800 Degrees Pizza to Deliver a Fully Automated Experience
International pizza brand 800 Degrees Pizza is partnering with Piestro, the robotic pizzeria, to create a fully automated culinary experience, equipped with an authentic, custom pizza recipe designed for Piestro’s unique cooking technology.
When chef Anthony Carron opened the first 800 Degrees Pizza location in 2012, he set forth to pair fresh, great-tasting ingredients with a woodfired oven to produce artisan pizzas in just 90 seconds. The success of 800 Degrees Pizza continued with national and international expansion into 2020, but as the pandemic hit, the entire restaurant industry faced new customer service constraints and the acute challenge of keeping up with the exploding demand for delivery.
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The new dynamics of delivery/takeout culture and increased consumer pressure for more convenient food choices put a strain on restaurants’ access to labor and their ability to maintain high levels of quality and consistency. Even with 800 Degrees Pizza’s impressive cooking speed, Carron and the team believed they needed to do more to future-proof the brand and maintain the standards of excellence the chain has come to be known for. With his forward-thinking mindset, he saw the promise of automation when a trusted industry colleague, Massimo Noja De Marco, reached out to discuss his latest venture – the automated pizzeria, Piestro.
“When Massimo and I first connected about Piestro’s technology, I saw both the immediate and long-term impact automation could have on our business,” said Carron. “Knowing Massimo’s exceptional background and the emphasis he places on quality and consistency in his machines, I knew this was a partnership we needed to make happen. We immediately began the process of developing recipes using the same imported, fresh and flavorful ingredients that made 800 Degrees Pizza so successful, and we were off to the races.”
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Leading the charge in the industry for a new age of automation and paving the way for new brand and business growth, the partnership will bring a completely new version of the 800 Degrees Pizza brand to high-traffic, easy-to-access locations through “800 Degrees by Piestro” machines. The partnership, which is kicking off with a projected order volume of 3,600 units to be produced and sold by Piestro over five years, will allow customers everywhere to experience the best ingredients and a perfect bite of consistently delicious artisan pizza – designed by two world-class pizza aficionados – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Piestro is backed by experts in the food automation space. Its lead investor, Wavemaker Partners, is a global venture capital fund with over $550M assets under management, and its studio, Wavemaker Labs, focuses directly on automation. Piestro continues to see traction with investors in their crowdfunding campaign, which is currently underway on StartEngine.