800° Pizza adds Technology to Drive International Growth

 

Everyone wants fresh pizza fast, but few can compete with 800° Pizza quality, consistency, service, and flavor that will drive incremental growth and success in an evolving world short on employees according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Have you heard that, Piestro, the robotic pizzeria that’s crafting high-quality artisan pizza, announced it is partnering with 800° Pizza, the international pizza brand by world-renowned chef Anthony Carron, to offer consumers a fully automated culinary experience, equipped with an authentic, custom pizza recipe designed for Piestro’s unique cooking technology?

That’s right proprietary pizza fast with less labor involved. Think brand relevance in an evolving world, that will edify brand value with relevance and new electricity. According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven with innovation in new food products in combination with new avenues of distribution all of which are the platform for the new electricity.”  That said, what are you waiting for?

Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh foods, developing brands, unique urban clothing, grocerant positioning, fresh food messaging, autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, plates, glasses, cash-less payments, digital hand-held marketing.

All retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food that is portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different. 

In A Battle for Share of Stomach

If you know Chef Carron, you know he has always taken an imaginative approach to pizza making. When establishing the first 800° Pizza location in 2012, he set forth to pair fresh, great-tasting ingredients with a woodfired oven to produce artisan pizzas in just 90 seconds. The success of 800° Pizza continued with national and international expansion into 2020, but as the pandemic hit, the entire restaurant industry faced new customer service constraints and the acute challenge of keeping up with the exploding demand for delivery-based dining. 

So, once again the new dynamics of delivery/takeout culture and increased consumer pressure for more convenient food choices put a strain on restaurants’ access to labor and their ability to maintain high levels of quality and consistency. 

That’s right, even with 800° Pizza’s impressive cooking speed, Chef Carron and the team believed they needed to do more to future-proof the brand and maintain the standards of excellence the chain has come to be known for. With his forward-thinking mindset, Chef Carron saw the promise of automation when a trusted industry colleague, Massimo Noja De Marco, reached out to discuss his latest venture – automated pizzeria, Piestro. 

Chef Carron, stated “When Massimo and I first connected about Piestro’s technology, I saw both the immediate and long-term impact automation could have on our business,” ... “Knowing Massimo’s exceptional background and the emphasis he places on quality and consistency in his machines, I knew this was a partnership we needed to make happen. We immediately began the process of developing recipes using the same imported, fresh and flavorful ingredients that made 800° Pizza so successful, and we were off to the races.”

Let’s talk growth, this partnership will bring a completely new version of the 800° Pizza brand to high-traffic, easy-to-access locations through “800° by Piestro” machines. The partnership, which is kicking off with a projected order volume of 3,600 units to be produced and sold by Piestro over five years, will allow customers everywhere to experience the best ingredients and a perfect bite of consistently delicious artisan pizza – designed by two world-class pizza aficionados – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

De Marco, CEO of Piestro, stated, “This partnership is a clear indicator of the interest and potential for automation within the pizza industry,” … “I’ve known Chef Carron for years, and he exemplifies the spirit of operators dedicated to their craft, committed to delivering customers an unforgettable dining experience. The contactless cooking capabilities, fresh taste, speed and consistency that our automation and breakthrough oven technology brings instantly aligned with the values of 800° Pizza to provide customers an exceptional culinary experience. We can’t wait to give customers everywhere access to an international pizza brand with a robotic twist.”

Regular readers of this blog know that Johnson insist that differentiation does not mean different it means familiar but with a twist.  This partnership delivers on that industry leading fact.

With this new partnership, Piestro continues to see traction with investors in their crowdfunding campaign, which is currently underway on StartEngine. The platform gives more everyday investors an opportunity to capitalize on the $46.3 billion U.S. pizza market and be a part of shaping the future of the industry by investing in Intelligent Automation. The campaign is set to end September 30. (Take a look, it might be well worth it.)

Piestro is backed by experts in the food automation space. Its lead investor, Wavemaker Partners, is a global venture capital fund with over $550M assets under management, and its studio, Wavemaker Labs, focuses directly on automation.

For international corporate presentations, regional chain presentations, educational forums, or keynotes contact: Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions.  His extensive experience as a multi-unit restaurant operator, consultant, brand / product positioning expert, and public speaking will leave success clues for all. For more information visit GrocerantGuru.com, FoodserviceSolutions.US or call 1-253-759-7869