The Top 100 list recognizes 25 executives and 75 brands in a variety of categories, including Top Menu Innovators, Top Tech Innovators, Top Growth Brands, Top Emerging Brands and Top Executives.
Five brands and one executive led Pizza Marketplace’s first list of Top 100 Movers & Shakers, revealed Tuesday during an awards dinner party in Las Vegas. The list honored 25 executives and 75 brands in a variety of categories, including Top Menu Innovators, Top Marketing Campaigns, Top Tech Innovators, Top Growth Brands, Top Emerging Brands and Top Executives.
“With hundreds of nominees, we were impressed with the number of brands winning spots in multiple categories,” said Mandy Wolf Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace and co-host of Pizza Marketplace’s Top 100 event. “That shows a level of excellence on multiple fronts. These winners are truly representative of where this industry has been and where it is headed.”
HungerRush was the premiere sponsor of the event, and Olivier Thierry, chief revenue officer, joined Detwiler as co-host.
See below for the top winners in each category, and click here to download a free copy of the Top 100 report, sponsored by The Point of Sale Cloud.
Top Marketing Campaigns
Heading up the Top Marketing Campaigns list is Cicis Pizza out of Texas. Cicis underwent a brand refresh last year that included a new mascot and a new look with its Endless Possibilities campaign. In an earlier interview with Pizza Marketplace, Stephanie J. Hoppe, CMO for Cicis Pizza said: “The priority of this new campaign was to tell the brand story rather than advertise discounts or other promotional levers. The focus is on engaging our former, current and future guests in a fun and creative way that highlights the value and the experiences we offer.”
Top Menu Innovators
Leading the Top Menu Innovators category is Indiana-based Azzip Pizza. The brand offers creative LTOs and has a Pizza of the Month club. Azzip Pizza makes its own hot honey and proprietary Zip Dust. Creative pizzas include the March Crabness, a crab Rangoon-style style pizza, and the General Yum Yum pizza.
Fusion-based pizzas are tops at Azzip Pizza, and the Pizza of the Month, a subscription program, brought in a ton of new members eager to try the brand’s creative pizza offerings.
Top Tech Innovators
Topping the list of tech-savvy pizza brands is Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza & Wings. Anthony’s uses an AI-generated voice ordering system called “Becky.” Becky answers the phone and takes orders for carryout and is more than 97% accurate in understanding guests. Anthony’s works with ConverseNow.ai for this technology, and it helps the brand reduce labor and increase orders.
Anthony’s is also testing Mavi.io, and in-car ordering system, allowing drivers to voice order from restaurants on their trip route, and GRUBBRR software on Samsung kiosks.
Top Growth Brands
Rapidly growing Marco’s Pizza takes the top spot in our Top Growth Brands division. Marco’s hit $1 billion in sales and has an overall growth goal of 1,500 units by the end of the year. Marco’s celebrated the $1 billion achievement by launches the Marco’s Pizza Foundation, an extension of its mission to empower franchisees and team members to make a positive difference in their communities.
Top Emerging Brands
Bringing home the gold in the Emerging Brands category is California-based Slice House by Tony Gemignani. The emerging concept focuses on slices rather than whole pies and brings New York-style thin-crust pizza to Leonardtown.
The brand already has 50 units in operation or development in its first year of operation. Gemignani has plans to make Slice House a household name across the country.
Top 25 Executives
Gemignani also leads the pack of the Top 25 Executives. As the name and face behind Slice House by Tony Gemignani, he is seeking to make slices a top seller on the pizza market. Gemignani owners several other pizza concepts, including Pizza Rock in Las Vegas and Tony Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco, which regularly tops Best Of lists across the country. Gemignani truly is an ambassador for the industry.
Download the report, sponsored by The Point of Sale Cloud, here.
About Networld Media Group
Founded in 2000, Networld Media Group is a leading business-to-business (B2B) media communications company specializing in digital media, associations and events in the tech, banking, retail and food service industries. Online properties include ATMmarketplace.com, DigitalSignageToday.com, FastCasual.com, KioskMarketplace.com, FoodTruckOperator.com, QSRweb.com, PizzaMarketplace.com, RetailCustomerExperience.com, VendingTimes.com and BiblicalLeadership.com. Annual events include the Fast Casual Executive Summit, the Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit, the Bank Customer Experience Summit (BCX), the Interactive Customer Experience Summit (ICX) and the Self-Service Innovation Summit.
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