1000 Degrees plots growth in competitive fast-casual pizza segment1000 Degrees plots growth in competitive fast-casual pizza segment

New Jersey-based fast-casual chain 1000 Degrees Neapolitan Pizza is on a growth spurt, with nine domestic locations currently open, another dozen or so slated to open by the end of the year and, founder and owner Brian Petruzzi hopes, another 40 in the first half of next year.

“We should be at 20 to 22 by the end of 2015, and then in the first quarter of next year we have four stores a month scheduled, and six stores a month in the second quarter,” said Petruzzi, a serial entrepreneur.

By the third quarter of 2016, two restaurants would open each week based on signed commitments, he said, including a 21-county master franchise deal for the southern half of Florida.

“We start developing a company-owned territory, and inevitably a franchisee comes in and swoops it out from us,” said Petruzzi, who operates two of the chain’s New Jersey locations. “The culture here is awesome right now.”

From left: Manish Khanna, franchisee partner of the Cherry Hill location, Brian Petruzzi, Founder and owner of 1000 Degrees Neapolitan Pizza. Photo: 1000 Degrees Neapolitan Pizza

The chain recently opened one unit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, but doesn’t have immediate plans for further international growth.

Petruzzi said his concept can be distinguished from other fast-casual pizza chains because of the high quality of the pies, which are loaded with top-quality meats and cheeses on a relatively authentic Neapolitan crust.

Petruzzi comes from a family of pizza makers with grandparents from Naples and Calabria. His parents also owned an Italian restaurant.

“I’ve been making pizza since I was 3, 4 years old,” he said, adding that he got his first job at the age of 11 or 12 working in the bakery of a family friend.

After working in his family’s restaurant, rising in the ranks from busboy to sous chef, he took the entrepreneurial route, opening small businesses in college while working on a double major of biochemistry and business and marketing.

Linden interior. Photo: 1000 Degrees Neapolitan Pizza

Petruzzi opened the first 1000 Degrees unit in 2014 on the border of the towns of Millville and Vineland in New Jersey’s poorest county, Cumberland, in a failing pizzeria that had been there for seven years.

“We built it in less than a month and didn’t have time to schedule ads or social media, but we still broke $100,000 [in sales] by week five,” he said, noting that the previous owners had done just $170,000 in sales for the entire previous year.

With that success he opened another location farther north in Bridgewater, N.J. The third and fourth locations opened within the next six months.

“Now is when we’re really getting rolling,” he said.

1000 Degrees uses the “00” semolina flour used in Naples and a Neapolitan recipe “which is the same dough that I made with my grandparents as a boy,” Petruzzi said. However, certified Neapolitan pizza must be cooked in a wood-burning oven in no more than 90 seconds.

“With people putting a mountain of proteins and vegetables on their pizza, it’s usually about two minutes,” Petruzzi said.

Also, his oven is more complex than a traditional Neapolitan one. Although he originally wanted to open a coal-fired pizzeria, that requires a fair amount of skill and would limit his ability to expand.

Instead, 1000 Degrees has a 60-inch revolving oven powered by natural gas, for which Petruzzi can adjust everything from the revolution speed to the temperature of the oven floor. Each oven weighs more than 8,000 pounds.

“It looks like it’s a couple hundred years old, but it has a touchscreen interface and you can adjust it form your iPhone,” he said, noting that the oven, although complex, is easy for franchisees to use.

“With minimal training they’re able to fire perfect pies that have that Neapolitan look, with a mild, mild char on the sides,” Petruzzi said.

“The coolest part is we can do over 200 pies per hour,” he added.

Ten-inch pizzas with unlimited toppings are priced at $7.99. Pre-made pies and build-your-own salads account for up 20 percent of lunch business. Oven-roasted wings are also available plain or with one of four sauces: Buffalo blue cheese, orange sesame ginger, honey barbecue and Parmesan-rosemary-roasted garlic.

Locations outside of New Jersey have beer and wine on tap, and Petruzzi said the average check is around $15. The restaurants serve 150 to 200 customers per day, Monday through Thursday, and around 400 to 500 customers on Friday and Saturday.

Some franchisees offer delivery service, supported by a smartphone app, and each location has its own social media hub with a geo-targeted market.

Petruzzi said the cost to open a restaurant is around $250,000 to $300,000.

Quattro Formaggio pizza. Photo: 1000 Degrees Neapolitan Pizza

Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected].
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