The American chain Little Caesars enters the pizza market in Barcelona

More competition for Telepizza, Pizza Hut, Domino's Pizza and Papa John's in Barcelona. Little Caesars Pizza, considered the third largest pizza chain in the world, has just landed in the Catalan capital with the opening of two locations in the Sants neighborhood and in Ciutat Vella. Its growth plans include reaching fifty establishments throughout Catalonia in the next decade, a figure that could double, to one hundred pizzerias, in Spain as a whole. Each location represents an investment of around 300,000 euros, so the opening plan in Catalonia could absorb 15 million euros.

This was announced by the international vice president of Little Caesar Enterprises, Andrés de Robina, during a visit to Barcelona in which he explained that Spain is the market chosen by the American chain for its entry into the European market. In parallel to the first two openings in Barcelona, five establishments have also been inaugurated in Madrid and two in the Russian capital, Moscow, and expansion to Portugal and the United Kingdom is now being prepared.

"Spain is a very important country, for Little Caesars it is a window to Europe; we believe that the Spanish palate will appreciate the very high quality of our products and, in addition, here we have found good suppliers that we can even incorporate into our global network," De Robina tells The New Barcelona Post. "We see a very great opportunity to establish ourselves in this country," highlights the executive, who declines to specify the total number of pizzerias the brand has in the 27 countries where it is present; nor does he reveal turnover figures, although, according to Forbes, it exceeds 4 billion dollars.

The vice president of Little Caesars highlights that in Spain they have found a cheese supplier that perfectly adapts to their specifications and that will be used to supply their locations in the Iberian Peninsula and will also be exported to the United Kingdom and to Latin American countries such as Ecuador. "Cheese is a key and very expensive ingredient; here in Spain it is manufactured with high quality and we are going to export it," he says. The flour that will be used is also from here, although a "secret mix" imported from the United States is added to give the dough particular characteristics.

According to De Robina, Little Caesars bases its value proposition on three elements: "very high quality, very affordable price, and convenience, as we serve you the pizza in 30 seconds." In this sense, the brand's pizzas are sold at a price between 5 and 7 euros, although some specialties cost 9 euros. Its star product is the pepperoni pizza, at 6 euros. Only a single size is available, equivalent to a medium pizza for two people.

"We do not have a centralized kitchen and we do not use any frozen product; 100% of the fresh dough with which we make the pizzas is produced in each of the premises," he explains. Little Caesars is strongly committed to take away, encouraging neighborhood residents to quickly take a pizza home without needing to reserve it in advance. According to the company, throughout the day, pizzas of different types are baked based on the demand forecast determined by an algorithm. These ready-made pizzas are stocked in cabinets that allow them to be kept in perfect condition for a limited period, which makes it easy for a customer to take them in just half a minute when they enter. If the requested pizza is not available, the waiting time is eight minutes.

Although in-store pickup is the strong point, Little Caesars will also make home deliveries but not directly, but through the Glovo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat platforms.

For its entry into the Spanish market, Little Caesars has three franchisees covering the areas of Madrid, Valencia, and Barcelona. Specifically, Intepizzaco, a newly created company owned by several American investors who are already franchisees of the chain in Texas, will be responsible for the expansion in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.

According to Ignacio Gutiérrez, representative of Intepizzaco, the goal is to open four more restaurants in Barcelona in 2022, which will join the two already inaugurated in Passeig Colom and Sants. Starting next year, the idea is to bring Little Caesars to other Catalan cities, such as L'Hospitalet, Badalona, Terrassa, Rubí, Sabadell, Lleida, Tarragona or Girona, until reaching fifty points of sale. They are looking for premises with a minimum of 150 square meters at street level, as their model does not involve establishing themselves in shopping centers. "We want to be part of the neighborhoods, like another store," says Gutiérrez, who emphasizes that priority will also be given to hiring people who live near the pizzeria.

Permanent contract from day one

Intepizzaco assures that its employees ---about 8 per restaurant--- sign a permanent contract from day one and that they are committed to employing people without any type of experience or training and also unemployed people of advanced age. "At the Little Caesars in Passeig Colom we have hired a 56-year-old person and another for whom we are their first job," he says.

Little Caesars Pizza was founded in Detroit (Michigan) in 1959 by the married couple Mike and Marian Ilitch. Today, their small restaurant has become the third largest pizza chain in the world, with a presence in all US states and 26 other countries. A descendant of Macedonian immigrants, Marian Ilitch, who is now 89 years old and a widow, is one of North America's best-known businesswomen, with a fortune that Forbes estimates at more than 4 billion dollars. She is considered the fifth richest woman in the US in the category of entrepreneurial or self-made women.

The Ilitch family, whose second generation is made up of seven children, maintains 100% ownership of the business and has diversified into other sectors (entertainment, sports, casinos and real estate), through Ilitch Holdings, a company chaired by Christopher Ilitch which, among others, owns the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Tigers hockey and baseball teams, respectively.