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May 30, 2019 | 5-minute read (1002 words)
source: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx5siYZFKzJ/
Innovation in pizza isn't exactly what comes to mind when we think about startups and lucrative opportunities. Yet, according to Statista Reports, between 2012-2018 the pizza restaurant industry raked in nearly $50 billion in revenue in the U.S. Not only that, the frozen pizza market is expected to grow by 6.4% over the next few years. Add to these statistics that large and very profitable companies like Nestlé, Hansen Foods, Schwan Food Co., and General Mills Inc., are in the frozen pizza market - and it’s clear this is a profitable niche with lots of room for growth.
Looking at those stats make us excited to tell you about our client, Talia Di Napoli. CEO Edouard Freda, is at the helm at Talia with incredible enthusiasm and energy. When sharing the history behind the pizza innovation, Edouard lights up. He’s discovered a way to bring fresh handmade Italian pizza to the rest of the world. If you’ve ever wanted to have a fresh pizza from Naples at home, Talia can help you bring Italy right into your kitchen in a way no other pizza can.
"While I was living outside of Italy, I heard about my uncle's crazy idea to bring our authentic Italian pizza to the world."
Although he was skeptical, he said the proof was when his uncle pulled out a pizza that had been stored away nearly half a year.
"The ultimate test was when he made me try a 5-month-old pizza that he had produced with his special cryogenic process - and I couldn't tell the difference."
Edouard wanted us to understand that the Talia pizzas are not 'frozen' like low-quality boxed pizzas at a grocery store. The Talia pizzas don't come off a conveyor belt, but instead, they're fresh and handmade by one of the many pizza specialists who are called Pizzaiolos. These pizzas are handcrafted, made with fresh ingredients, and their curation is overseen by specialty chefs who have devoted their culinary gifts to Italian pizza. Not only did Edouard want us to understand that they're handmade, but he also wanted to clarify that they're not frozen.
Instead of freezing the pizzas, which can mean a loss of freshness, the pizzas are put to sleep. Akin to putting a living organism in a cryogenic state, the pizzas are put through a process that allows them to hold life and can be reawakened with their freshness by simply unwrapping them and tossing them into your oven. It's this distinction that has led Talia to refer to their creation as "sleeping pizzas." While the pizzas traverse the seas, fly through the sky, and work their way to your home - they maintain the same newly made flavor you expect in Naples, Italy. In the same way that cryogenesis holds life fully intact until it's revived, the 'sleeping pizzas' hold their authentic flavor.
When we look at the stats of the pizza market, it's no surprise to hear our very own consulting CFO, Karl Pawlik say:
"Talia has created a structure that will set them up to win. They're set to scale and grow, and they've done it in a smart way. They didn't think too big too soon, or too small."
When Karl shares how happy he is for Talia, it's noticeable that he's more than just a consultant, but instead, it's like he's invested in Talia's success as if it was his own business.
When we look at the numbers, it's clear -Talia is set to grow. The company is already producing 4,000 fresh handmade pizzas a day. They also pride themselves that the only automation you'll find is a cryogenic machine that puts the pizzas to sleep, followed by a packaging machine that carefully wraps the pizzas for international delivery. At this time, Talia sends their pizzas all over Italy, Hong Kong, the UK, and soon throughout Australia and the United States.
Talia is a young company, and they've been smart. They didn't just assume they could do it all on their own. It's at this point that Edouard laughs and tells us:
"At first, I thought, I don't need any accounting or help with the numbers. I can put a few numbers together and do the math, but you know what, it's not that simple. I followed my gut and the advice of a friend and hired Early Growth Financial Services. It turns out there's more to these numbers, and because I am not doing the accounting, I can focus on other work. Having Early Growth Financial Services was a smart move for us."
Listening to CFO Karl Pawlik and Edouard share their experiences, it’s obvious they enjoy working together. Edouard adds, "Karl has become more than just a service provider, he's become more of a mentor. He's there from the very beginning to the much more complex things. He's helping us get organized for a bright future."
Edouard tells us that he's looking forward to continuing his work with Karl and all of us at Early Growth Financial Services. "At first with EGFS they helped us structure the accounting and then we went deep when we worked on strategies, and now we're going to get a lot done." Karl says, “We're really excited about building more systems, the impact of their marketing, and what they're doing with all their metrics."
The future is bright for Talia and we know they’re carving out something special in the market.
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