During the first ever National Pizza Week taking place from the 22nd – 28th November, the organisers at The Pizza, Pasta & Italian Food Association (PAPA) are sharing the stories of ‘pizza-preneurs’ who are making their dough by making dough.
31-year-old Mario Aleppo, from Mitcham, London is the founder and CEO of the award winning Fireaway pizza chain, a unique ‘Subway-style pizzeria’ that delivers fresh, home-made and infinitely customisable pizzas cooked in 180 seconds.
Mario started his business in 2016 with one store and three employees. Within five years (and during a global pandemic) that has grown to an astounding 94 stores with over 500 employees. Here he shares his journey so far:
“I am a big foodie, so I knew I wanted to work with food,” said Mario. “My first thought was to open a Subway franchise, which was what I had planned to do, but being Italian myself, I noticed a gap in the market for an authentic pizzeria that could be classed as ‘fast food’.
“By that I mean that in terms of how quickly we deliver it, I’m very particular on the ingredients we use – we always use homemade tomato sauce and dough made fresh every day in store.
“I decided to combine the two ideas and so I started the business five years ago with a bank loan and just one employee. It’s been a real whirlwind; I now have 500 employees, with 94 stores open up and down the country with more in the pipeline.
“Our pizzas are created in a Subway-style – you can have unlimited toppings in any combination. They are then fast fired in 180 seconds, hence the name Fireaway. The price is affordable too, that was important to me. We’ve obviously hit the mark as the business has really taken off. I can’t open the stores fast enough to meet demand.
Fireaway is receiving industry recognition too, last year the brand was awarded the PAPA Small Pizza Chain 2019 and at this year’s ceremony it was awarded the Pizza Delivery Chain’s coveted Rising Star award.
