Franchising

With patent in hand, Mici 'presses' forward with national franchising

The 16-year-old brand is now franchising.

Provided

July 14, 2020

Don't tell the restaurateurs behind Mici Handcrafted Italian this might be an inopportune time to launch a franchise nationally. They'll just tell you why the times have never been better, pandemic and recession be damned.

Few would argue the many gastronomic glories of a true old-school Italian family pizza recipe. But for pizza restaurateurs, it's always been tough to feasibly reproduce these generations-old artisan pies for today's customers: their creation simply involves a quantity and quality of kitchen time that is not just impractical, but nearly impossible to adapt to the demands of today's 180-second-pie pizza customer.

But that challenge isn't stopping the Miceli family from trying anyway, with its Mici Handcrafted Italian brand that has become so well-loved in and around Denver, Colorado. The 16-year-old brand announced this month that it will begin franchising Friday

One big reason why that's happening now is that the company recently was officially awarded a patent for a tool the Micelis think will allow the brand to create its artisan pies at scale. The Mici-Z Pizza Press is the result of a decade of development efforts by the brand's founder and President Jeff Miceli.

The newly patented Mici-Z Pizza Press ready for action.

Being able to produce and make the press available at scale is important because — as just about any pizzaiolo will strongly avow — pizza is all about the dough. But getting that base right is tricky and once mastered, can only continue to be recreated through adherence to often-insanely exacting standards.

The Micelis — along with partner and CEO Elliot Schiffer — said the Pizza Press allows franchisees to do just that, with minimal training and guaranteed quality results, no matter if an employee is making that pie in the Mile High City or the depths of Death Valley.

In fact, Schiffer said the brand is using the press with great success at its six Colorado stores. He said by using that tool, along with new conveyor-belt brick-lined ovens, Mici Handcrafted has developed a process that works regardless of the skill level of the restaurant employee creating the pie.

"We currently produce our pizza press using a 3D printer," Schiffer said in an interview with Pizza Marketplace. "We plan to get them manufactured at scale to reduce the cost but they are currently helping us make high-quality, consistent pizza at every restaurant, every shift. It has helped us immensely.

"We can now train a new team member to make a perfect hand-tossed crust in one day rather than six months. This means that our customers no longer experience inconsistency in the quality of their pizza crust. And our team members spend their time training on leadership, rather than the skill of making crust."

Launching a national franchise amid pandemic, recession
Granted, even with great tools, some may read this story and wonder about the sanity of Mici's leadership in launching a national franchising effort in the midst of both a pandemic and recession. But, Schiffer and the Miceli family think the time has never been more right.

Due to a combination of foresight and good fortune, Mici has fared well over the past few months since the brand had already updated and enhanced its digital operations pre-pandemic. As a result, the small chain was well-positioned to go completely online and touch-free for pickup and delivery when the situation demanded.

In fact, the pizza kits, as well as the beer and wine delivery service Mici launched over those initial days of the pandemic proved so popular, both offerings are now permanent parts of the menu. Likewise, with the new ovens installing and the pizza press patented, Schiffer said the brand now has all they deem essential to really deliver on that brand promise of true, Old World Italian pizza from the Micelli's family recipes.

"The Miceli family has built the Mici brand over the past 16 years and I've been grooming it for future growth since 2017," said Schiffer, who came to the brand after serving as Smashburger's senior vice president of Non-Traditional Development. "Despite a lot of interest, we've held off on franchising in order to get our systems and product in place. We cannot wait to open up the brand to growth through franchising."

Schiffer said the brand wants to continue to grow in Colorado, but also is targeting states like Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Kansas, Idaho and Missouri, though – of course – they won't shut the door on any great opportunity.

With a leadership team that includes the three founding Miceli siblings of Jeff, Kim and Michael Miceli, as well as Schiffer and restaurant veteran (Outback for 27 years) Joe Melton as senior vice president of operations, Mici is ready to mine that proverbial franchising "gold."

'Aggressive' growth planned
For Schiffer, the "picture-perfect franchisee is a current multi-unit operator of another restaurant franchise brand, who is looking to diversify with Mici or a seasoned restaurant operator who is looking to change their career trajectory and own a franchise."

But that said, he admits that as family-owned and loved brand, there are some trepidations as they start the process of finding other store owners.

"Our biggest fear is the dilution of the reputation for quality and hospitality that has made us successful here in Colorado," he explained, but quickly added that, "our greatest expectations (are that) we believe that the right franchisee can meet or exceed our own success here in Colorado through their own involvement in their community, focus on the operation of their restaurants, expertise at choosing local real estate, and tenacity marketing their restaurants."

So while Mici leaders look for promising franchisees, they are also making some promises to those who are willing and able. After all, in just the last two years, Mici has expanded by 50%, opening two more Denver-metro locations and proving the brand has a full tank for the franchising ride. Likewise, leadership characterizes its anticipated growth over the next five years as "aggressive," with their eyes set on 25 locations in Colorado, alone.

"So many pizza brands fall either into either the 'delivery chain' category -- inexpensive/lower quality, great technology and convenience -- or the 'mom and pop' category, (with) higher quality, poor technology and convenience," he said. "Mici combines the best of these worlds with the highest quality product … great digital platforms and delivery options."

In fact, Colorado's 5280 magazine just named the brand "Best Pizza in Denver. Schiffer said Mici also distinguishes itself from others on the national scene by featuring a full complement of family-recipe pastas, salads and catering, which all help it stand out from traditional pizza-only brands.

"We've found that the story of Mici and the quality of the food translates no matter where the restaurant is located or if the operator is related to the Miceli family," Schiffer said. "When we opened a restaurant in Lafayette, Colorado in 2018, it was 21 miles away from the nearest Mici.

"We had no brand awareness there. We've built a successful restaurant there because we've kept the promise of great food, hospitality, and convenience."