In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, chats with Jamie Cecil, vice president of franchise development for Mellow Mushroom. Mellow Mushroom started in 1974 and has grown to 160 units. The brand is known for its cool vibes. Each store is unique. "I like to call them kind of unicorns. There's not one store that looks alike, which is kind of fun, but it makes it a challenge as well. But every store has phenomenal pizza and great serv...

In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, talks to Bryan Ketelhut, vice president of franchise and business development for Little Caesars. Ketelhut has been with the company for years and now heads up domestic franchising. He's also a former franchisee himself. Little Caesars is known for its streamlined operations. From a development perspective, that simplicity makes the brand more attractive to prospective franchisees compared to m...

In episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, talks to Joe Carlucci, founder and owner of Valentina's Pizzeria & Wine Bar in Alabama. Carlucci, who has dozens of years in pizza, is a member of the World Pizza Champions and a leader in the industry. Carlucci opened Valentina's, named after his daughter, in the midst of COVID. Prior to that, he'd owned a pizza food truck and would take it to neighborhoods to provide pizzas to neighborhoods du...

In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, chats with Genero Perez, chief marketing officer for Peter Piper Pizza, a legacy brand with more than 50 years in the industry. The brand has about 115 restaurants in Arizona, Texas, New Mexico and the northern part of Mexico. The restaurants all have a lunch buffet Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Peter Piper "is an interesting concept because we target different demographics at di...

Riko's Pizza is redefining America's love affair with pizza, and with five corporate stores and seven franchised units, the full-service pizzeria sells thin crust, tavern-style pizza. The pizza is what drew Carl Bachmann, president and COO of Riko's, to the brand. They're taking over the East Coast one bite at a time. "That's really what enticed me to join the brand was the uniqueness of the product and the process of how we make the product and certainly the founder himself who is so passion...

In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, talks to Scott Wiener, director of Slice Out Hunger, about the Pizza Across America even that brings together pizzerias across the country for a good cause. The week of National Pizza Day, Feb. 9, pizzerias are encouraged to donate 10 pizzas to their local hospitals, first responders, shelters or soup kitchens. Registration is open now for the event. Every pizzeria who signs up tells the orches...

In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, talks to Jennifer Jackson, vice president of public relations for Hungry Howie's. Jackson spoke about the public relations and advertising the pizza brand does. Hungry Howie's differentiates itself by offering flavored crusts. Jackson said the butter cheese is the top crust flavor, but the brand does unique LTOs like a sweet heat bacon. Hungry Howie's also has a deep dish pizza and recently launched a Detroit-style pizza. ...

In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb.com, talks to Eric Soller, founder of Old Scratch Pizza in Dayton, Ohio. With a formal culinary background and years working with mixer giant Hobart, Soller said he was primed and ready to open his own restaurant. "I love pizza," Soller said. "I was thinking about a lot of things, but I kept coming back to pizza. In my experience with Hobart and then later in sort of corporate world, I tra...

In our most recent Pizza Marketplace Podcast, Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, talked to Dallas Massey, senior vice president of Papa Murphy's Take N' Bake Pizza. Massey discussed the brand's $10 Tuesdays promotion and how it has evolved over the years. In the beginning, consumers could purchase any pizza in any size for $10 on Tuesdays. Over the years, however, with the rising costs of labor and ingredients, individual Papa Murphy's stores have altered their $10 Tuesday promos. T...

Michigan-based Saroki's Crispy Chicken & Pizza pairs delicious chicken and pizza in a mega gas station setting. However, it wasn't always this way. The brand, which has 19 location, used to have good pizza, but not great pizza. Owner Todd Saroki went to California to study under master pizzaiolo Tony Gemignani. What he brought back was a pizza product customers love. Todd Saroki and his brother Curtis Saroki cut their teeth working in a kitchen in a uncle's gas station. They eventually to...