PZ - April - May 2014

Pizza passion

SUBSCRIBER ACTION REQUIRED, P. 23

Chef of the Year Carlo Raillo

CANADIAN PIZZA SHOW

Oct. 27 2014 • canadianpizzashow.com

Volume 20 Issue 2 April/May 2014

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10 PIZZA PASSION

Canadian Pizza’s Chef of the Year has a love of the real traditional Napoletana pizza and a deep desire to share his knowledge.

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13 SWEETIE-PIE

Learn how dessert pizzas can increase your bottom line.

AMERICAN PIZZA FAMILY 20 OUR Pizza Expo 2014 intrigued us, inspired us and felt a lot like home.

26 FOCUSED FUNDRAISING

How Topper’s Pizza got strategic with its charitable efforts.

DEPARTMENTS

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www.canadianpizzamag.com

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editor’s desk

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the pizza chef

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making dough

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marketing insights

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guest column

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pizza on fire

APRIL/MAY 2014 pizza 3

“Packed from Fresh Tomatoes, Not from Concentrate”...

President Tom Cortopassi (kneeling) and “Coach” Dino Cortopassi (standing) in one of our

Since 1942, our Restaurateur customers’ success has depended on the superior taste of the food they serve and of our products.

As a family-owned business, it feels good knowing that so many of our customers have relied on our “Packed From Fresh Tomato” products from generation to generation.

Whether your restaurant has a long family history, or whether you’re the founder, you can depend on our family making the best “Real Italian” tomato products...always Packed From Fresh Tomatoes, Never From Concentrate...generation after generation!

Tom Cortopassi President/Owner

Dino Cortopassi Coach/Owner

Generation after Generation.

tomato fields in Stanislaus County, California

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StaniSlauS E

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The “Real Italian” Tomato Company 1202 “D” Street

Modesto, CA 95354 Toll Free 1-800-327-7201 ©2010 Stanislaus Food Products

from the editor’s desk April/May 2014, Vol. 20, No. 2

Bring in the chefs C

anadian Pizza is having a very big year.

Our Chef of the Year competition is about to celebrate its 10th anniversary. The 2015 winner will represent a culmination of a decade spent building Canada’s only national pizza competition dedicated to pizza skills and promoting our nation’s talent on an international stage. Bearers of the Canadian Chef of the Year title, which is sponsored

by Saputo and Moretti Forni, gain access to the finals of the International Pizza Challenge, held annually in Las Vegas, and bragging rights on their home turf.

Winners can increase revenues in their pizzeria by marketing their victory using a variety of strategies, including offering their award-winning pizza as a menu item, contacting local press to increase media exposure, holding a staff meeting to celebrate, encouraging front-counter staff to spread the news and sending a thankyou to suppliers and customers for their support and patronage.

The Chef of the Year competition is an important and longstanding industry showcase of skills that Canadian Pizza magazine is proud to organize.

As its organizers, we have recognized that it’s time for the next step in this contest’s evolution. What started as a recipe competition became a contest for which the chef’s ingredients were shipped and assembled. Now it’s time to bring in the chefs.

This year’s competition will be held at the Canadian Pizza Show on Oct. 27 at the International Centre in Mississauga, Ont. This is a new feature for the show’s third running, and, for the first time, competitors will be making their pizza onsite. For the first time, spectators will be able to watch and taste a sample for themselves. These are big firsts!

The new format changes some aspects

Editor Laura Aiken laiken@annexweb.com 416-522-1595 Associate Editor Colleen Cross ccross@annexweb.com 519-428-3471 ext. 261

of the competition. The number of entries we can accept is now limited, as there are only so many pizzas we can taste and judge in one day. Competitors from across Canada, who formerly needed to ship only their ingredients, will now need to ship themselves as well.

There will be one division, Open, and competitors may enter a pizza with any combination and number of toppings they choose, as well as any type of crust and sauce.

A maximum of 15 entries will be accepted on a first come, first served basis.

Contestants will have 20 minutes to bake and present their pizza to the panel of judges. Each entrant will be given a bake time and an additional 10 minutes of preparation time.

In the past, I have received the majority of the Chef of the Year entries about a week before the deadline. It’s very important for interested contenders to remember that this contest is now first come, first serve and that it will close when the 15 entries are reached. For full contest details, visit www.canadianpizzashow.com.

If you have any questions, please e-mail me at laiken@annexweb.com or contact me by phone at 416-522-1595.

We are very excited to be taking the Chef of the Year competition to the next level to better showcase the amazing culinary talent in our country. We also are ecstatic to be able to run it within the Canadian Pizza Show, an event we are working each year to build and improve to serve the pizza industry better. We hope you are excited too! •

Account Coordinator Shannon Drumm sdrumm@annexweb.com 888-599-2228, ext. 219 Media Designer Alison Keba Group Publisher Martin McAnulty mmcanulty@annexweb.com President Mike Fredericks mfredericks@annexweb.com Mailing Address P.O. Box 530, 105 Donly Dr. S., Simcoe, ON N3Y 4N5 PUBLICATION MAIL AGREEMENT #40065710 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESS TO CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT, P.O. Box 530, Simcoe, ON N3Y 4N5 e-mail: subscribe@canadianpizzamag.com Published seven times per year (Jan/Feb, Apr/May, Jun, Jul/Aug, Sept/Oct, Nov, Dec),

by Annex Publishing & Printing Inc. Printed in Canada ISSN 1203-6838 Circulation e-mail: subscribe@canadianpizzamag.com Tel: 866-790-6070 ext. 207 Fax: 877-624-1940 Mail: P.O. Box 530, Simcoe, ON N3Y 4N5 Subscription Rates Canada – 1 Year $ 19.00 (+ applicable tax) Best pricing (Can/USA/foreign) available online at www.canadianpizzamag.com Occasionally, Canadian Pizza Magazine will mail information on behalf of industry-related groups whose products and services we believe may be of interest to you. If you prefer not to receive this information, please contact our circulation department in any of the four ways listed above..

No part of the editorial content of this publication may be reprinted without the publisher’s written permission. ©2014 Annex Publishing and Printing Inc. All rights reserved. Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the editor or the publisher.

No liability is assumed for errors or omissions.

All advertising is subject to the publisher’s approval. Such approval does not imply any endorsement of the products or services advertised. Publisher reserves the right to refuse advertising that does not meet the standards of the publication. www.canadianpizzamag.com

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Publisher Christine Livingstone clivingstone@annexweb.com 519-429-5173 888-599-2228 ext. 239

pizzabites Gabriel Pizza lands deal abriel Pizza has become the official pizza of TD Place and the Ottawa Redblacks, Ottawa Fury FC and Ottawa 67’s.

Gabriel Pizza, which uses the tagline “Ottawa’s Bigger, Better Pizza,” will be available at concession stands throughout TD Place at all sporting events, concerts and events.

Established in 1977 by Michael Hanna, Gabriel Pizza is a true Ottawa entrepreneurial success story. From humble beginnings as a one-store operation on St. Joseph Boulevard in Orléans, the business has grown into a regional operation with dozens of locations in the city and in towns across the surrounding region, in both Eastern Ontario and the Outaouais.

“We’re very happy that Gabriel Pizza has joined our team and that they’re adding TD Place as the latest location for people to be able to eat their delicious pizza,” said Jeff Hunt, president of OSEG Sports, in a news release. “Gabriel is a great local business success story and we’re delighted that they’re becoming a partner with us to grow their business.”

Research conducted by OSEG suggested that fans expect pizza to be available during an event experience, but also believe pizza to be a key element of a kid-friendly menu, said the company in the release.

The first game at TD Place at Lansdowne takes place on Friday, July 18, when the Ottawa Redblacks kick off the inaugural campaign in the Canadian Football League against the Toronto Argonauts.

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Slices for Devices celebrates Earth Month s part of Earth Month activities, Pizza Pizza held Slices for Devices, a month-long recycling initiative that invites customers to deposit small electronic devices at participating stores in exchange for a free slice of pizza. Greentec assisted the company in refurbishing the phones with the proceeds from resale benefiting local children’s hospitals through the Slices for Smiles Foundation and Children’s Miracle Network.

“We can’t afford to throw things out without thinking about the consequences and alternatives,” said Pat Finelli, chief marketing officer for Pizza Pizza, in a news release. “Programs such as these remind people there’s value to recycling.

We’re delighted to offer benefit to recyclers, local children’s hopsitals and the environment.”

New in 2014, ink cartridges were accepted for the first time along with the more traditional items – cameras, adapters, tablets, iPods and smartphones and traditional cellphones.

Customers could stop by any one of

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Pizza Pizza’s 400 traditional restaurant locations in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Halifax to trade in their old device for a free slice of pepperoni or cheese pizza.

Electronic waste is a growing issue in Canada. Figures from Stats Canada reveal the average Canadian generated about 24 kilograms of e-waste in 2012, which is more than 860,000 tonnes for the entire country.

Between 80 and 85 per cent of electronic products are discarded the wrong way, ending up in landfills or incinerators, which can release harmful toxins into the air.

“The Slices for Devices program is a fantastic way for people to get involved and help to support our children’s hospitals, the children themselves and their families,” said John Hartman, Chief Operating Officer, Canada for Children’s Miracle Network.

Launched in 2004, Pizza Pizza’s Slices for Devices program has collected more than 8,000 used devices to date.

pizzabites

Red Tomato Pies wins national award ed Tomato Pies is the winner of the Saputo Pizza Hall of Fame contest for 2014. The big win netted Red Tomato Pies $10,000 in free Saputo mozzarella and a trophy for in-store display.

The Williams Lake, B.C., pizzeria took the grand prize, edging out several provincial winners: Dilo’s Pizza & Spaghetti House (Alberta), Diana’s Gourmet Pizza (Manitoba), The Pizza Mill (New Brunswick), Big Bite Pizza (Newfoundland), Bianchini’s Pizzeria (Nova Scotia), Tony’s Pizzeria (Ontario), Vinny’s Coffee & Pizza Shop (Prince Edward Island), Restaurant Le Maizerets (Quebec) and Pizza Pirates (Saskatchewan).

The top pizzeria in each province received $1,000 in free cheese.

Three other randomly drawn participating pizzerias also were the lucky winners of $500 in chaeese.

The Saputo Pizza Hall of Fame contest was introduced in 2012, and Red Tomato Pies is the second winner. Restaurants win by customers voting for their favourite pizzeria during a dedicated voting period (during which registration closes).

The competition is geared specifically towards engaging independent pizzerias and their customers.

Saputo provides point-of-sale materials and sell sheets to all participating stores to assist them in promoting the contest.

Congratulations to the winning independents!

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From left to right: Peter Kouris, Saputo regional director of food service sales, B.C. and Alberta, Jason and Amber Akeson of Red Tomato Pies, and Brandon Janzen, sales representative for Saputo.

Deep freeze a downer for Canadian businesses he Sage Canadian Small Business Weather Survey has found that the most common responses from Canadian small businesses to adverse weather have been to reduce headcount and employee hours. The report focuses on the impact severe weather had on Canadian small businesses last winter, and offers tips to help you prepare your business for adverse conditions in the future.

The survey made several key findings: • Twenty-five per cent of Canadian small businesses said the winter weather has negatively affected their business.

• The most common responses from Canadian small businesses to the adverse weather have been to reduce headcount and reduce employee hours.

• The worst problems resulting from this year’s winter weather are lower revenue, lower productivity and lower profit.

In Canada, the negative effect has lasted longer than it has in the U.S. Only 25 per cent of Canadian businesses had a bad-weather plan in place this winter. The most common type of bad-weather plan is an employee communication plan. Careful planning is key to successfully navigating severe winter conditions and business emergencies in general.

The survey was conducted in February 2014 among 459 Canadian businesses and has a confidence level of 95 per cent with an error rate of +/- 4 per cent.

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APRIL/MAY 2014 pizza 9

feature

Pizza passion Canadian Pizza’s Chef of the Year has a love of the real traditional Napoletana pizza

BY COLLEEN CROSS

C

arlo Raillo is what you might call a pizza purist.

His face quickly lights up when he talks about what it means to make Napoletana pizza.

The 33-year-old winner of Canadian Pizza magazine’s Chef of the Year contest, sponsored by Saputo and Moretti Forni, does not bother to contain his enthusiasm as he describes what Napoletana pizza means to him.

When making the “real, traditional Napoletana pizza,” he says, “you use the same flour and ingredients, but it’s how you make it that makes the difference.”

The process is very slow, he emphasizes.

“Napoletana is the real thing.”

Raillo is a master pizzaiolo and a head of pizza at The Parlour Italian Kitchen & Bar in Edmonton, Alta. He works for the Century Hospitality group, which runs several restaurants, including The Parlour.

As winner of the contest, Raillo earned a spot in the Non-Traditional finals of the International Pizza Challenge at Pizza Expo in Las Vegas in March. Here, he presented his breakfast pie, which features fior di latte, cherry tomatoes, bacon, ham, hash browns,

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eggs and green onions.

He credits his wife Kayla with dreaming up the idea for his winning breakfast pizza, playfully called “The Hangover Pizza,” in response to his great appetite for the morning meal.

Raillo, who was born in Naples, Italy, met Kayla, who was born in Red Deer, Alta., while she was vacationing in Italy, where Raillo lived as a young man. He followed up with a three-week visit to Canada in 2009, worked for Sorrentino’s in Edmonton for two years, went to Italy one summer, then came back to Edmonton, a city with an Italian population Raillo estimates at between 6,000 to 7,000. He started at The Parlour permanently in September 2009.

Raillo got his start in the pizza business working for his father, who, after working as chef for a hotel in Naples, moved the family to the Calabria region of southern Italy and opened a pizzeria.

In 1999, his parents opened a pizzeria in the town of Tortora and called it Ottimi Motivi, which he says loosely translates to “good motivation for you to come back and enjoy such a great pizza.”

Raillo, who lived much of his early

Carlo Raillo says the essence of “real traditional” Napoletana pizza is in its slow baking.

twenties in Tortora, studied for two months under Salvatore, a master pizzaiolo who worked for the family business from its beginnings. Working under Salvatore’s guidance was invaluable to his training, says Raillo, but much of his learning was done by watching as the teacher was not one to share his secrets.

The young chef explored different pizzerias to learn everything he could about different styles of pizza and methods of making pizza. He made a point of learning about organic, kamut and gluten-free pizza, and many other kinds, because he didn’t want to limit himself to the Napoletana style he knew so well.

He says, smiling, that while he learned from his father how to run the kitchen, he taught his father how to make pizza.

Raillo and Kayla live in Edmonton now,

The Hangover Pizza INGREDIENTS Crust: • •

flour water

• •

natural yeast salt

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olive oil

Toppings: • •

80 grams fior di latte cheese 5 cherry tomatoes cut into 4 pieces

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2 slices of bacon chopped and pre cooked

• •

30 grams chopped up ham 50 grams hash browns

• •

20 grams green onions 2 eggs

INSTRUCTIONS Rest dough for 24 hours. Stretch the dough; add the fior di latte cheese, then fresh cherry tomatoes, diced ham, bacon, and oven-cooked grated hash browns.

Place in a wood-burning oven at 900 degrees. Remove halfway through cooking (35 seconds), add fresh cracked egg to centre and sprinkle with fresh green onions and put back in oven for roughly 35 to 45 seconds. Remove and enjoy.

but Raillo goes back to Italy every summer, usually in July and August, to help with the family business and, in particular, to mentor up-and-comers.

His dad, mom, sister, cousin and aunt all work in the family pizzeria, and his brotherin-law is the manager.

This year he may go back for only five weeks, but those weeks will cover August as it is the busiest month for the pizzeria, due largely to the influx of tourists.

“August in Calabria is a busy, busy time,” he says. “I make 9,000 pizzas [more than the usual 3,000 he makes in a month].”

When in Italy, he says he bakes pizza from eight o’clock to midnight.

Raillo has learned a lot while working under Salvatore and travelling, and he is downright passionate about paying it forward by sharing his knowledge and experi-

ence with others. He teaches young people who have had a troubled past through a two-year community rehabilitation program for which he receives no salary. Raillo says it’s important to help get them back on their feet.

He also teaches students from around the world, most of whom approach him at the pizzeria. Raillo is especially proud of a student from Brazil named Pedro, who stayed in Tortora and opened his own restaurant.

The two remain great friends.

His most satisfying moment comes when a student goes through the process of making dough 10 times only to discover no two dough balls are the same.

“They see you touch the dough and that it is not mathematical,” he says. When a student has this epiphany, Raillo knows he has taught them well.

In 2002, Raillo spent a month learning under Franco Matellicani of Association Pizzaioli Italiani. Matellicani taught him to make Italian pizza, although not specifically the Napoletana tradition.

He explains the difference between Italian and Napoletana: “Napoletana is very specific to Naples, but there are lots of other regions that produce different types of pizza, like Sicily, Columbia and Florence.”

Crusts are all different as are cooking methods, says Raillo. In the north, crusts are generally crisp and gas, electric and wood ovens are used. In the south, crusts are generally soft and wood ovens are favoured. In Rome, which he says falls somewhere between the two, a deep, square pizza is popular.

Gas ovens are so technologically

Continued on page 28 APRIL/MAY 2014 pizza 11

the pizza chef

Knowing your pizza market Diana Cline

’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Canada doesn’t need another mediocre, ordinary pizza place. But that fact won’t stop the discount pizza chains from opening more units. In my city there are plans for more stores; likely there are such plans in your city too. The editor of this magazine asked me if I was worried that my sales would suffer and whether or not I would do things differently as a result.

My answer is no. I’m not the least bit concerned that my customers will suddenly find their way to a budget chain location, new or existing. My pizzeria doesn’t compete in the budget pizza category.

I have a mentor who has a saying: “Live by price, die by price.”

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FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION Long ago I answered a fundamental question about my pizzeria business: what is its reason to exist in the marketplace? The answer wasn’t simply that I had some free time and needed something to do.

Imagine that there are three file folders, or categories of pizza place, in Canada. One is where you’ll find the low-priced, discount “2 for 1” or “3 for 1” pizza. Grocery store chains are quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with in this category with their deli-fresh pizzas. The second category is a middle ground at around $10 to $15 per pizza place. The third is the premium, the best of the best, the gourmet category. That’s where my pizzeria exists.

I realized there was a multitude of pizza places already in the discount

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category and if I wanted to be another marketplace has a finite number of one then I would have to abandon customers and those pizza places are all my premium ingredients in order to competing for the same dollars. compete in a price war. I chose not It’s a price war an independent will to enter that market space for several never win. reasons.

Even more budget INDEPENDENTS pizza chains now occupy DISADVANTAGED Long ago I that category than did Independent pizzerias are answered a a few years ago. Several at a distinct disadvantage more U.S. chains have on the marketing front. fundamental come up to Canada The chains have much, and opened units. On question about much bigger marketing any given day they are budgets than do the my pizzeria all competing against independents. themselves and the other The bigger the pizza business: what discount pizza chains. chain, the bigger the is its reason Opening more units budget. The marketplace will simply push out the will re-arrange itself in to exist in the weaker of the discount the short and long term marketplace? pizza chains, even same with regards to which store units. The betterpizza chains will have performing units will the most units and then inevitably push out the which ones will have the poorly performing units. most sales per unit.

Customers who would normally But as far as my own pizzeria patronize these discount pizza chains is concerned, it will weather this will choose another location, perhaps expansion just fine. • one that is a little handier on their drive home. They may choose a Canadian Diana Cline is a two-time Canadian Pizza Magazine Chef of the Year champion, internationally recognized pizza chain over a U.S. pizza chain, but gourmet pizzaiolo, co-owner of Diana’s Gourmet these customers aren’t my customers. Pizzeria in Winnipeg, Man., and a director for the My customers don’t patronize discount CRFA from 2009-2013. In addition to creating awardwinning recipes, Diana is also a consultant to other pizza chains. pizzeria owner/operators in menu development, creating APPLES AND ORANGES If my pizzeria were competing in that same category, whether as an independent or as a franchisee of another chain, I would be concerned about more pizza chain units opening in my city.

I would have great cause for worry because that particular portion of the

systems to run a pizzeria on autopilot, along with marketing and positioning to help operators grow their business effectively and strategically. She is available for consulting on a limited basis. For more information contact her at Diana@dianasgourmetpizzeria.ca.

For more from The Pizza Chef, check out the current issue at www.canadianpizzamag.com.

profile

Dessert pizzas can give a competitive advantage to smaller pizzerias that introduce them.

Sweetie-Pie Learn how dessert pizzas can increase your bottom line

BY TONY PALERMO re you looking for a way to marry sweet and savoury?

Dessert pizzas can be an authentic and delicious addition to any menu. And, with most of the big pizza chains offering only a basic version (if anything at all), dessert pizzas can give a competitive advantage to smaller pizzerias that introduce them. Here are the stories of two restaurants who increased their bottom line by including dessert pizzas on their menu, plus tips on how you can create your own.

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PIZZA E PAZZI With two locations in the heart of Toronto, Pizza e Pazzi offers authentic Neapolitan cuisine, including pizza cooked in a custom-built, brick, wood-burning oven from Naples, Italy. Co-owner Sandrelle Scimo, who is Sri Lankan but considers herself international, met her Italian husband and co-owner Danilo while at a conference in Miami. Their mutual love for food – especially pizza – was one of

the things that drew the two together.

“I think it was on our first or second date when we talked about how great it would be to open a pizzeria,” says Sandrelle.

Over the years, the two spent time travelling all over Italy, trying pizza from several regions. Sandrelle says they were initially leaning towards offering Roman-style pizza; after all, Danilo was from Rome and it was something he was intimately familiar with. But all of that changed after they tried the Neapolitan pizza at L’Antica Pizzeria Da Michele, the pizzeria made famous by Julia Roberts in the movie Eat, Pray, Love.

“It’s there that we fell in love with Neapolitan pizza,” explains Sandrelle.

“In fact, we ate there so much it got to the point that they started to usher us in past the lineups when they saw us coming.”

Before opening his first Toronto location with Sandrelle, Danilo studied at the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN) in Naples.

The AVPN is a non-profit organization charged with promoting and teaching students how to make authentic Neapolitan pizza, and Danilo insisted he was going to offer Torontonians a true Neapolitan experience.

Pizza e Pazzi’s menu now lists close to 30 pizza combinations, including a Nutella-based dessert pizza.

Which begs the question – is dessert pizza authentic?

“Absolutely,” says Sandrelle.

“Nutella-based dessert pizzas are common in Italy. We add our own twist by topping it with a choice of fresh berries, flambéed bananas or coconut sprinkles.”

They also offer a different dessert pizza style consisting of deep-fried pizza dough topped with Nutella and icing sugar.

Sandrelle says Pizza e Pazzi’s dessert pizzas are extremely popular, even when stacked against a dessert menu that includes other homemade Italian favourites like tiramisu and cannoli.

APRIL/MAY 2014 pizza 13

She estimates a whopping six out of every 10 desserts sold are their Nutellabased dessert pizzas.

Building on success, the Scimos are releasing a new dessert pizza that uses the light Italian custard zabaglione instead of Nutella as a base.

“Dessert pizzas are perfect for sharing,” explains Sandrelle. “And, they rewarm really well too. If the customer can’t finish it, they simply take it with them and rewarm it a little later on.”

ZAZAZA Ottawa-based restaurateur Ion Aimers is no rookie when it comes to successful restaurants and great food. Named “Restaurateur of the Year” on at least two occasions, Aimers is best known for starting the famous gourmet burger brand The WORKS, which now includes over 20 locations throughout Ontario.

Approximately three and a half years ago, Aimers launched gourmet pizzeria ZaZaZa, which now includes three locations in Ottawa. He says while his pizzeria started with a successful dessert menu that included gelato and small, homemade desserts, he wanted to add something different. That’s when he realized different was right in his own backyard.

“Adding dessert pizza was a natural progression,” says Aimers. “And since we use the same crust, it’s a great cross-use of a product as well.”

ZaZaZa offers two dessert pizzas – the Crispy Punch, made with peanut butter sauce, milk chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, Crispy Crunch chunks and whipped cream; and the I’m a Good Girlfriend, made with Nutella, fresh berries, braised marshmallows and a dusting of icing sugar.

Aimers says that he wishes he had a romantic story for how he came up with his dessert pizzas, but it was simply a matter of combining his favourite flavours. A funnier story, he says, was his attempt to introduce a mocha-style flavour. Realizing he couldn’t put liquid on a pizza, he tried mixing instant coffee with the Nutella. But instead of breaking down, the coffee remained crunchy.

“It was awful,” says Aimers, laughing.

“But that’s the fun part, right? The ones you get wrong can be just as good to learn from as the ones you get right.”

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Deconstructing flavours It was 22 years ago that celebrity chef Bob Blumer wrote a cookbook and was launched into what he calls his “accidental career” – a career that already includes winning seven Guinness World Records; creating and hosting the Food Network’s Surreal Gourmet, Glutton for Punishment and World’s Weirdest Restaurants; and authoring several more culinary titles.

A self-described hedonist who loves great food, Blumer just released an expanded version of Pizza on the Grill (Taunton Press), a cookbook he co-authored with grill master and friend Elizabeth Karmel. Blumer explains the inspiration behind one of his favourite dessert pizzas and shows how operators can create their own gourmet dessert pies.

What is your favourite dessert pizza from Pizza on the Grill?

The one I make all of the time is the Caramelized Pear & Roasted Walnut pizza. It’s absolutely delicious.

Where did the inspiration come from for such a unique dessert pizza?

It’s all about finding your favourite flavours and dishes, deconstructing them, and then reconstructing them in the form of a pizza. In this case, the recipe is based on your traditional cheese service where you have some great cheese, fruit and nuts.

Is there a quick way operators can decide what flavours go well together?

Again, it really comes down to deconstructing what’s already out there. Think about your favourite chocolate bar or dessert. Sure, you can invent something new and, if you do, all the more power to you. But sometimes it’s easier to take the path of least resistance. Use the natural flavour combinations that are already out there.

Check out Bob Blumer’s Caramelized Pear & Roasted Walnut Pizza recipe in the next issue!

He estimates that out of the approximately 20 per cent of ZaZaZa’s customers who order dessert, 30 per cent of those order dessert pizzas.

Acknowledging those aren’t huge numbers, Aimers says it’s still worthwhile to make the dessert pie.

“Our gelato will always be more popular simply because it’s a lighter way of ending the meal and cleansing the palate,” he reasons. “But customers looking for a different type of dessert or looking to split one enjoy the dessert pizzas. At the end of the day, offering dessert pizzas helps increase our average cheque while satisfying the customer’s sweet tooth.”

For operators looking to introduce dessert pizzas, Aimers says to pick flavours you enjoy but keep it simple. He also cautions operators to watch costs,

which can quickly get out of control.

“Anytime you’re dealing with chocolate, fruit or nuts, costs can quickly jump and become prohibitive,” he warns.

“At the end of the day, you need to be able to make some money and not many people are going to want to pay $10-$12 for a dessert pizza.”

However you slice it, add-ons can help bolster your bottom line, Pizza e Pazzi (www.pizzaepazzi.ca) and ZaZaZa (www.zazazapizza.com) have found ways to leave no money on the table by putting a new twist on their pies.•

Tony Palermo is a freelance writer based in Ottawa.

For more on what’s hot, visit www.canadianpizzamag.com

making dough

Making the most of your space Diane Chiasson

f you have been thinking about expanding your pizza operation by opening more stores, you might consider expanding your existing store instead to increase your income.

Opening a second store involves looking for real estate, dealing with construction and hiring a brand new staff – in other words, a huge headache!

By physically expanding your existing operation, you have the opportunity to increase your sales and business, delve into other business opportunities and turn your pizza operation into a destination.

Here are a few suggestions on how to grow your operation in its existing space.

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ADD A COCKTAIL BAR If you already have a dining area in your pizza operation, consider adding a cocktail bar to make your place a fun nightspot. Serve fun cocktails that pair well with your pizzas and other menu items. Play interesting music, host theme nights, run trivia nights and invite local bands to play at your place. Offer board games and books to keep guests entertained.

OFFER LESSONS AND DEMOS Build a demo kitchen with glass doors that can open and close. This way, the kitchen can serve as a setting for two activities: pizza-making demos on weekends and classes at other times. Hold scheduled demonstrations and let customers try samples afterwards. The demonstrations and classes are great ways to draw new people to your operation. Also consider offering corporate pizza-making classes for companies seeking team-building activities.

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RENT YOUR KITCHEN have to visit your operation to drop off There is now a strong demand for or pick up their children. Be sure to cooking classes and not enough venues include a coupon to visit your business to hold them. Instead of holding cooking again in each loot bag. classes every night of the week to recoup your WORK WITH LOCAL money, consider renting RESTAURANTS/ out the space for public CATERERS To generate relations or media events, Get in touch with local additional for corporate cooking restaurants or catering classes or to caterers income, consider companies to see if they looking for kitchen space. would like to use you renting out your as an outside vendor to RENT YOUR SPACE supply their pizza dough operation for FOR PARTIES or tomato sauce. Many private events.

To generate additional restaurants and caterers income, consider renting offer pizza on their out your operation for menus, but do not have private events. Install a the time or resources to good sound system, put make their own dough or in an area that can be used as a dance sauce. This is also a good way to get floor, and set up a “bar” area. Offer to your products out to the public. Do supply the food (pizza) for their party at cross-advertising and promotions at a discounted rate. both places to double your exposure.

If caterers are not interested in working OFFER KIDS’ BIRTHDAY PARTIES with you directly, consider asking them Parents are constantly looking for to refer you to their clients and offer new ways to celebrate their children’s them a small percentage in return. birthdays, and will pay extraordinary As you can see, there are countless amounts of money to avoid hosting options for physically expanding your it at their own house. If your pizza existing operation. These options can operation has the space for it, consider help increase your sales, open up other investing in a bouncy castle that you business opportunities and make your can pull out and inflate for children’s pizzeria a destination. • parties. Offer a party package that includes kids making their own pizzas, Diane Chiasson, FCSI, president of Chiasson Consultants Inc., has been helping restaurant, a cake and loot bags. Get connected foodservice, hospitality and retail operators increase with children’s entertainers like clowns sales for over 25 years. Her company provides revenueor magicians that you can call in. Offer increasing foodservice and retail merchandising programs, interior design, branding, menu engineering, packages at various price points. This marketing and promotional campaigns. Contact her is also good marketing for your pizza at 416-926-1338, toll-free at 1-888-926-6655 or operation, as parents of the guests chiasson@chiassonconsultants.com, or visit www.chiassonconsultants.com. who may not know about you yet will

Contact your local repesentative to arrange a demonstration British Columbia Castle Agencies North Vancouver, BC, Canada Tel/Cell: (604) 904-7681 Contact: David Terretta Email: king@castleagencies.ca

Alberta MAC Sales & Marketing Calgary, AB, Canada Phone: 403-281-8540 Contact: Steve MacKell Email: mackell@telusplanet.net

Manitoba/Saskatchewan Dennis Braun Agencies Winnipeg, MB Canada Tel: 204-663-8077 Cell: 204-229-4613 Email: denbraun@mts.net

Ontario Distex M.&M. Inc. Mississauga, Ont Tel: 905 565-5990 Toll Free: 1 888 645-7324 Email:info@distex.ca

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Quebec Distex M.&M. Inc. St-Laurent (Quebec) Tel.: (514) 382-3620 Toll free : 1-800-567-3620 Web: www.distex.ca

Atlantic Provinces/Maritimes Flanagan Agencies Inc Moncton, New Brunswick Tel: (506) 387-8757 Contact Mike Flanagan Email: mike@fai.ca

feature

Steve Silvestro and Carlo Raillo served us proud in the International Pizza Challenge at Pizza Expo in Las Vegas.

Our American pizza family Pizza Expo 2014 intrigued us, inspired us and felt a lot like home

BY COLLEEN CROSS

F

or three days in March, we at Canadian Pizza were fortunate to be embraced by some of the friendliest, savviest, most enthusiastic – OK, I’ll say it, most passionate – pizza industry people one could hope to meet.

“It’s one big family” is how several people described Pizza Expo in Las Vegas as they tried to put into words the scope and significance of so many American and Canadian pizza aficionados congregating in one special, aroma-filled place dedicated to learning about and celebrating the pie.

This year’s Expo had much to offer, providing plenty of seminars and demonstrations for those hungry to learn, showcasing lots of new products and playing host to a Canadian invasion at the International Pizza Challenge.

20 pizza APRIL/MAY 2014

DEMO HELPS UP AVERAGE BILL Canadian Pizza attended “Menu Add-ons Using Common-Sense Pizza Ingredients” by chef Jeff Freehof, who offered an engaged audience ideas for giving customers “things they didn’t know they wanted.” Freehof, who runs catering and restaurant businesses in Evans, Ga., said operators sometimes are “missing the boat in terms of serving existing customers,” and suggested one goal be to “up your average bill by 10 bucks.” The creative chef offered tasty ideas for increasing sales.

Stromboli, a type of turnover, is great for parties. It can be served with marinara for dipping sauce and makes an appealing dish for catering.

Garlic knots, made from a one-ounce dough ball and melted, sautéed butter are a customer favourite, said Freehof.

Another appetizer trick is to mash up toppings such as spinach, chop them, knead the mixture into the dough for even distribution to create a flavourful dough that could be used to make sausage or spinach rolls.

Freehof said he typically makes two lasagnas for the lunch crowd and three for dinner. He says he has had success with four-cheese lasagna but offering meat and vegetables as add-on items the server can upsell at the counter.

For dessert, he suggested serving cannoli as long as they are made using a high-quality non-grainy ricotta cheese and the filling is sufficient so as not to disappoint customers. Adding a mixture of super-fine powdered sugar, almond extract, and white chocolate could make cannoli look both delicate and worthy of an extra dollar price point.

A SAMPLING OF NEW PRODUCTS The sampling continued on the show floor as Canadian Pizza ventured out to see what is new in the world of pizza. A number of products caught our eye and taste buds.

A family company from India, VentIt, and its product, the “world’s first breathable” pizza box, greeted showgoers just inside the door. The company is looking for a distributor in North America for its innovative box, which features vents on both top and bottom.

Visitors to the booth saw a demonstration under Plexiglas showing the reduction in moisture brought about by the company’s dual venting system.

Not far away, the Pizza-Savor from Big Dave Ostrander, also known as the “Pizza Doctor”, caught people’s attention with its clever way of illustrating its mesh screen inside a miniature pizza box model. The company says a mesh screen the full size of a pizza box sits inside the box, keeping away from the bottom and free of grease.

The device, which is being targeted to high-end pizzerias, is available through Montreal’s Stromboli.

Quality by Liones was offering the SpeedKnife, an ergonomically designed two-wheel pizza cutter it says cuts a straight line every time because one wheel follows the other. The full handle and large guards help prevent injury.

Conveniently, the blades and bearings may be removed for cleaning using a coin to turn the fastener.

At the Manzo Food Sales and San Felice booth, Chef of the Year Carlo Raillo made pizzas at the wood stove and chatted with visitors when not competing in the International Pizza Challenge.

Manzo, a distributor, was offering La Regina di San Marzano DOP (roughly translated to “protected designation of origin”) imported Italian tomatoes, which are thinner and pointier than Roma tomatoes, and Tutto Calabria Hot Long Chili Peppers.

Atalanta had a buzz going at its booth with its Sweety Drop peppers, winner of a 2014 Food and Beverage Innovations award. The tiny drop-shaped Peruvian peppers, more sweet than hot, were on the lips of many a visitor.

Scelta Mushrooms came to Pizza Expo with a solution to the problem of mushrooms losing their taste and texture when packaged. Scelta’s EcoPouch seals in the flavour of mushrooms. No chemicals are added, says the company.

The mushrooms sit in their own juices – “Use the juice” is the tagline – and retain their texture. The pouches are available in retail or industrial portions.

Urban Bruce, a custom meat product designer from Woodburn, Ore., had several fully cooked chicken, beef, pork, lamb, turkey, seafood and ethnic meats on offer. Interesting flavour profiles included a delicious beet-flavoured pork, sriracha chicken and andouille sausage coins and crumbles. The company distributes some of its products in Canada through Jade Fine Foods & Packaging of Victoria; distribution of more products is in the works.

Sriracha, the popular Thai chili sauce made from sun-ripened ground chili peppers, was definitely heating up the show floor where it also surfaced in Brakebrush’s chicken bites and Burke Corporation’s oft-requested coarsely ground meats.

Picard Ovens offered a sneak peek of its Hot Rocks model oven, which can reach temperatures of 900 degrees and offers three-unit stackability and exchangeable right and left conveyors. The company is making minor improvements on the model, which it expects to be available this fall.

On the software side, there were lots of solutions featured, among them Ireland’s ZinMobi, a manufacturer of mobile marketing technology that is used in several of Ireland’s pizza, restaurant and fast food chains. The company is now offering its platform and services in Canada. The software uses purchase behaviour analytics and algorithms to create customer profiles, which are then used to trigger customer purchases via targeted, timely and relevant messages and coupons.

who showed we are a pizza force to be reckoned with. In the finals of the Traditional category, three competitors out of eight were Canadians. John Pizzo of Veloce Italian Kitchen in London, Ont., and Armando’s Pizza in the Windsor area took third place in the category.

Canadian Pizza’s Chef of the Year runner-up Steve Silvestro of Alice Fazooli’s in Toronto and Meghan O’Dea of Pi Gourmet Eatery in St. John’s, N.L., rounded out the Canadian contingent in the Non-Traditional category. Silvestro’s Pizza Americano featuring San Marzano tomato-based sauce, 90 grams of mozzarella and in the chef’s words “as much pepperoni as will fit on the pie.”

Carlo Raillo of The Parlour Italian Kitchen & Bar in Edmonton represented Canada well in the Non-Traditional category, presenting his Hangover Pizza with a breakfast slant, which featured fior di latte, cherry tomatoes, bacon, ham, hash browns, eggs and green onions. In a truly Canadian display of teamwork, Silvestro assisted Raillo during the NonTraditional finals by preparing the eggs.

Competing in the Pizza Maker of the Year finals were Brad Rocco (Traditional winner), Laura Meyer (Non-Traditional winner), Guiseppe Manco (Italian division winner) and Matt Molino (American-Pan winner). Molino emerged Pizza Maker of the Year.

Another Windsor pizzaiolo, Senol Eskici, co-owner of Johnny Piez, finished second in the Challenge’s firstever Gluten-Free competition, held in conjunction with Pizza Expo’s 30th Birthday Bash on Wednesday night of the Expo.

Congratulations to all Canadians who showcased their craft with class in the friendly but competitive Challenge.

We trust that, like us, operators in attendance slipped several ideas into their tote bags, and we suspect that if they put into action even one-tenth of what they saw and learned in Vegas, it promises to be a profitable year for pizza in Canada. •

CANADA MAKES ITS MARK The heart of Pizza Expo, as always, was the International Pizza Challenge, which this year boasted a cadre of Canadians

For more on innovation, visit www.canadianpizzamag.com

APRIL/MAY 2014 pizza 21

marketing insights

Talking trademarks Michelle Brisebois

avelry is kind of like Facebook for knitters. It had become a tradition for knitters on this social networking site to have what they call “Ravelympics”, where members worked in teams to try to begin and finish a project within the two weeks the Olympics unfolded. It was all in good fun but when the United States Olympic Committee found out, things began to, well, unravel. In its communication to Ravelry, the USOC said, “We believe using the name ‘Ravelympics’ for a competition that involves an afghan marathon, scarf hockey and sweater triathlon, among others, tends to denigrate the true nature of the Olympic Games. . . . In a sense, it is disrespectful to our country’s finest athletes and fails to recognize or appreciate their hard work.” They were serious and they got their way.

Big events like the Olympics, Super Bowl, and the World Cup are known to be beneficial for pizza sales. Viewing parties are plentiful and business is brisk. It’s smart to promote your menu in tandem with these events. However, should you step out of bounds by using words or images that are protected by trademark, you will end up having your campaign yanked, or worse, incurring a big fine. It can be tricky but there are ways to connect to the big events without stepping on legal landmines.

Events like the FIFA World Cup, the Olympics and Super Bowl are very expensive to stage. With so many people watching, companies are clamouring to sponsor these events and they pay big, big dollars to do so. When other parties associate their brands with these events without paying, it dilutes the exclusive-

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ness of the sponsorship. One might argue that a small business or, heck, even non-profit knitters, using the trademarks and logos of the Olympics, World Cup or Super Bowl doesn’t do any real harm, but legally an owner of a trademark must vigorously defend it to be able to claim ownership of it. Therefore, they can’t look the other way no matter how seemingly innocent or insignificant the situation because it could open the door for the organization to lose ownership of the trademark if challenged.

This is why the Olympic committee bothers with a bunch of knitters having fun with the name, and let’s face it, if they’ll rile up a bunch of knitters, even a small business like yours could end up squarely in the pot.

If you do decide to hitch your marketing campaign to one of these large sporting events, you’re wise to do so because they lend themselves to food service and pizza nicely but you’ll need to be smart about it. Start by searching the event’s official website for guidelines regarding acceptable and non-acceptable uses of their protected marketing collateral. The World Cup, happening this year in Brazil, has a page of “Do’s and Don’ts” on their fifa.com website that clearly shows what the boundaries are. The official slogan, trophy image, mascot and emblem are all included in the list of things that can’t be used. There is also a list of official terms not to be used, including World Cup, Brazil 2014 and 2014 Brazil . . . just to cover all the bases. The list is a long one, totalling 17 all together. There are however, ways to skirt around it and the FIFA website does show that “Soccer in Brazil” is acceptable. As with the World Cup, using the term “Super Bowl” is un-

acceptable which is why you’ll often see it referred to as “The Big Game” instead.

The Olympics has proven to be a bit trickier because it is named after a place in Greece to begin with – Olympia.

Therefore, there are more businesses with the word “Olympic” in their name not in reference to the sporting event but to the locale in Greece. In Canada, the COC (Canadian Olympic Committee) monitors and defends use of official Olympic marks. There was a case in the U.S. involving a 30-year-old Philadelphia-based restaurant called Olympic Gyro. The USOC successfully forced them to change their name because the Olympics Act of 1978 gave the USOC exclusive rights to the word Olympic. The COC seems to take a more pragmatic approach to this type of situation. According to an example shown in the brand guidelines for businesses on its website, olympic.ca, a business open since 1968 called Olympic Bakery with a picture of a loaf of bread on the sign should not pose a concern. However, if the image on the sign was of a torch instead of a loaf of bread, the use would not be allowed. An overt connection to the Games crosses a line.

Make sure you’re not running amok of acceptable standards. You don’t want to have to pull a campaign or throw out promotional materials because they don’t meet the guidelines. Check out the event websites for a list of do’s and don’ts and be clever in how you refer to the event.

There are ways to get your point across without getting into trouble. Above all, don’t have any sweater triathlons. • Michelle Brisebois is a marketing professional with experience in the food, pharmaceutical and financial services industries. She specializes in brand strategies.

guest column

Termination of franchise relationships Ben Hanuka

ooner or later, virtually all franchise relationships will come to an end. Some will expire naturally at the end of their terms. Others will be terminated, whether by one side in a contentious situation or mutually by consent.

A franchisor wishing to terminate the franchise agreement early (meaning before the end of the term in the franchise agreement) will typically rely on the default and termination provisions of a franchise agreement.

The default and termination provisions set out what acts or omissions of the franchisee are curable or non-curable, and the mechanism that a franchisor is required to follow to give notice to the franchisee. Curable defaults refer to defaults of the franchisee that he or she can diffuse, repair, or “cure”. The franchisee can get out of trouble by complying with curing requirements set out in the franchise agreement and, by doing that, avoid being terminated.

Non-curable defaults are defaults of the franchisee that he or she cannot cure. Having committed non-curable defaults, the franchisee cannot cure those defaults. The ball shifts to the franchisor to decide whether to terminate the franchise agreement. The franchise agreement typically provides a mechanism for doing so. A franchisor is wise to strictly follow the notice and any other formal requirements set out in the franchise agreement to effect termination. Termination of a franchise agreement by a franchisor in this way is called a “self-help remedy” because the franchisor undertakes this process without court approval, essentially on a self-help basis.

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24 pizza APRIL/MAY 2014

What happens to the retail location of the franchised business after the agreement is terminated depends on who controls the lease (whether the head lease of the location is in the name of the franchisor or franchisee), the terms and conditions in the franchise agreement about continued operation of the location, and non-compete and other “restrictive covenants” in the franchise agreement.

A franchisee who disputes the franchisor’s termination of the franchise agreement or the franchisor’s right to take over the operation of the location must commence legal proceedings, whether in court or arbitration (depending on the language of the franchise agreement), to dispute the termination and seek either damages or injunctive relief, or both. In all disputes, negotiations should be pursued exhaustively before commencing legal proceedings.

By the same token, a franchisor who wishes to terminate the franchise agreement or take over the franchised business but does not wish to do so on a self-help remedy basis, or is unable to reach an amicable settlement with the franchisee, will need to launch a legal proceeding for damages or injunctive relief, or both, to terminate the franchise agreement and, where desired and justified, take over the operation of the franchised business.

Franchisees wishing to get out of a franchise often have to look at whether they are entitled to a rescission (meaning cancellation) remedy in those Canadian provinces where mandatory franchise disclosure is required, which are: Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba, New

Brunswick and Prince Edward Island (with British Columbia in the works). A statutory rescission cancels all franchise contracts if the franchisor failed to deliver a franchise disclosure document as required under the provincial franchise disclosure legislation.

A successful rescission entitles a franchisee to cancel all franchise agreements and seek compensation for all his or her investment in the franchised business, including the purchase price of the franchise, the cost of setting up the business, the cost of inventory and supplies, royalties and franchise payments paid to the franchisor, and losses the franchisee incurred in the operation of the franchise. This right is subject to a limitation period of two years from the date that the franchise agreement was signed.

Often, a franchisee will need to launch a legal proceeding to prove that he or she is legally entitled to rescission and to legally prove the damages that he or she is seeking. The legal proceeding is typically pursued in court as a lawsuit. However, often the dispute is required under the language of the franchise agreement to be resolved by private arbitration outside of the court system.

In court or in arbitration, proving the last category of damages, being the losses that the franchisee incurred in the operation of the franchise, is not easily done and requires a fair bit of accounting evidence and analysis. • Ben Hanuka is a franchise lawyer and principal of Law Works P.C. (www.lawworks.ca), a Toronto corporate law boutique with expertise in franchise disputes and many industries, including the restaurant and hospitality industries. He may be reached at ben@lawworks.ca.

2013 Winner The Muntains of TJ’s Pizza

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APRIL/MAY 2014 pizza 25

2014-04-10 12:56 PM

feature

Focused fundraising How Topper’s Pizza got strategic with its charitable efforts

BY MARK WESSEL

ince Topper’s Pizza was established in 1982, the company has done what it can to give back to the community, from sponsoring sports team sponsorships, to running school programs to helping raise funds for charitable causes. But like a lot of pizzerias and retail organizations, the company’s efforts tended to be localized, initiated by a manager or staff member or in response to direct requests from a specific charity or cause. Recognition for these efforts often remained local as well, through either word of mouth or local media exposure.

What the company lacked was an overarching corporate social responsibility (CSR) program and a specific charity of choice that each one of its 35 pizzerias could rally behind. That changed in 2011, when brothers Kelly and Keith Toppazzini, chairman and president respectively, decided to embark on a CSR program that would ultimately lead to the decision to make SickKids Foundation the charity of choice for Topper’s Pizza.

This decision wasn’t an easy one.

Several charities and causes were taken into consideration. From a shortlisted of group candidates, Topper’s conducted research, made calls and held face-to-face meetings to make the final choice.

“Kelly and I have always championed children’s health and what won us over with SickKids Hospital is that it’s one of the foremost pediatric centres in the world,” observes Keith. “Their impact is far-reaching; it’s not just kids in the GTA, but kids from across Ontario, Canada and from around the world who go there for treatment.”

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26 pizza APRIL/MAY 2014

Keith’s comments underscore two key considerations for organizations embarking on a CSR program. The first pertains to whether or not there is a genuine synergy between the corporate culture of the company and the cause itself. In Topper’s case, the company has never forsaken its roots as a family-oriented operation that cares about kids. What’s more, the company’s customer base remains families with kids in primary and high school.

The second key consideration was to find a cause that all Topper’s Pizza communities could support. The fact that SickKids regularly treats patients from almost every Topper’s community throughout Ontario and is a member of the North America-wide Children’s Miracle Network gave it added weight in the decision-making process.

Once the choice was made to support SickKids, the next step in the CSR process was to come up with a plan to determine which of the hospital’s programs or services to support. Consistent with the mindset of having all of the pizzerias pull together in support of a common cause was the notion of zeroing in on a specific, tangible area on which the company could focus its fundraising efforts for maximum impact. Focusing would also enable them to draw a direct correlation between the company’s efforts and the difference those efforts were making when it came time to tell the rest of the world about their support of the cause via the media, social media or simply word of mouth.

It just so happened that in early 2012, at the time Topper’s was going through this process, SickKids was in the midst of launching an entirely new Healthy and

Happy campaign in support of a range of children’s health issues. Seeing the opportunity to make a difference from the outset, Topper’s became the program’s first corporate partner. During the month of May, Topper’s Pizza raised funds through a combination of selling Do the Happy paper icons for $2, offering a Mother’s Day Value Meal with $2 from each sale going to the cause, and providing online customers with an opportunity to make a direct contribution through the Topper’s website. Surprisingly, even though Topper’s got on board with this program with little lead time, the company emerged as the top Healthy and Happy corporate fundraiser.

Despite the fact that Topper’s emerged as the top corporate fundraiser, the company did a post-program analysis and chose not to rest on its laurels. The company’s executive team took a critical eye to what could be done in Year 2 to build on their success. Keith recalls that one of the challenges was the lingering perception – particularly amongst some of the company’s northern pizzerias – that the SickKids Foundation was a Toronto or southern Ontario charity.

“We realized there was an education process that had to happen to make all of our locations and their employees aware of the impact SickKids is having on kids’ lives.”

To address these perceptions the company embarked on an internal education program that included inviting SickKids spokesperson Wendy Dempsey to the company’s annual conference.

The “Toronto hospital” tag is a challenge, says Dempsey. “People don’t realize we’re providing highly specialized

treatment for kids from across the country and overseas. Or that we’re the only hospital in Canada that does bone marrow transplants for kids and we have a cardiac centre doing some procedures that aren’t done anywhere else in the world.”

Dempsey’s visit proved to be a resounding success in terms of bringing the Topper’s organization up to speed with the far-reaching impact SickKids is having on childrens’ lives and this translated into a heightened appreciation for the cause that trickled down to the employee level.

Sharron Fry, senior marketing manager, worked closely with Dempsey to on creating a new and improved fundraising promotion before embarking on the 2013 Healthy and Happy campaign.

They extended the length of time to fundraise, gave in-depth employee education and goals prior to launch, and provided another customer value combo they called The Hat Trick, which consisted of a large three-topping pizza, Topper Sticks and chicken wings for $26.95, with $2 from each order going to the campaign. This time around customers were not only helping a great cause but also being offered a great deal. The second time around, advance public relations, and online, print and digital support provided a compelling reminder of the fundraising initiative.

With a motivated, better involved team and a more focused, strategic fundraising initiative, Topper’s once again emerged as the top corporate fundraiser for Healthy and Happy campaign, effectively doubling the money raised the prior year.

Topper’s went one step further by participating in SickKids’ annual Radiothon, a day-long fundraising drive on Newstalk 1010 whereby they matched the contributions of station listeners up to $30,000, for a total contribution of $60,000. To create urgency and to make the donation more tangible, listeners were told the funds would go toward the purchase of a PCR machine.

PCR machines detect early signs of cancer, a strategy that, in turn, can give medical staff an earlier start on diagnosing and come up with up ways to help kids fight the disease. During a one-hour segment sponsored by Topper’s, callers came through, meeting a $30,000 target that was matched by the company. The PCR machine has since been purchased and the equipment delivered to the hospital in April 2014.

In less than two years, Topper’s Pizza has transitioned from having no charity of choice whatsoever to becoming a champion of SickKids, embarking on an awareness campaign for staff and customers alike and adopting several strategies designed to raise more money.

Topper’s continues to help local charities, but the company is also now highly focused on making a corporate-wide difference when it comes to giving back to the community. •

Mark Wessel manages Bullpen PR’s corporate social responsibility practice. He may be reached at mwessel@bullpenpr.com.

APRIL/MAY 2014 pizza 27

Pizza passion - continued from page 11

At the Manzo Food Sales and San Felice booth, Carlo made pizzas and chatted with visitors.

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advanced that customers can’t tell the difference between gas and wood oven pizza, says Raillo, but he can spot it.

“The difference is in the smoky taste,” he says thoughtfully, adding that in a wood oven you should raise the pizza up for two to three seconds as a final step. Any distraction during those final seconds can make or break the smoky taste.

What does the future look like? The chef envisions being a consultant someday and helping others launch pizzerias by spending a week with them in their restaurants, telling them which ingredients they need to buy and teaching them other key elements of the cooking side of the business.

Whether back in Tortora or here in Edmonton, Raillo puts on a show for customers, who watch him work while they eat. He prefers the open-concept pizzeria because he feeds off the response of an audience: “It gives me energy!” he exclaims.

Raillo has energy left over for sports, with basketball and the NBA topping his list of pastimes he has not enough time to indulge. The animated young chef says he also enjoys soccer, volleyball and fishing. On the subject of golf, however, he smiles, covers his face and shakes his head in frustration. The game makes him nervous because it requires practice. “I am a perfectionist,” he says, and with no time to practise he hasn’t got good at the game.

Raillo should have lots of company on the court and field as he and his wife have two daughters: Haley, three years old, and Julia, three months old.

The proud father remembers going to his grandparents’ house during his childhood for three days of eating. Everything revolved around food, he says, and that food was simple and fresh with few ingredients.

He sums up his feelings about the beloved pie simply, with few words: “All life is pizza!” •

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Annex Anti Spam ........................................... 23 Burke ................................................................ 7 Canadian Pizza Show ............................16 & 17 Middleby Marshall.......................................... 19 Moretti Forni................................................... 15 Pizza Chef of the Year ................................... 25 Pizza with a Purpose ..................................... 25 Ricco Food Distributor................................... 27 Salerno ........................................................... 28 Saputo ............................................................ 32 Springer’s Meats ............................................ 27 Stanislaus ..................................................4 & 5 Viau Food ......................................................... 2 XLT Ovens ..................................................... 31

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APRIL/MAY 2014 pizza 29

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pizza on fire

Full speed ahead Tom Stankiewicz

igital technology is moving forward at a very high speed these days. It is being continually improved upon and what is considered new today could simply be old news next month. Our customers are quickly catching on and using various social media to access our business information. If we want to keep up with the constant change, we need to embrace and use some of the digital technologies that have become so popular. At this point, it is a must rather than a maybe to explore them.

It is rather surprising that some businesses still do not have a website registered. A couple of people I have asked about it said they felt it would take up too much of their time and they didn’t understand how to create one. In my opinion, that is a mistake that is costing them money and potential new customers. I wouldn’t be surprised if at least 80 per cent of people search for a business website before contacting the business. It allows them to review what’s available as well as the product prices. It’s a huge time saver for customers who are getting better and better at multitasking. The good news is that it helps the business as well. If a prepared customer calls and knows right away what he wants to order, the phone time required to place the order is reduced at least by 50 per cent. This, of course, translates into more sales within the same time frame. Also, staff productivity should increase as this additional time that would have been spent with the same customer is now freed up to complete other tasks.

Methods of marketing your product have definitely changed from what they

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30 pizza APRIL/MAY 2014

were 10 years ago. For example, many pizza special designed for each day of customers choose not to have any flyers the week and have that posted for the delivered to them. Many are choosing customers to view. The website would more environmentally friendly ways allow you to present your pizza brand in to locate information. This particular any way you think best. segment of our population is growing Twitter also may be used to enhance each year. If we don’t adjust, then we the image and increase the revenue of won’t be able to reach a big your pizza business. In chunk of customers who existence since 2006, will simply turn to our it has become quite competition. I have seen Customers have popular. From my a decrease in the number experience, the Twitter said that they of pizza menus we need account is beneficial reprinted.Customers because it provides you don’t need have said that they don’t with instant feedback menus as they need menus as they can from your customers. It check the offerings on our could be good or bad; can check the website. however, it lets you know offerings on our in real time about your Many businesses now specialize in creating customers’ experience at website. websites for those who your pizzeria. Customers need help with the task. A use it because it is a website is an invaluable convenient way for tool that allows you to reach your desired them to talk about your product and customer base 24 hours a day. Pizza service. What’s more, it is another specials can be posted or updated daily advertising tool by which customers are on the website, a convenience not the driving force behind the message possible when printing. This is especially about your business. These days, most helpful in situations where a particular people are connected to the Internet pizza special wasn’t profitable or needed not only through computers but also via to be adjusted for whatever reason. In iPods, iPhones and BlackBerrys. Again, the case of a flyer that a customer this allows them to communicate with brought in, it would generally have to be business owners whom in many cases honoured. On the other hand, updates they would never meet. to the website would quickly eliminate More and more people are using it as that issue. a primary conversation tool and that is It also is a tool that can be used for why it is imperative for small businesses creative advertising. In comparison to the to enter social media communication to method of paper advertising, the digital ensure our continued success. • update on the website would incur just a fraction of the cost. This could allow Tom Stankiewicz has been in the pizza business for more than 15 years. He has been the proprietor of you to change the advertising message Bondi’s Pizza in London, Ont., since 2000, and is more frequently. Or you could have a president of the Canadian Pizza Team.

, y e s g n i K t o ! e n n s i ’ t t u o If i P t o n s ’ it

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