Check out New York Slice and its new customisable 'Craft Pizza' model
QSR Media got a chance to sit down with Todd McGregor, CEO of New York Slice, to talk about its new customisable 'Build your Own Pizza' system, and how the brand's move away from the fast food segment into a 'higher quality space' will affect its future.
New York Slice has been serving pizza for 14 years. Now in addition to its signature 18-inch pizza slices, the brand is rolling out its Craft Pizza model which will allow its customers to build their own pizza, by choosing their own pizza base, sauce, cheese, veggies, and proteins. The pizza is then crafted with their choice of toppings, baked and ready before they leave the counter.
QSR Media: What’s new at New York Slice?
Todd McGregor: After launching franchising late last year after much demand, we consider ourselves a 14 year old start-up! A key component to our growth is that we are Australia’s first ‘Build your Own’ pizza franchise system which we simply call Craft Pizza. Our customers will be able to create their own pizza masterpieces by choosing their toppings in an assembly line style or they can choose one of our signature pizzas and even then add or subtract toppings as they see fit. Its fast fired and fresh with a cook time of under 3 minutes.
QSR Media: Can you tell us more about your expansion plans for the year?
Todd McGregor: We are very close to our goal of having 15 franchisees onboard this financial year. This then puts us on track for our target of 25 stores this calendar year and in turn has us tracking towards our goal of 50 stores by the end of 2017. The response from the market has been amazing and we are now actively being pursued by landlords across the country to bring our offering to their location as they build out their ‘fast casual’ dining environments. Some of our existing Slice stores will convert to the Craft Pizza model over time and some are so successful as pure Slice stores that it makes sense to keep them as is.
QSR Media: Any other big plans for 2016?
Todd McGregor: We are working on some new products that will also be first to market in Australia so watch this space.
QSR Media: What trends do you see now in the pizza sector?
Todd McGregor: In the pizza industry there tends to be two dominant extremes.
- The ‘fast food’ version of pizza which is largely built around delivery and a price point and
- The restaurant pizza that is often a planned event to go out to a local favourite pizza place for dinner so it takes a time and money commitment.
Our Craft Pizza model is right in the middle of the two whereby we produce a high quality product in a very fast time and its completely customized to the consumers liking. In the US the ‘Build your Own’ pizza segment has emerged just a fast as we have seen fast casual Burgers and Mexican take hold here. The customer is demanding a better product and they want it the way want it.
QSR Media: Opportunities?
Todd McGregor: According to IBIS World, the Australian pizza industry is worth $3.6Bn annually and growing at 3% yet the top 4 pizza companies have less than one third market share. Most people don’t know this because all of the advertising is done by the big 4. So by and large, people still eat pizza from small independents and franchises like ours and with $2.4Bn up for grabs annually we are well placed to get our slice of the market!
QSR Media: What can you say to the market about the direction your brand is strategically headed?
Todd McGregor: Our growth trajectory is predicated upon having high quality franchisees, many of whom are or will become multi store owners. As we are still in our early growth phase we have the pick of all of the best sites so there is no need for us to choose a bad one. We are also actively looking to partner with Territory and Master franchises who have experience in bringing new brands to market but don’t necessarily have to come from Pizza, or food for that matter, as it’s a completely different skill set to that of a store owner/operator.
With our own move away from the ‘fast food’ segment of pizza and into that higher quality space we expect to have a high percentage of stores that will have a larger footprint and will be licenced as well so everyone can feel well at home in our new model stores. Of course we will also be stocking craft beer which perfectly complements our craft pizza – it’s a match made in heaven!
Our first six Craft Pizza stores start rolling out over the coming weeks so come in and craft your own pizza masterpiece and taste the difference!
