Justin Lussier describes his pizza, and his passion makes it immediately clear why his Famoso Neapolitan Pizza has enjoyed astronomical 1,682% system-wide sales growth in the past five years – a growth rate that ranks Famoso at No. 6 on Business in Vancouver’s Top 100 list of fastest-growing companies.
“Neapolitan pizza crust is thin, crispy and at the same time chewy,” Lussier says before elaborating on how his pizza dough is hand-stretched, contains a finely ground “00” flour and is cooked for 90 seconds in an oven that reaches 900 F.
“Neapolitans use fresh whole-milk mozza balls that are called fior di latti. It’s not like your regular brick mozzarella. Then they use these great tomatoes from the region that are uncooked so it’s not like North American sauce.”
His passion is reminiscent of another entrepreneur who took his company from startup to global behemoth: Starbucks Corp. CEO Howard Schultz, who fell in love with the ritual of how Italian baristas pulled espresso shots and made coffee during a business trip in 1983. Schultz went on to open his own coffee shops in Seattle and Vancouver before buying Starbucks, rebranding his cafés and achieving global success.
Lussier’s passion for Italian pizza was born during a trip to Italy in 2005 with his future wife. He couldn’t control his excitement about the mouth-watering pizza he was eating so he phoned friends and regaled them about his experiences.
To this day, he takes every new franchisee to Naples to experience authentic Italian pizza first-hand.
When Vancouver-born Lussier returned to Alberta, he spent a year developing his concept for a pizzeria and he opened a corporate location in Edmonton in 2007 with partners Christian Bullock and Jason Allard.
The University of Alberta graduate’s restaurant attracted a loyal following that convinced investors to start coming out of the woodwork, eager to pump their own money into his venture.
Instead of selling equity, Lussier wrote down Famoso’s systems and started selling franchises.
“We moved the head office to Vancouver four years ago because we wanted to be in a major market,” he said. “In Vancouver or Toronto you’re more exposed to competition and trends. You don’t get that in a small market.”
By 2012, he had five franchises and his corporately owned store. Those six locations sprouted to 18 by the beginning of 2013. He now has 19 locations and expects to have 28 restaurants by this time next year.
All but two are franchised.
“In B.C. we have locations on Commercial Drive in Vancouver and in Victoria,” he said. “By Christmas we will open a new pizzerias at [the Shops at] Morgan Crossing in Surrey and at Highstreet, in Abbotsford.”
Franchises sell for a one-time $30,000 fee as well as a royalty equal to 6% of annual sales and a marketing fee equivalent to 2% of annual sales.
Opening a pizzeria requires approximately $750,000 as a capital investment.
“The original point of difference for us was Neapolitan pizza because no one was doing it,” he said. “Our pizzerias are a blend of both quick counter-ordering and then you get full service.”
Several other companies in the food sector also made Business in Vancouver’s list.
Vega, for example, is No. 26 and produces premium plant-based nutritional products.
Everland Natural Foods Inc., at No. 61, similarly focuses on nutritional foods and distributes them under the Tomato Garden, Taj Mahal, Sweetcane, Fiberlife, Anaar and Everland brands.
One longtime mainstay on the list is the acquisitive Premium Brands Holdings Corp. (TSX:PBH) at No. 70. There is also Ten Peaks Coffee Co. Inc. at No. 85 and Ike Enterprises Inc. at No. 90.
