Il Locale Pizza eyes $2m funding to train chefs, fuel franchise growth

The chain wants to serve high-quality, hand-crafted pizzas fast.

Fledgling pizza chain Il Locale Pizza seeks to build an academy for pizza chefs as it tries to raise $2m in seed money to fund its franchising plans.

Mathieu Bourget, founder and director at Il Locale Pizza, said he wants to position the brand between fast-food pizza chains like Domino’s and high-end restaurants. This means serving high-quality, hand-crafted pizzas fast.
Pizza chefs are key to hitting this goal.

“Every single chef that will work in our shop has to be trained in our main location,” he told QSR Media. “They will have to be trained with our systems.”

“When you are a chef at Il Locale, if you go to any shop, the setup will be exactly the same. This means you can work at any different locations and not get lost,” he said via Zoom.

That’s why Bourget plans to open an Il Locale Pizza Academy that will be led by a chef trained in Italy.

“The franchisee will have two options. We either come to his shop to train his staff, or he can send all his staff to be trained by us at the Il Locale headquarters,” he said.

Bourget and a friend opened Il Locale Pizza in 2021 in the surfing town of Scarborough. At that time, the brand faced operational challenges, which led to Bourget buying out his friend’s stake in the business.

He is now seeking to raise $2m in seed funding to support both the development of the academy and the company’s franchising ambitions.

Bourget said most of the funding would be used to build a team dedicated to the franchise business model.

Next, the big boss plans to build the supply chain to gain control of every ingredient used in the franchise restaurants for consistency.

“We’re looking for a big commercial property where we will build all the offices,” he said. “It’s going to be the headquarters of Il Locale.”

There are six Il Locale Pizza restaurants now that Bourget built from his flagship in Scarborough, which has posted a yearly revenue of $2m.

He recalled that when he started the business, they were selling about 30 pizzas daily. Now, they sell about 5,000 across six locations.

The profit margin is 17% to 20%. Sales at some of the shops have gone up to $1.5m from just $700,000 a little over a year earlier, Bourget said.

Bourget said he is banking on the fact that consumers never get tired of pizzas.

“Pizza will never be the top trend in the market,” he said. “Two or three years ago, it was smash burgers. Everyone wanted one. Next, it was banh mi. Pizza will always have that steady demand.”

He plans to change everything in terms of pricing.

“The more we’re going to scale, the more affordable our pizzas will be for the public,” he said. “We’re not interested in selling $40 pizzas or charging an extra dollar when a customer wants gluten-free or vegan options.”