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Want a Piece of the Pizza Business pie?

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• Convenience- Few foods are as quick and hassle free to prepare as pizza.

• Market Flexibility- Pizza is ideal as a delivery item, a dine-in option or frozen for later consumption.

• Kid Appeal- In a recent Gallup Poll, children ages 3-11 preferred pizza over all the other food groups for lunch and dinner.

• Nutrition- Combining grains, meats, vegetables and dairy products, pizza is a well balanced meal.

• Taste- With its almost endless array of ingredient combinations, pizza offers a medley of flavor options.

A Brief History Of Pizza

• 200 BC Cato, Roman and author, writes about flat rounds of dough dressed with olive oil , herbs and baked stone.

• 1830 The first known pizzeria, Pizzeria Port'Alba, opens in the heart of Naples. It is still in operation today.

• 1889: Cheese- buffalo mozzarella- is used on pizza for the first time to create what has become a pizza for the first time to create what has become a pizza classic, pizza margerita. The pie was named for Italy's Queen Marghrita, who during a visit to Naples, chose as her favorite pizza one made with tomatoes, mozzerella and fresh basil, creating red, white and green colors similar to those in the Italian Flag.

• 1890's -1920's Italian immigrants bring new food ideas, including pizza, to the United States, Pizzas are sold in the Italian bakeries on the East coast.

• 1930's Pizza thrives along the East coast and makes its way to the Midwest.

• 1950's Birth of the modern Pizza chain, sit-down through delivery.
  
  

Basic Planning
Starting a Pizza business requires thoughtful planning. This section will break-down and categorize the areas that will require your special attention.
Phase One Menu Development- Because pizza can be offered in a variety of ways, you must decide which is best for you. There are four basic format options. Often operations that combine formats experience greater sales, service and profitability because they offer customers a range of choices and spread labor and material costs a large revenue base.
Format Option 1 Dine-In Pizza prepared on demand for in-house customers- sales spike around peak meal periods, requiring advance preparation and planning of food items, staffing and possibly even beverage service and serving of ancillary menu items. In the recent years the trend in sit-down operations is to make pizza a part of the total menu, regardless of the cuisine style the restaurant offers. Consequently pizza has become a popular choice as a first course or appetizer.	Format Option 2 Hot-To-Go whole pizzas ordered hot in advance for carry out or delivery-  As with format Option One, advance planning and preparation are required. For delivery service, drivers and delivery support will be necessary, including stay-warm compartments, car signage and liability insurance. For carry-out service, self service refrigeration units offering take-away beverages are an effective compliment. Special attention should be given to pizza packaging. For a nominal investment, a distinctive carton greatly impact image and sales.
Format Option 3 Single Serving Size Pizzas-Hot pizza slices are ideal for impulse sales. Baking and slicing of whole pizzas is required in anticipation of sales. Many operators prefer to offer individual pizzas in 6-or 7- inch size to eat on the premises or for take out. Customers perceive greater value and freshness in a whole, pizza, Smaller pizzas must be pre-baked in speculation of sales. Both options require warming and self-serve refrigerated merchandisers for take away beverages.	Format Option 4 Take -and bake cold pizza prepackaged to be baked at home- Pizzas can be assembled and packaged based on demand and time. Self-Serve refrigerated merchandisers are essential for presentation and storage.
Price Positioning The ultimate price point to a customer is the combination of the perceived value of the product, the convenience with which the product is obtained and the service provided in its delivery.
Option 1:  Dine-In Pizza-Price is determined by the quality of of ingredients, presentation and the cost of service. Price is also limited by local competition.	Option 2: Hot-To Go-Pizza -In addition to the price issues already outlined in Dine -In -Pizza, Hot -To -Go Pizza adds speed of service. The consumer is paying a premium for take out service compared to pre-baked or retail pizza. Therefore the Pizza must keep it's integrity for 45 minutes in transit and must re heat well.
Option3: Single-Service-Pizza-Like any snack food available for impulse purchase, the product quality, location, merchandising and service affect the price.	Option 4: Take-and-Bake-Pizza-In the retail environment, Take and Bake Pizzas are in direct competition with high-volume frozen pizzas. Therefore your product must be perceived to be high quality. Proper merchandising is everything.,
To determine how best to position your pizza in the marketplace, you will need to determine what your prospective market prefers. Study Demographic information about your customer base, look at other stores in your area to see what kinds of products they carry. Examine a successful pizza company and note what they are  and are not doing. It is important to note any voids in the marketplace you could possibly fill and thereby differentiate yourself from the competition
Phase Two: Production Option
Once the menu is determined you must decide how to best produce the products. The ingredients you choose and your sources for them impact the speed of production, cost and quality of your Pizza as well as your ability to support the format and price position you have chosen.
Dough Options Scratch/Mix - Making the dough from scratch  Pros: Favorable marketing angle. 1. Higher quality profile. 2. Lower dough cost 3. Customized dough recipes Cons: Additional labor and equipment required.
Dough Balls- Fresh or frozen dough balls purchased from an outside supplier. Pros:1. Less Labor, space and equipment needed than scratch option 2.Less chance for errors than scratch option 3. Greater options for dough thickness and diameter. Cons:  Higher dough costs 1. Require more needed for thawing and and proofing. 2. No customizing possible 3. Extra labor, space and equipment needed to process into sheets.
Sheeted Dough- frozen dough from outside supplier in sheeted from ready to be thawed and assembled. Pros: Reduced labor, space and equipment costs Reliable product consistency Cons: Higher cost than dough balls or scratch/mix No customizing possible.
Par baked Crusts- faster baking, pre-proofed and partially baked crusts. Pros: faster production time, Ideal for Hot-to Go option. Reduced labor, space, and equipment costs. Cons: No customizing possible, Higher costs than sheeted dough and dough balls.
Sauce Options Scratch- Corning, skinning and pureeing fresh tomatoes for reduction into sauce, then adding herbs and spices for flavor. Pros: Provides favorable marketing angle  Customizing possible Cons: Labor intensive, higher costs, maintaining cosistency difficult, heavily reliant on availability of fresh tomatoes.
Mixes: Manually adding ingredients to a canned tomato paste or puree. Pros: Customization possible, May provide favorable marketing angle, Fewer consistency problems than scratch, Less labor-intensive than scratch. Cons: More labor than ready to use, Consistency must still be monitored.
Ready -To-Use-Sauces: Purchase of a fully prepared pizza sauce from an outside supplier Pros: Minimal labor costs and requirements, Relaible product consistency Cons: Customizing difficult.
Cheese Options:  Block Purchasing cheese in block form and processing it in-house. Pros: Lower cheese costs, Custom blending possible, Favorable marketing angle possible Cons: Additional labor and preparation time required.
Ready-To-Use-Cheese Cheese purchased pre-chopped, diced or shreaded Pros: reduced labor, faster preparation time Cons: Higher cheese costs.
Topping Options Whole: In store preparation of vegetables and meats. Pros: Lower food costs, "Fresh" Pizza high quality marketing angle possible Cons: Higher labor and equipment costs, Increased preparation time.
Ready-To -Use Fully processed toppings purchased from outside sources. Pros: Reduced labor costs, faster production time Cons: Higher food costs.
Phase Three: Equipment Specifications Having decided what you are going to make and how you are going to make it, you must decide what you are going to make it with. Aside from the obvious utensils such as rollers, knives,and spatulas, you must specify an equipment package consisting of major components of a Pizza making facility. Ovens, Refrigerators, prep decks, and storage and merchandising units are some of the equipment shown in the following diagrams that illustrate the flow of product through the various stations of four different making facilities.
Pizza Delivery/Carryout
Cafeteria/High Volume Kitchen
High Volume Kitchen/Supermarket
Full Service Italian/Pizzeria
Station One   - Storage and Prep Required Equipment Shelves racks for dry storage freezer Refrigerator Prep Station. You will need adequate storage units. Smaller operations may opt for 27" freezers, while larger operations will probably require even more freezer space. Refrigerators with up to 12.5 cubic feet of storage space provide room for an operation to grow. Prep stations with full-size 12-inch cutting boards and ample pan depth ensure efficient flow-through of ingredients to subsequent stations.
Station Two- Dough Preparation Required Equipment: Mixer proofer  Dough Press/Sheeter If you plan on making crust from a mix or scratch, you need a mixer. Most operations prefer one with a "planetary" design with the mixing shaft revolving around the perimeter of the mixing bowl. If you will be working with scratch/mix,dough balls or sheeted dough, you will need a a proofer, a heated cabinet that causes the dough to rise, then tenderizes it for final shaping. As an alternative to hand tossing, a hand press will flatten dough on a platen, producing a consistent crust. Equally popular is a dough sheeter that flattens dough by passing it back and forth between rollers. Either method has the advantage of being faster and more efficient than traditional hand tossing.
Station Three -Pizza Assembly  Required equipment: Assembly deck Refrigerated assembly decks/prep tables are a must for any pizza operation preparing. These units include an under-counter refrigerator with a top opening to access sauce, cheese and a variety of toppings arranged in elevated pans. Prefered units include an assembly deck with ample counter space for assembling pizzas.
Station Four- Cooking Station  Required Equipment-Conveyor Oven Reliable consistency and higher production capacity make conveyor ovens the standard in pizza baking. Middleby Marshall a division of The Middleby Corporation ,offers the world's finest conveyor ovens, baking both faster and at a lower temperature than other ovens and include patented "Jet Sweep" superfingers. In this process, vertical columns of hot air, move heat aerodynamically instead of using high temperatures. The stream of hot air removes the layers of cool ,heavy air that tends to insulate the product. The process results in rapid baking without burning.
Station Five-Final prep/Refrigeration Required equipment-Final prep Station, Beverage merchandiser. Refrigerated merchandisers are your final prep station and will display your beverage products. Most operators prefer visually appealing units with a space-efficient, bottom mounted refrigeration system, glass doors for maximum visibility of products and vertically mounted fluorescent lighting.
Support, Service and Financing Remember, you and your equipment provider are a team. You will need to rely on them for advice, start-up support, equipment financing and service after sale. In choosing an equipment provider, examine the support issue and choose a provider like Middleby with a reputation for supreme service.