MOD Pizza


MOD Pizza is a fast casual pizza restaurant chain based in the United States. Founded in Seattle, Washington, in 2008, MOD has more than 400 locations in the United States and United Kingdom. MOD is a company that is claimed by its owners to be "more about the people than the pizza" and to focus on paying living wages and providing employees with opportunities to give back to the community.

Concept and products

MOD Pizza offers individual, artisan style pizzas, which are baked for approximately three minutes in an 800-degree Fahrenheit pizza oven. Customers can build their own pizza or salad, which cost the same no matter how many toppings they choose. MOD also offers 9 classic pizzas, a pizza salad, and a seasonal pizza and salad. MOD's pizzas and salads are offered in three different sizes – Mini, MOD, and Mega. MOD pizzas are made with fresh pressed dough by King Arthur Flour, the oldest flour company in the United States. MOD also serves hand-spun milkshakes, fountain drinks, beer and wine.
The decor and layout of MOD restaurants has been described as "family-friendly," with Zagat observing it has a "simple and functional vibe that ties in nicely with its DIY theme." The interior of each MOD restaurant is unique and "locally inspired."
The acronym "MOD" in the company's name stands for "Made on Demand." Its menu features pizzas made with organic dough and gourmet ingredients that are cooked in three minutes using stone ovens at. Customers specify which ingredients they want included on their order, and watch the preparation process, though the restaurant also offers recommended combinations. Restaurant trade publication QSR News has characterized the concept as the "Chipotle of the pizza industry."
Blaze Pizza, Pieology, & Pizza Rev are all considered direct competitors to MOD Pizza.

History

MOD Pizza was established in 2008 in Seattle, Washington by co-founders Scott and Ally Svenson. The Svensons previously founded Seattle Coffee Company, a successful UK-based coffee company that sold to Starbucks in 1998. Afterwards Scott stayed on as President of Starbucks Europe. The Svensons also helped found Carluccio's Ltd., an Italian restaurant in the UK. After moving back to their hometown of Bellevue, Washington, the Svensons started MOD Pizza after being unable to find fast, affordable healthy meals for their four sons. James Markham, who had previously started pizza parlors in San Diego, California and Shanghai, China, was also a part of the founding team and helped developed the house recipes used by MOD. The restaurant's first location was in Union Square and was followed by additional Seattle locations.
, Washington.
By 2010, Markham had left MOD Pizza due to what he later characterized as a dispute in direction with the Svensons. He subsequently started a California-based chain set on MOD's "DIY" pizza concept called Pieology.
In 2013, the restaurant chain was named one of the United States' "Top 50 Breakout Brands" by Nation's Restaurant News. The same year, it added its first location outside of Washington, with a restaurant at Cedar Hills Crossing shopping center in Beaverton, Oregon.
By 2014, MOD Pizza had 31 locations in Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Colorado, and Texas. The same year the company secured $15 million in private investment. Notable backers included Dunkin' Donuts president Paul Twohig and TOMS Shoes Chief Executive Officer Jim Alling.

Growth and expansion

In 2015, MOD Pizza raised $40 million in new funding for a total of $70 million in investment capital to fund an aggressive national growth strategy. The main investor was a private equity fund, PWP Growth Equity. MOD's growth is also accelerated by the addition of several franchise partnerships. The "purpose-led fast casual concept" reached the 1,700 employee milestone mark in August 2015.
In March 2016, MOD Pizza announced that they had secured $32 million in a funding round and had plans to expand to 190 stores. In June, the company opened their first international location in Leeds, United Kingdom.
Additional expansion in the UK with joint venture partner Sir Charles Dunstone and his business partner, Roger Taylor is in planning. MOD named John Nelson, formerly of Nando's UK, as their CEO of UK operations in January 2016.
In January 2017, MOD Pizza had open its 200th location, which was located in Frederick, Maryland. At the time of the opening, the company had locations in 20 states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, along with five locations in the United Kingdom.
In May 2019, MOD Pizza raised $160 million in a funding round and plans to expand to 1000 stores within next five years.

Awards