the Puglia region of Italy. Tickets for the dinner went for $180, which included the gratuity, and seating was limited. The Carrieri-Russo sisters opened V&M Bistro in 2014 to celebrate the rich culinary traditions of Puglia with their dad, veteran pizzaiolo Vincenzo, as the executive chef.
ROSATI’S AND THE BIG, RED IMPALA
When Sam Rosati opened his first Rosati’s Pizza restaurant in Chicago in 1964, a popular TV series called Route 66 had already romanticized the classic American road trip. To commemorate the brand’s 60th anniversary this year, Rosati’s rekindled fond memories of that era by taking a fire engine-red 1964 Chevy Impala, emblazoned with the pizza chain’s logo, on a cross-country journey of its own. Then they gave it away after a months-long contest that drew thousands of entries. The Impala lit out from a Rosati’s store in Madison, Wisconsin, on September 3, then cruised to locations in Milwaukee, the Chicagoland area, Indiana, Tennessee, Florida, Texas, Kansas, Colorado and Arizona. At every store, the Chicago-style brand gave away slices, Cokes and exclusive anniversary swag. The last stop: Circa Resort & Casino in Las Vegas on November 12. There, CFO Jeff Rosati awarded the car to Angela Lameyer of Machesney Park, Illinois. “I lost my mom 11 months ago to the day, and Rosati‘s was absolutely her favorite restaurant,” Lameyer later told WIFR. “I’m thankful. Thankful and blessed.”
Chef Celso Laforgia treated V&M Bistro’s guests to an extraordinary prix fixe dinner topped off with his famous spaghetti all’assassina in early December.
Angela Lameyer is the proud new owner of a classic 1964 Chevy Impala, courtesy of the 60-year-old Rosati’s Pizza.
IP Phone Service
Increase revenue and lower cost
• No Busy Signals
• Call Recording
• Call Queuing / Auto Answering
• Multiple (random) start of call upsell messages
• On hold music/message loops
• Detailed reports—hold times, lost calls etc
• Callerid delivered to POS system
• Auto attendants— ”If you have arrived for curbside pickup press one ”
Cellular Backup Internet
Protect against outages
• When your Internet fails our cellular backup router keeps your phones, credit card processing and web orders all working.
• The backup kicks in automatically in seconds. So quickly you will not even drop calls in progress when your primary Internet goes down!
• The same router can be used to create chain wide virtual private network to connect your locations.
• SD WAN LTE/LTE A (4G/5G) modems.
On the PBX
“Press one to receive a text message with links to our onlne ordering ”.
SMS Marketing
Manage bulk text message marketing from our system to drive increased revenue. As low as $0.01 per message. Group text messaging to communicate with your employees (drivers, bartenders, all staff etc).
Sister brand to PizzaCloud: Same 24/7 support from the same great staff
Price for this service varies based on type of message & volume.
• We apply volume discounts across entire chain, so individual location owners benefit from total chain volume.
As low as $0.01 per message for high volume customers!
Use your Existing Phone Number to send messages!
• Either through direct integration to your POS system, or by exporting lists from the POS to import into our platform, you can schedule & manage outbound text message marketing to increase revenue.
We are fully compliant with CITA/FCC regulations!
Text messages have up to 95% open rate within minutes: push online orders, drive additional revenue, & send upsell messages!
EXAMPLE OF HOW IT WORKS:
1) Send a X Dollars off coupon message to customers who’s last order was more than 90 days ago, with the goal of “re activating” those customers.
2) Send an “upsell” coupon for add on items to more active customers
3) Automated campaign to send a few hundred messages per day, with the goal of adding 10+ additional orders per day. Messages can be coupons, but you can also get great traction with messages such as “Happy Monday. Did you know you are allowed to eat pizza on Monday?” followed by your online ordering link.
A Servant’s HEART
TOM SACCO WASN’T LOOKING FOR A JOB when Happy Joe’s Pizza & Ice Cream asked him to take the reins as president and CEO in 2021. A hospitality veteran with 30-plus years of executive leadership experience at brands like Bonanza Steakhouse, Ponderosa Steakhouse, BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse, and Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Sacco was happily retired and spending time with the grandchildren he adores. He even tried to talk the company out of choosing him. “If you don’t believe me, I’ll get my wife in here to tell you,” he recalls. “She did not want me going back to work, and I tried everything I could to not have them hire me.”
Happy Joe’s Pizza & Ice Cream needed a CEO with wisdom, smarts and a lot of heart.
With his emphasis on servant leadership, Tom Sacco has delivered on all counts.
By Rick Hynum
Images courtesy
AL Gawlik Photography and Happy Joe’s Pizza
“[My wife] said, ‘Remember what your grandfather used to tell you. Take care of these people. Put them before you. Don’t make it about you—make it about them.’”
Tom Sacco, Happy Joe’s
But Happy Joe’s, based in Bettendorf, Iowa, wanted a transformational leader. And parent company Dynamic Restaurant Holdings (DRH) knew they’d found one in Sacco. The family-friendly brand had struggled since the death of founder Joe Whitty in 2019. Sacco, for his part, had been instrumental in Red Robin’s expansion and revitalized franchise growth for Ponderosa and Bonanza. Could he work his magic on Happy Joe’s?
By his own admission, Sacco, now 71, is no spring chicken. “I’m a straight shooter,” he says. “I just tried to be honest and said, ‘Listen, you need someone who’s got a lot of stamina, a high energy level. You probably need somebody in the 40-to-50 age range.’”
Happy Joe’s, however, had gone through a couple of younger CEOs already. What it needed was business savvy and the wisdom that comes with a little wear and tear. Smarts with a lot of heart. And Sacco, a proponent of servant leadership, has delivered on all counts.
SWEET, NOT SAVORY
“Lead with a servant’s heart” is Sacco’s mantra, and he came by it honestly. At the age of eight, he started working in his grandparents’ restaurant in Niagara Falls, New York. “This is where, for me, the mystique started,”
he reflects. For his grandfather, who immigrated to the U.S. from Italy during WWI, English was a second language—and not an easy one to master. Sacco helped him better pronounce words for ingredients, like “eggplant.” In return, his grandfather taught him about service to others. “He would talk about why it was important to serve good quality food, take care of your employees, and make sure that anybody who bought food from you was happy with the quality, the service and the price,” Sacco says.
Even so, Sacco’s parents had other plans for their son: He was meant to be an attorney, not a restaurateur. But, after a semester in law school, it didn’t take. Instead, he found a job managing a local restaurant called Mother Tucker’s Food Experience. “Even though I was really young for management, I’d been doing it my whole life,” Sacco says. “Things that other people needed to be taught were second nature to me, having had the kind of mentoring I grew up with—not mentoring where it was force-fed to me, but because it was done with the love of my grandfather’s heart.”
Sacco was still a New Yorker, though, and an ambitious one at that. As he worked his way up in the chain restaurant industry, he says, “I was really aggressive with
Tom Sacco, whose grandfather taught him about servant leadership, spent the Thanksgiving 2024 holiday surrounded by his own kids and grandchildren.
my management style. This warm and fuzzy servant leadership thing wasn’t part of who I was. It came after a few years as a VP at Red Robin, but the one where I had the biggest impact, initially, was Bonanza. I realized that Bonanza was so large that, if I was going to move up the ranks, I couldn’t do it by just outperforming my competitors, because there were, like, 10 vice presidents there….That’s when I started to realize maybe you can get more with sweet than you can with savory.”
In discussions with his wife, Sacco began thinking back on the lessons he’d learned in his childhood. “She said, ‘Remember what your grandfather used to tell you. Take care of these people. Put them before you. Don’t make it about you—make it about them.’ It took me probably 10 years to get to the point where I was not only doing that at work, but it became the way I lived my personal life. And it changed everything.”
REMEMBERING THE GOLDEN RULE
For families with children, Happy Joe’s, founded by Whitty in 1972, has always been part pizzeria, part playground and part party central. Throw a birthday
bash there for your kids, and they’ll want to come back next year and the year after that—all the way through adulthood, maybe even into old age. While many restaurant brands are just now starting to grasp the importance of creating a full and memorable experience for their customers (rather than hustling them in and out in a hurry), Whitty made that his mission from the start, along with enriching the lives of children with special needs (he eventually founded the Happy Joe’s Kids Foundation for that purpose).
“I look much like I would imagine a typical Midwest Santa Claus looks, with rosy cheeks, a mischievous twinkle in deep-brown eyes, and wispy tufts of salt-and-pepper hair floating under my trademark straw hat,” Whitty wrote in his 2012 autobiography, Not Your Average Joe.
But, for all its trademark “happyplace” ambience, Happy Joe’s is also a franchisor—currently, only three of its 42 stores are company-owned. And not all of the franchisees were happy as Sacco was coming aboard. Twenty were reluctant to renew their agreements. Sacco had some work to do—retaining franchisees was paramount to turning around the company’s fortunes.
Happy Joe’s founder Joe Whitty built an entire brand around his own natural warmth, cheerfulness, and love of children and young people.
In his first month on the job, Sacco paid visits to every franchisee to discuss their concerns. “I would ask them simple questions, like, ‘What can I do to help you? What’s the most important thing right now with your business and your family that, if I could do anything to help, you would ask me to do?’ And it ranged all over the place,” Sacco says. “Some of it was royalty relief. Some of it was, ‘We’re having a hard time with our food costs, and [the corporate office is] getting rebates. And on top of that, we’re paying royalties and advertising.’ So I had to check on all of this, and, sure enough, it was correct, and I canceled all that stuff.”
Sacco’s approach was to deal with one franchisee’s problems at a time and look for solutions. “What do I need to do for the guy in Branson? What do I need to do
In a web-exclusive Q&A, we continue our discussion with Tom Sacco, delving into Happy Joe’s adoption of new technologies, menu innovations, the state of the industry in 2025 and why the restaurant business can be “the pathway to super success” for younger employees. Read it at PMQ.com/tom-sacco.
for the guy in North Dakota? Because everybody’s needs are different. I said to all of them, ‘Give me six months, and then let’s revisit.’ And that’s what I did. Six months later, I had all 20 franchise agreements re-signed. Half of them have re-upped for another restaurant. And that was only after seven or eight months.”
To attract new franchisees, meanwhile, Sacco waived the initial franchise fee and reduced royalties for the first two years. He also sought franchisees’ input on everything from the menu to equipment changes. “I went back to some of the old recipes that Joe started with, ones that the franchisees were very, very high on but [had been cut] to maximize the bottom line,” he says. “I brought back the higher-quality food. And now
“It’s kind of magical….but all we did was follow the golden rule: I took care of my franchisees, I took care of my vendors, and I took care of the guests.”
Tom Sacco, Happy Joe’s
“Sometimes doing the right thing has a greater impact on the brand’s sustainability than being the one that tries to make the most money.”
Tom Sacco, Happy Joe’s
people say, ‘Wow, during COVID, your sales were up when everybody else was shut down. You’re adding restaurants when other [chains] are going bankrupt.’ It’s kind of magical in a lot of ways, but, if you think about it, all we did was follow the golden rule: I took care of my franchisees, I took care of my vendors, and I took care of the guests.”
THE LITTLE THINGS ADD UP
Sacco also guided Happy Joe’s through a rapid-fire bankruptcy process, from September 2, 2022, when the company filed, through January 12, 2023, when it emerged ready for new growth. One major problem he faced during that period was inordinately high rent for
the brand’s corporate stores, due to a previous deal with a real estate investment trust (REIT). Even then, Sacco tried to come up with a win-win deal for Happy Joe’s and the REIT’s leadership. “I had to walk away from some of those leases, but, because of the relationship that I had with this man, we re-upped all the leases on the stores we wanted to keep, he lowered the rent and gave me the contracts we wanted….And I just [recently] helped him put a new franchisee in a place where we didn’t have a franchisee. That’s how you take a lemon and make lemonade. I took his situation and tried to help him.”
Today, Happy Joe’s is back on the upswing. New locations are currently under construction in Navarre, Florida—the company’s first store in the South—and in Oro Valley and Surprise, Arizona. Franchise development deals have also been struck for Nevada and New Mexico. Egypt is another hotspot for Happy Joe’s, with two stores already operating, eight more scheduled to open by the end of the year, and more on the way.
But “leading with a servant’s heart” extends to Happy Joe’s customers, too. Sacco is quick to share stories about how the brand’s franchisees have helped customers, particularly those facing mental and physical challenges. A Burlington, Iowa, franchisee who personally delivered
pizza and gifts to a longtime regular who had been severely injured in a car wreck. Events for children with special needs. Helping employees with opioid addiction get into rehab. “We’re doing it because it’s the right thing to do,” he says. “And sometimes doing the right thing has a greater impact on the brand’s sustainability than being the one that tries to make the most money.”
Every year, Happy Joe’s throws Christmas parties for children with special needs and their families, remaining true to Joe Whitty’s big-hearted spirit to this day. “We feed 2,000 special-needs children—kids who have all kinds of illnesses or really bad medical problems,” Sacco says. “Some of them have spina bifida. Some are prone on a hospital bed. More than half are in wheelchairs. We
bring in Santa Claus, and everybody gets a gift, and we cater it for them. We turn it into, like, a nightclub, with music and a mirror ball. They’re in their chairs or their beds, and we go up and wiggle the chair with them, because they’ll never get to go to a club like you or I would because of their physical condition. But it doesn’t mean they can’t be respected and treated to something special.”
Sacco gets a little choked up when he recalls one such Christmas party in 2023. “This little boy wheeled himself over in his wheelchair and hugged my legs while I’m standing at the door. And he said, ‘I’m so happy you didn’t forget me this year. Thank you so much for my invitation.’ I can’t express enough how meaningful these things are, all because you act as the servant instead of the big boss.”
Of course, Sacco notes that he’s still a capitalist at heart. “Everything I do is about, ‘How do I improve the bottom line? How do I grow the business? How do I get a return to the shareholders?’ But I love getting up every day. I can’t wait to go to work, because…if you do these little things—one birthday party, one person you get into drug rehab—one by one, they don’t really change the world. But when you add them all up, it makes a huge difference.”
Rick Hynum is PMQ’s editor in chief.
Happy Joe’s specialty pizzas (left) include the Super Max, the Fiery Taco Joe and the Taco Joe; the chain brings joy to kids with special needs at Christmas parties every December.
IS STORE NUMBER FOR YOU? 2
So you want to start building a pizza empire? Before opening that second location, here are the questions—and the right answers—to keep in mind.
BY MICHAEL P. LaMARCA PHOTOS COURTESY MASTER PIZZA
SO YOU HAD AN IDEA TO OPEN A PIZZA SHOP AND YOUR STORE HAS BECOME A FAN FAVORITE— CONGRATULATIONS! You have built your store’s sales to numbers you could only have imagined. As an entrepreneur, you are programmed to constantly think of ideas, then develop and expand your ideas. You’ve always had thoughts of building a pizza empire, so what’s next?
Does this mean you should open store No. 2? Why and when should you open a second location? How and where do you even open a second location? Are your crew and your building maxed out? All of these are questions that should be running through your head when you’re considering the idea of store No. 2.
Why Open a Second Store?
Why should you open a second store? One reason is, you have presented your staff with a clear vision of how you want to build this company, and your team is all in with you. The leadership wants to grow with you, but there are too many chefs and not enough cooks. You are struggling to find hours for everyone, and fears of losing a key team member—because they feel they have hit their professional ceiling with you—are real.
Another reason for a second location: Sales have become higher than you ever imagined, and the opportunity presents itself for growth. The customer experience is so unique that it has gone viral. There are times during the week when there are just not enough phone lines, work space and pizza makers to handle all of
the orders. You have built a proven model, and opening a second location seems like the next logical step in building your pizza empire.
Where Should I Open Store No. 2?
You are now convinced that opening store No. 2 is the right decision. Now the question shifts to where it should be located. Current customer information and data are vital and will help determine the location of the new store. Data might show a disproportionate number of customers on one side of town or a large number of customers coming in from a certain area. Store No. 2 should be close enough to help alleviate some of the pressure but not too close that it will cannibalize store No. 1.
As the options for the new location narrow down, the final decision could come down to the plaza in which each option is located. Should you do a complete buildout or look for an existing pizza shop that has gone out of business? Your budget and desired footprint will determine these and many more questions. For a
One reason to open a second store: You have presented your staff with a clear vision of how you want to build this company, and your team is all in with you.
full-service restaurant, you might need upwards of 3,000 to 4,000 square feet. For a delivery/carryout (DELCO) model, your desired footprint might range from 1,000 to 2,000 square feet.
Opening a new location today has its benefits. Social media can make any announcement much more impactful and achieve further reach than you’d get with traditional media in the past. With that in mind, opening a location that extends past your customer base and into a new market is feasible if your online presence is strong. That’s why it’s crucial to secure your handles (for example, @masterpizza) on all social media platforms as well as your web domain (such as www.masterpizza.com).
Training the Trainers
So you’re all in on location No. 2 and you think you’ve found the perfect spot. You have the beginnings of a team assembled and ready to go. But how do you tackle being in two spots at the same time? How do you make sure the pizzas from store No. 1 are exactly like the pizzas
Creating employee and food prep manuals will give your Lead Team a map and a set of rules to follow while guiding your new teammates to building a successful store No. 2.
coming out of store No. 2? How do you manage a whole new team of people who are not familiar with the culture you have created? There is so much to do and plan out. When you decide to move forward with store No. 2, most of this work must be done prior to any commitment.
The first job is to build your Lead Team, and your No. 1 priority is to train the trainers. It will be crucial to choose a team of surrogates that will convey your message, set your standards and be your No. 1 advocate. Your Lead Team must emulate your abilities and standards with every procedure, every skill and every behavior. This team will give you the best chance and ability to be in both locations at the same time.
You will teach your Lead Team not only to train employees how to perform every task, but, more importantly, why to do something. Having your new teammates learn why to do something will help them achieve your standards and construct common values—a crucial factor in success. These values are the building blocks of developing your core culture and getting everyone rowing in the same direction.
Two Must-Have Manuals
Your Lead Team will need the proper tools to succeed in building Store No. 2’s team. An employee manual and a food prep manual are essential tools not just for your Lead Team, but for your new teammates as well. Creating these manuals will give your Lead Team a map and a set of rules to follow while guiding your new teammates to building a successful store No. 2.
An employee manual is a handbook that sets the expectations between the management and your staff. This handbook will clarify any and all of your procedures and policies, from meal benefits to 401(k) benefits. It’s one of the most important documents you will put together. Take your time creating it and make sure you have a written policy for everything. If a policy is not included or not written clearly, it could cost you thousands in potential litigation.
Michael LaMarca promotes
Pizza through local TV appearances whenever he gets the chance.
Your food prep manual is just as important as your employee manual. Again, if not put together properly and clearly, it could cost you thousands in higher COGS (cost of goods sold). The goal is to create the most efficient procedures and eliminate any unnecessary steps. Just assume everyone has no idea how to do anything, let alone how to do anything the way you want it done. Being as precise as you can be in creating your recipes and procedures on how to make your food will save you thousands in labor costs as well.
Building a Structure
Your Lead Team now has the tools they need to start building Team No. 2 for Store No. 2. The hardest part about growing your company will be going from a onestore operation to two stores. This, most likely, will be the only time you double the size of your company with a flip of the switch. So, the earlier you can put together your team to run Store No. 2, the better chance of success you will have.
Hire early in the process and train the new team in Store No. 1. This will get your new team acclimated to your culture and the pace of the business. The ideal situation is to have enough members of your new team hired and trained up, ready to go on day one.
Now everything is falling into place, and creating the proper structure of your company will be the cornerstone to holding it all together. Who answers to whom, and who is in charge of what needs to be addressed and organized prior to opening? This is more than just creating titles like general manager or assistant general manager; it is also, and more importantly, about creating and defining the responsibilities of each position and to whom each position reports.
Businesses will either succeed or fail based on how well they communicate, so communication is key. Hold regularly scheduled meetings with your Lead Team and require them to hold meetings with their teams to
Hold regularly scheduled meetings with your Lead Team and require them to hold meetings with their teams to make sure your message reaches everyone. Never miss or postpone a meeting!
make sure your message reaches all the way through to everyone. Meetings should be structured, efficient and consistent. Having a structure to your meeting familiarizes your attendees with what to expect during each meeting. Efficiency is important, because you want your team back on the floor and spreading the new information to the rest of the team as soon as possible. Also, the longer a meeting goes, the more risk you run of losing your audience.
Consistency is also a priority—never miss or postpone a meeting! The more serious you make these meetings, the more seriously everyone else will take them.
Savor the Moment
Finally, with your hard work and planning done, Store No. 2 is here. Take a minute for yourself to walk around the new store, inside and out, and take in all that you have done. As you’re walking around, watch and listen to all of the phones ringing, printers printing orders, the sounds of pizza pans banging around, and the kitchen crew yelling order numbers. Watch all of the customers come and go.
It is special. It’s a big deal, and it’s something that should not be taken for granted. It is an incredible feeling to see an idea in your head become tangible. But don’t take too long looking around—we have Store No. 3 to work on next!
Michael P. LaMarca is the owner and CEO of Master Pizza Franchise. His family purchased Master Pizza, located in Mayfield Heights, Ohio, in 2001. LaMarca opened the second Master Pizza location in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, in 2012, and, as its master franchisor, has grown the brand to 15 locations.
Master
THE NEXT GENERATION HIRING
WHEN YOU’RE HIRING A NEW YOUNG EMPLOYEE, applicants are probably “interviewing” you, too—by evaluating your business as a potential workplace. And in the competitive world of pizza (where Generations Z and Alpha will make up a large portion of employees), finding and retaining quality hires can give you a crucial edge, making a significant impact on your business’ overall success. Here, four industry experts share how to attract, retain and encourage top-notch performance among your youngest team members.
Learn the best strategies from Z to A (Gen Z to Alpha) for attracting, hiring, training and retaining the next generations of employees.
OUR EXPERTS
PMQ: What are younger employees looking for in a workplace?
RIC GRUBER: We set very clear expectations and standards. If we hire from a place of clarity, it greatly reduces stress and anxiety for our team members, since they aren’t left guessing and they don’t have to create their own expectations in what is oftentimes their first job experience.
They’re also looking for a team atmosphere that creates a sense of purpose and flexibility in scheduling. Younger people’s schedules can vary more, week to week, than the average adult, between family commitments, school, after-school activities and trying to maintain as much social life as possible. If we show them flexibility, we can count on them when we need them most.
SHARON OLSON: Employees who value flexibility in their work schedules tend to gravitate toward independent operations, where their manager is often an owner/ operator who can make scheduling decisions immediately. Those who choose to work for chain operations tend to value benefits and career opportunities more highly.
In general, young employees value working at a restaurant where they’re proud of the products they serve. Don’t underestimate what employees see in the back of the house—premium ingredients and appetizing, fresh items add confidence. Also, in Y-Pulse studies, we have learned that a vast majority of restaurant patrons like to patronize restaurants where they know the staff is treated well, so enthusiastic employees draw repeat customers.
RIC GRUBER, CEO, Billy Bricks Restaurant Group, Lombard, IL
SHARON OLSON, executive director, Y-Pulse, Chicago, IL
REBECCA RICHARDS, franchisee, Hungry Howie’s, Monroe, MI
SATCHEL’S PIZZA
When hiring for Satchel’s Pizza, owner Satchel Raye looks for “positive, upbeat people” with a stable work history.
Finally, it’s more important to demonstrate than communicate. Managers who set an example through their behavior have a big impact on their employees.
REBECCA RICHARDS: Younger generations expect flexibility, proper communication and the ability to learn. A lot of them want to learn how to adapt and change, and they’re not always given that opportunity. In a fastpaced work environment, we see a morale boost after rush periods. And positive feedback is important. Try a “compliment sandwich” if they’re doing something wrong, starting with a positive, such as, “You’re on the right path,” “This looks good” and “We’re getting there.” That way, they don’t get down on themselves, and they can grow. They also like to have a higher-up on staff they can communicate with directly.
For communication between team members, we use the Discord app, so they can share if they need a shift covered or want to pick up shifts. We also use the app for our “Shoutout Central,” where we highlight competition winners and call out employees for doing a good job— like if they received positive customer feedback—so employees get the recognition they deserve.
PMQ: How do operators find—and keep—topnotch younger employees?
GRUBER: Over the years, we’ve developed a number of situational interview questions, such as: “Describe a time when you were given a responsibility. How did you handle it, and what did you learn about yourself?” Another example: “Tell us about a time you had to meet a tight deadline. How did you prioritize your time to meet your goal?”
“Involvement in extracurricular activities can be a great indicator…. The soft-skill value of involvement in things like sports, volunteer work, clubs, etc., are crucial.”
Ric Gruber, Billy Bricks Restaurant Group
Involvement in extracurricular activities can be a great indicator. I’m a former D1 athlete who was involved in many activities and sports growing up, and the soft-skill value of involvement in things like sports, volunteer work, clubs, etc., are crucial. They teach us teamwork, time management, and how to be organized and accountable.
Additionally, we ask about availability. This is important, to see if their schedule is something they are on top of and if they have thought about how they will manage school, activity and work commitments. It demonstrates foresight and planning.
Finally, we are firm believers in trial shifts or working interviews. We prefer to schedule interviews on a day/ time they have committed to being available, according to their application. After getting to know them and getting a sense they could be a good fit, we ask if they are willing to stay and work for a bit to see how they feel about the job after spending a few hours in it.
We believe in showing who we are as a brand and team to create amazing guest experiences, but that also has an impact on hiring. If you’re seen as a “cool,” “modern” and inclusive brand using all available platforms (TikTok,
BILLY BRICKS
Billy Bricks attracts employees of all ages with a presence on major social media platforms.
Instagram, Snapchat, etc.), you’re more likely to attract better candidates in hiring. Featuring past and current team member testimonials in an authentic way also builds trust with new applicants.
OLSON: The first indication is how the employee behaves during the hiring process. For example, are they prepared for the interview? Are they on time? To attract them, pizzeria operators might take a cue from foodservice professionals who run corporate dining programs. They often provide incentives, such as giving employees a family dinner to take home, on days where they’d like employees to come to the office. So pizzerias can offer employees who are willing to work less-than-desirable shifts a family-size pizza to take home.
SATCHEL RAYE: We interview and look for someone with transportation who has stayed at previous jobs for more than a year. We tend to interview the ones with the most stable work history. Past is prologue. When we see three to five years at a previous job, we usually jump on that hire. People who have two jobs a year usually have some problem with stability.
The front of house hires a lot more often than the kitchen, and my managers look for positive, upbeat people. Attitude is more important than experience.
The only special sauce we have is that our pay is better. We start folks at $20 per hour with tips, so if we advertise that, we get a lot of applicants. Once we get them onboarded, they tend to stay, and then I’m not hiring as much. Pay is the golden ticket. But I’ll say this: Our labor percentage is 50%. That percentage allows me to attract—and retain—the best talent in my city. Word gets out. But tell an operator to raise prices and have a goal of 50% labor cost, and they’ll laugh in your face! So many things we do are unconventional.
RICHARDS: In the initial phone call, do they sound eager and motivated? For the interview, how’d they show up—on time, early? Are they dressed well? If they’re excited about the job, they’ll want to give the best first impression.
We accept job applications through our corporate website, but we get a lot of applications through current employees. When they enjoy our work environment, they tell friends and family whom we can hire. Plus, we do a lot of community events and always take applications with us—along with our mascot, free pizza and coupons. People want to work somewhere that looks fun and is involved in the community.
Tracy Morin is PMQ’s associate editor.
Look for the follow-up to this article in our April issue, where experts will explore how to create a career path for employees.
SATCHEL’S PIZZA
SATCHEL’S
Young employees are attracted to high wages and a fun, flexible work environment at Satchel’s Pizza.
The of Dough Management Art
Learn the finer points of matching your dough batch size to your mixer’s capacity. Also, Wilhelm Rodriguez lists top dough management errors—and how to fix them.
BY MICHAEL KALANTY
WHENEVER I’M INVITED TO OPTIMIZE A PIZZA DOUGH for an operator, there are several questions I’m asked. What’s the best hydration? What’s the sweet spot, time-wise, for cold fermenting the dough? Which type of “00” flour is better?
All of these questions are valuable, viable and worth pursuit. But, in the end, it always comes down to how much space the operator has, the capacity of the mixer(s), and the available square footage in the cooler. Unless you have the good fortune to be designing your space from scratch, the physical constraints of your operation dictate a great deal about what kind of dough you should be producing.
Whether you have a professional optimize your dough production or you’re savvy enough to do it on your own, the challenge is staying consistent.
Understanding Capacity
Overloading your physical plant is one of the more common causes of dough mismanagement I find during a consult. As the weekend (or another heavy production time) approaches, it makes sense to simply increase our dough batch sizes. The more dough we can get in the machine, the more pies we can bake and the more revenue we can make. No arguments there.
Starting at the top of the dough production line, first identify the recommended capacity for the mixer(s) you have. The manufacturer’s website is the first place to look. Each model and design has a recommended dough capacity and given hydration.
Choosing the correctly sized mixer for your kitchen is incredibly important. A mixer that is too large will overwork your dough and make it difficult to stretch. A mixer that is too small can harm the long-term reliability of the mixer and lead to expensive maintenance and repair costs as time goes on.
From personal experience, I get the best mix of lightness, tenderness and structure from a dough when its batch size is about two-thirds of the mixer’s capacity rating.
The batch size of your dough formula is the starting point. There are two things to consider here: the overall weight of your ingredients and the hydration of the dough.
The Science of Dough
The hydration of the dough is the total weight of all liquids divided by the total weight of all the dry ingredients. A formula using 55# water and 100# total flour has a hydration of 55%.
Any oil in the dough is also considered a liquid for the purposes of this calculation. Oil relaxes the dough, so it behaves as if it has more water in it. If we were to add 5# olive oil to our sample formula, the total liquid would become 60#. Still using the 100# flour in our equation, the hydration of this dough is now 60%.
Doughs with a low hydration, like many thin-crust pies, are stiff and put more stress on the machine. As a guideline, a low hydration is 55% or less. The lower the dough’s hydration, the more it reduces the capacity of your machine. The 55% dough in this example would be used for a thin to medium pie. At 55%, the dough is
considered stiff, and an overly large batch size would put stress on the machine.
With the addition of the olive oil, the 60% dough is relatively softer and easier to handle for the machine. This type of dough is better suited for lighter, airier pies.
All of this information should be available on the manufacturer’s website or through your professional equipment vendor.
Two other ingredients will cause you to reduce your batch size: ice and high-gluten flour. Adding ice as part of the total liquid in your formula is an effective strategy for keeping your dough temperature low. To see how that affects the dough texture on the mixer, let’s return to our 55% dough example from above.
If 50# of water plus 5# ice were used in the mix, the hydration would still be 55%. But the ice only melts as a result of the dough temperature and friction. At the start of the mix, the dough is much stiffer than it will be once the ice has melted. This puts more stress on your machine, and the industry guideline is to reduce your capacity by 10%. A similar reduction of 10% capacity is advised when you’re using high-gluten flour. A protein content of 12.5% and up is a working guideline here.
The Art of Dough
Before they are assigned a capacity by the manufacturer, mixers pass a number of specific tests, producing any number of dough types, cakes, pastries and more. That’s the reliable scientific starting point when correlating your formula’s batch size to your mixer. But the number you should be shooting for with your batch size is not always the rated capacity.
The other thing to consider is the sweet spot for your mixer’s capacity. This is where your sensory skills come into play. This is the artistry of the pizzaiolo and baker. An experienced eye and hand can assess when a dough is optimally developed. It’s part of the art of making dough that you develop the ability to tell when a dough needs more time in the mixer, is a bit overworked or is just right.
With the addition of olive oil, a 60% hydration dough is relatively softer and easier to handle for the mixer.
This type of dough is better suited for lighter, airier pies.
It’s part of your culinary expertise and is one of those intangibles that puts your style into your pies and make them distinctive.
The sweet spot for batch size varies by the type of dough you’re producing. My personal experience has taught me that I get the best mix of lightness, tenderness and structure from a dough when its batch size is about two-thirds of the mixer’s capacity rating.
Does this mean I sometimes have to run additional batches to meet the production needs for the shop? Yes— Thursday through Saturday, for the most part. But do I get more consistency from my pies with this additional investment of production time? Yes. Am I guaranteed that my customers are getting a consistent product each and every time they dine in or DoorDash out? Yes.
And, given that the weekend sees more customers, it’s required of me to produce the best possible and most consistent quality in the pies during the busier times. More customers add up to a lot more potential for wordof-mouth advertising. I need those mouths to have the best pizza dough I can make them!
Michael Kalanty is the owner of R&D Bakery in San Francisco, an author, and a bakery product developer. His two books, How To Bake Bread: The Five Families of Bread and How To Bake MORE Bread: Modern Breads/Wild Yeast, are used in culinary schools around the world.
Craving the freshest insights into the pizza restaurant industry? Subscribe to PMQ’s e-newsletter, Pizza Pulse, and we’ll fill your inbox with:
• Hot-from-the-oven pizza industry news delivered twice a week (Mondays and Wednesdays)
• Moneymaking promotions from leading independents and chains
• Proven marketing strategies to boost your pizzeria’s sales
• Pizzeria success stories and expert insights Pizza Pulse is
4 COMMON DOUGH MISTAKES
Wilhelm Rodriguez, U.S. Pizza Team member and owner of Papa’s Pizza in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, shares the most common dough mistakes he’s noticed pizzaioli making—and how to correct them.
OVERLOOKING PROPER DOUGH FERMENTATION
Mistake: Rushing the fermentation process, either by using too much yeast for quick rises or skipping cold fermentation. This often results in dough that lacks flavor and develops a dense texture.
Correction:
• Use less yeast and plan for at least 24 to 48 hours of cold fermentation in the refrigerator.
• Use a controlled fermentation temperature (e.g., 36° to 40°F) to allow the dough to develop flavor slowly.
Benefits: A longer fermentation enhances the dough’s flavor profile (due to enzymatic activity), improves
INCONSISTENT DOUGH BALLING AND PROOFING
Mistake: Uneven dough ball sizes or insufficient resting/proofing time before baking. This leads to pizzas that bake unevenly or dough that resists stretching.
Correction:
• Weigh each dough ball to ensure consistency across all pizzas.
• Allow the dough balls to proof at room temperature (usually one to two hours) before shaping to relax gluten and improve extensibility.
Benefits: Consistent balling ensures even baking times, while proper proofing makes the dough easier to handle and produces a uniform, airy crust.
FAILING TO CONTROL DOUGH TEMPERATURE DURING HANDLING
Mistake: Allowing dough to become too warm during prep or baking. Warm dough is harder to work with, can overproof and may result in poor oven spring.
Correction:
• Store dough balls in a refrigerated environment until one to two hours before use.
• Use a bench scraper or chilled surfaces to handle dough in warm kitchens.
Benefits: Controlling dough temperature prevents overproofing, ensures consistent handling and maintains the structure needed for optimal baking results.
NOT ACCOUNTING FOR HYDRATION LEVELS IN DOUGH
Mistake: Using dough with incorrect hydration levels for the desired style of pizza—for example, low hydration for a Neapolitan-style pizza or an overly sticky dough for New Yorkstyle pizza.
Correction:
• Adjust water percentage based on the desired pizza style (e.g., 55% to 60% for thin-crust, 65% to 70% for Neapolitan and about 63% for New York-style).
• Use high-quality bread flour or pizza flour, which can better handle higher hydration levels.
Benefits: Correct
ADOBE STOCK/YEVHEN
SEPTEMBER 2-4, 2025 ATLANTA
IGNITING GROWTH IN THE PIZZA INDUSTRY
Join us in Atlanta on September 2-4
• Hear and share perspectives on igniting growth in the pizza business.
• Network with and learn from leading independents and emerging pizza chain operators from around the U.S.
• Explore the energy of the dynamic city with nearby attractions, pizza shops and other dining.
The Pizza Power Forum is the only event that focuses solely on the needs of independent pizzerias and emerging pizza chains. Veteran pizzeria operators and pizza makers will share their expertise and perspectives on igniting growth, making superior pizza and increasing sales and profits.
Topics covered include:
• Menu development
• Scaling your brand with integrity
• Leveraging the power of digital marketing and social media
• Perfecting your dough
• Robotics and automation in the pizza space
• Creating a thriving company culture
MARRIOTT MARQUIS
Giovanni Labbate: Building a “Sexy” Pizza Truck
The pizzaiolo behind Tievoli Pizza Bar explains the importance of a simplified menu and how to make your mobile unit stand out everywhere you go.
BY BRIAN HERNANDEZ
AFTER DECADES IN THE PIZZA BUSINESS and a successful track record as a franchisee, Giovanni Labbate, a U.S. Pizza Team Premiere Member, recently launched Tievoli Pizza Bar in Palatine, Illinois, to bring his take on New York-style pizza to Chicagoland. Here, we dive headfirst into Labbate’s journey, from venturing out as a solo operator to designing a “sexy pizza truck.”
Brian Hernandez: How did you get started in the pizza business?
Giovanni Labbate: I’ve basically been in the business for over 30 years. My father started in the industry back in
the 1970s, and I really wanted to continue the tradition. Tievoli was born in 2023. It is “I love it” backwards and embodies how we feel about pizza here.
Hernandez: What were you doing before that?
Labbate: I was a Billy Bricks franchisee for a while. I helped them build their brand a lot, but the whole time I really just wanted to get out on my own. I wanted to bring back what my father was doing in Chicagoland in the 70s, because there’s not really a lot of New York artisan pizza in Chicago. We thought this would be a great addition to Palatine and the surrounding area. So far, so good.
(Left to right) With its all-glass front and branded wrap, Tievoli’s pizza truck enhances the atmosphere of any event; Labbate secured a trip to the World Pizza Championship at the ’24 California Pizza Challenge.
Hernandez: What’s the first step for someone wanting to venture out on their own?
Labbate: You must have a great plan. Put a business plan down on paper, definitely get your finances straight, and come up with a great menu that’s going to be efficient and consistent in your kitchen. We have a simple onepage menu that I know will get executed with ease when I’m not here. But also make sure you have a good product. People today are very picky about where they spend their money, and when you’re just starting in the business, it’s a struggle to keep everything fresh if you’re not as busy as you’d hoped. It’s easy enough to add to your menu later if you want to, but, efficiency- and staffing-wise, it’s easier to keep a smaller menu.
Hernandez: You also have a mobile unit. Is this a carryover from your franchise days?
Labbate: It is, but we gave it a nice upgrade. We went from a traditional food truck to an all-glass front so you can see the action taking place in our gold Marra Forni dome oven. It’s definitely a step up from what we had. We just wanted to make a point when we pull up to events, so we upped the wow factor with, as my wife Adrianna would say, “a sexy pizza truck.” It’s almost 14’ tall, so we can’t go everywhere with it, but that’s a fair trade-off when you pull up to that wedding or private event and everyone says, “Yeah…that’s a food truck.”
Hernandez: What can someone just getting started—or working with a smaller budget—do to stand out with a mobile unit?
Labbate: Have your finances straight and start small. We started in a small regular truck, and now we have
a modest food truck empire here. We really don’t have to do many bookings now—that all comes from repeat customers and word-of-mouth. I really don’t book anything myself. It just comes in through email. But that took time. Get your funds correct, and then go with something that makes sense for yourself. When you have your finances squared and start making money, then you can upgrade your truck.
Hernandez: What’s the first upgrade to consider when you have funds to invest? Spinny rims?
Labbate: Yeah! The wrap on your truck is an important part of your business. Get a good designer to design it and pay attention to the finer details to get your brand just right. Obviously, good application is a must as well. Get the truck branded, then, seriously, add spinny rims, chrome it out, get a glass front. Expose whatever it is that you are doing—pizza or burgers—and let the world see inside. I think people are intrigued by seeing the whole operation going on. We are 99% events, so we incorporate a lot of music as well, but you definitely have to make sure you stand out in that row of food trucks if that’s where you are.
Hernandez: Sounds like a catering service with 99% events. Is a pizza truck that popular at weddings nowadays?
Labbate: In essence, yes and yes! A lot of people think we do the late-night snack thing with our truck, but we actually are doing full-service catering events, like, 90% of the time. So when we pull up, we’re not just cooking pizza but also pastas, salads, appetizers—a full menu, plus linens, plates, napkins and bartending. We’re not your typical pizza truck. I think it’s a one-of-a-kind thing we have going on.
In an expanded version of this Q&A, Giovanni Labate also talks about his winning performance at the California Pizza Challenge. Read it at PMQ.com/giovanne-labbate
Labbate’s one-of-a-kind gold-plated Marra Forni oven sparkles in the daylight and sets his food truck apart.
In celebration of National Pizza Day, Slice Out Hunger will unite with U.S. Pizza Team members and local pizzerias across the country to feed their neighbors facing food insecurity through the Pizza Across America campaign on February 9.
To be a part of the largest pizza delivery in America, with hundreds of pizzerias participating in all 50 states, register at www.sliceouthunger.org/paa and deliver 10 or more pizzas to your local hunger relief organization on National Pizza Day (February 9).
This campaign is coordinated by Slice Out Hunger, a nationwide nonprofit that fights food insecurity through pizza-themed campaigns and events.
JOIN THE U.S. PIZZA TEAM IN ITALY – APRIL 2025!
Don’t miss your chance to compete—or just cheer from the sidelines—at the World Pizza Championship in Parma!
INCLUDED IN YOUR ITALIAN ADVENTURE:
YOUSHOULD BEHERE!
Ready for an epic pizza adventure? Register now to join the U.S. Pizza Team in Parma, Italy, for the Campionato Mondiale della Pizza! Enjoy competition, delicious meals, beachside relaxation—and, oh, yeah, don’t forget your airfare, or we’ll wave to you from the plane as we fly off without you!
• 10 days room and board
• Meals
• Transportation and translation
• Entry into the Campionato Mondiale della Pizza
• 2 days at exotic beach location after competition
• Team uniform
For more information about the U.S. Pizza Team or the trip to Italy, contact Brian Hernandez at bhernandez@wtwhmedia.com.
Evolving from a traditional setup with six employees to a nearly 50-strong team of equal-partner worker-owners, The Cheese Board Collective has solidified itself as a true original in Berkeley, California, over nearly 60 years.
BY TRACY MORIN
The Cheese Board Collective
The Cheese Board Collective founding owners Elizabeth Valoma and Sahag Avedisian, who’d started their cheese shop in 1967 in North Berkeley, California, radically changed their business in 1971. “They realized they wanted a more egalitarian structure,” explains Vanessa Vichit-Vadakan, a worker-owner in the nearly 50-member team (with roughly half of them in the pizzeria arm of the collective). “They sold the business to their six employees at cost, making no profit, and the eight worker-owners ran it as horizontally as they could.”
The business evolved organically: After a worker-owner brought in a home-baked loaf, operations expanded into bread baking, offering then-exotic items like baguettes and focaccia in the cheese shop—which prompted a move into its current bigger location. In the ’80s, staff started rolling out extra bits of baguette dough and making pizzas with toppings from the cheese shop and a produce market next door. That turned into Friday-night pizza sales, which were so popular that in 1991 a full-fledged pizzeria opened two doors away.
To this day, all worker-owners earn the same pay and make business decisions together while handling day-to-day operations. The Cheese Board’s pizza is also unique, with only one rotating option (always
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
STATEOFCALI F ORNIA
vegetarian, with vegan and gluten-free modifications available) offered each day on its signature sourdough crust. “We work from a list of 60 to 70 [toppings] combinations, looking at seasonality and what’s available,” Vichit-Vadakan says. “We try to work with smaller organic farms and support smaller producers. But because we offer only one pizza a day, it allows us to be super efficient in pumping them out.” Productivity can reach staggering heights—the day before Thanksgiving, staff crafted 2,000 of its annual-tradition mushroom pies, made with wild chantarelles.
While being part of a collective is hard work, the worker-owners at The Cheese Board embrace the structure. “We get to set the rules and make money for ourselves, rather than for one person who’s not participating in the work, and we get to take care of ourselves in a way that most corporate structures don’t allow,” Vichit-Vadakan says. “You’re not just punching a clock, showing up and going home—you’re investing yourself in the business and in a space that’s been part of the community for 57 years. It’s high stakes.”
