Small Business Trends lists Marco’s Pizza on list of brands challenging national pizza franchises
Pizza consumption is on the rise. While there are many pizza franchises to choose from, Marco’s Pizza® has several qualities that set us apart. From our corporate culture to our commitment to quality and fresh ingredients, we established our brand on the highest standards. Small Business Trends recently listed Marco’s Pizza as a franchise that is challenging two major pizza franchise chains. With leadership focused on strategic domestic and international growth, and with the industry recognizing us as a top choice in the fast-casual segment, now is the perfect time to own a Marco’s franchise.
Marco’s Pizza is on pace to open 150 stores in the U.S. and internationally in 2016. With busy consumers developing discriminating taste for quality, fresh food, we stand ahead of many of our competitors.
At Marco’s Pizza, we don’t follow trends, we stay ahead of them by delivering on taste and service. We consistently take market share to attract top talent among our franchisees and support center staff, and we’re being recognized for our growth. Entrepreneur magazine recently ranked us 95th on their prestigious Franchise 500 list.
Here are three ways Marco’s Pizza challenges other national pizza franchise brands:
Marco’s Pizza was a frontrunner in the artisan pizza trend
Research firm Technomic estimated in 2013 that 40 percent of Americans eat pizza at least once a week. In the busy and competitive pizza market, Marco’s Pizza’s premium product stands out. The artisan pizza craze has spread nationwide, but Marco’s Pizza has been making pizzas this way since we were founded in 1978, which gives us a competitive advantage. While many national pizza chains have given their signature pizza recipe a long-overdue makeover, Marco’s set the bar high from day one.
We work diligently to ensure that our pizzas are high-quality and unique, which keeps customers coming back. The Marco’s Pizza test kitchen in Toledo, Ohio, is where we dream up our limited-time offer pizzas, such as the Chicken Florentine pizza. From our regular menu, cheese fanatics can choose the White Cheezy, which has four cheeses, and meat lovers can opt for Pepperoni Magnifico pizza, which features Old World and Classic Pepperoni.
Fresh ingredients appeal to millennial market
Time-starved families don’t want fast food, but they don’t want to sacrifice freshness and value, either. Marco’s Pizza franchise locations offer a fast-casual dining experience that is attractive to busy families on the go who crave fresh, quality ingredients. From the dough to the toppings, the emphasis is on fresh. It’s the Italian way to never skimp on servings and quality, and families aren’t the only demographic craving healthier, fresher options. Millennials, who will be spending an estimated $200 billion in the U.S. annually by 2017, are more likely to order food featuring fresh ingredients.
At Marco’s Pizza franchise, the emphasis on freshness is ingrained in our product offerings. Every Marco’s pizza is made in-house daily with the freshest ingredients possible. Our dough is made fresh daily from spring wheat flour, specially filtered water and high-quality yeast, and our proprietary pizza sauce was developed by our founder and his father from blended tomatoes and spices. Our cheese is never frozen, and our fresh vegetables are chopped and prepped in the kitchen every day. We use premium, thick-cut meats from top-quality suppliers to top our pizzas.
Marco’s Pizza menu reflects consumer taste preferences
Franchisees train for eight weeks between a state-of-the-art kitchen at Marco’s University and hands-on experience at a locally operated, certified training store.
Marco’s Pizza monitors hot trends and listens to our customers for ideas to turn into our next successful revenue-generating pizza promotions — then we get to work to make them happen. We also work hard to offer unique, quality options outside our core menu offering of pizza. Take our decadent and delicious desserts — our S’mores, Salted Caramel, Triple Chocolate and Double Chocolate Brownies are made with the finest ingredients our busy customers crave, including premium chocolate. These are unique proprietary desserts that customers can’t find anywhere else, but Marco’s.
“Using premium chocolate makes our new brownies extra rich and delicious,” says Darren Gray, Marco’s Senior Director of Menu and Culinary Innovation, who brings more than 20 years of experience from nationally recognized brands. Gray is tasked with aligning menu and culinary development to create unique and craveable new products that differentiate the Marco’s brand from other food industry concepts.
The Marco’s Pizza franchise offers a relatively low initial investment, making it feasible to open more than one location. Restaurants range in size from 1,400 square feet to 1,600 square feet, which is a smaller operation with lower overhead than some other restaurant chains. Startup costs for a limited-seating store range from $221,592 to $421,592.
Marco’s Pizza®, one of the nation’s fastest-growing pizza franchise chains, prides itself in making the best delivery pizza money can buy. Marco’s pizza is handmade in the Italian tradition, using fresh, never-frozen cheeses, making the dough in stores daily and using only premium meats and vegetables. Founded in Toledo in 1978, Marco’s is the only Top 20 pizza chain founded by a native Italian. Marco’s has enjoyed significant growth in recent years and is on pace to have 1,000 restaurants open by the end of 2017.
Learn more about Marco’s Pizza
For in-depth details about the Marco’s Pizza® franchise opportunity, download our free franchise report. You can also learn more by visiting our research pages.
