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Topping the charts: How Palermo’s Pizza is reinventing pizza one slice at a time

Thought Leadership: CEO Q&A

BizTimes Milwaukee: How does Palermo’s foster innovation?

Nick Fallucca: Innovation is at the heart of everything we do, not just in our products, but in how we run our business. Our mission is to deliver a great pizza experience, and that means embracing innovation across every facet of the company. Whether it’s improving HR processes or finding better ways to price new projects, we empower our people to try new things. In this industry, you either innovate or someone else will do it better.

BizTimes: What have you learned from the past three years? How is your company stronger?

Fallucca: I think we learn something new every day, but if the last three years have taught us anything, it’s that you have to be adaptable. The retail landscape has changed dramatically. There’s been high turnover, and retailers expect higher margins, more velocity, and for brands to work harder to earn their shelf space. That constant change means having the same conversations with new people over and over. We’ve learned how to drive out inefficiencies without losing what makes us special: our great food, our focus on people, and our commitment to our customers. Those are the things that set us apart.

BizTimes: What is your favorite success story?

Fallucca: Screamin’ Sicilian continues to be the brand I’m most proud of. We launched it in 2014, and it’s become a multi-million-dollar brand. It’s a premium craft frozen pizza that customers love, and we’ve been able to keep it fresh and growing through continuous innovation.

I’m equally as proud of our people. They are the heart of our business. We’ve been recognized as a “Great Place to Work” for four consecutive years, a recognition based entirely on feedback from our employees, surveyed in eight different languages. That means a lot to me.

BizTimes: Where do you see your company in 5 years?

Fallucca: Over the next five years, we will continue to innovate, not only in frozen pizza, but across the broader food service industry. Frozen pizza is a $6 billion industry, but the total pizza market is over $60 billion. With our new West Milwaukee facility, we have a tremendous opportunity to serve that market and continue growing. The future looks bright.

BizTimes: Does your company have any new products, services to announce?

Fallucca: Yes, we’ve recently launched two exciting new products: Cheez-It™ Frozen Pizza and RAGÚ® Frozen Pizza. Both are fun, unique collaborations that are resonating with consumers. We’re also launching Stranger Things Pizza in partnership with Netflix — that’s coming soon and includes a fun surprise for fans of the series.

In addition, we’ve expanded our operations with our new 250,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art food manufacturing facility in West Milwaukee. This new facility will drive even more innovation in the pizza category and support our continued growth.

3301 W Canal • Milwaukee, WI 53208
414-643-0919 • palermospizza.com

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