Base Wood Fired Pizza is seeking to expand from its current roster of seven outlets to up to 17 in the next few years.There was an abundance of mirth in international media last week when it emerged that the US pizza chain, Domino’s, has ended its seven-year foray into the market in Italy, where pizza was created and its traditional style is revered. The locals don’t go in much for cheeseburger pizzas around Naples.
Domino’s currently has 57 stores in the Republic, having opened its newest outlet in Limerick just last week. Photograph: Jason Alden/Bloomberg Ireland’s pizza delivery market has in recent years begun to attract heavy-hitting backers with deep pockets and big ideas. Yet not everybody in the sector is rolling in dough. Industry sources say they also expect a post-Covid shake-out of some of the smallest operators, as inflation pressures bite.
Base, which operates the majority of its outlets in plush neighbourhoods of south Dublin, distinguishes itself from the big franchises with a focus on craft pizza. It operates all its stores itself, with no franchisees. The group appears to be highly profitable. It doesn’t publish consolidated accounts, but various recent financial statements suggest that five of its outlets – Terenure, Stillorgan, Lucan, Glenageary and Ballsbridge – racked up profits of close to €900,000 last year between them.
Base was the subject of takeover offers from supermarket groups in recent years, prompting its current shareholders to reassess its structure. Loyola, it is understood, now controls more than three-quarters of the business. Crilly remains a significant minority shareholder and has shifted from his position as the day-to-day chief executive to a strategic role, helping to plot the growth of the business.
Jamison, who has worked in the business in Ireland since 2007 and also abroad in South Africa, acknowledges that most of Base’s larger US-style competitors are also hungry for growth in the market: “But we distinguish ourselves from them because we are Italian-style. “The accommodation thing just keeps tripping us up,” says Crilly. “Some of our new chefs – we’ve had to put them up in hotels.”
“We continue to see attractive opportunities in Ireland as demonstrated through our new store openings and our redevelopment of our Naas supply chain centre,” said Domino’s. “We have also recently signed a joint venture in Northern Ireland which demonstrates our belief in the opportunities that Ireland and Northern Ireland provide.”
Four Star Pizza is owned by hotelier Michael Holland, whose properties include the five-star Fitzwilliam on Dublin’s St Stephen’s Green. The entirely franchised group recently undertook a deep-dive analysis of its Irish network to identify outlets where customers routinely have to wait more than 30 minutes for delivery. Where that mark is breached, it is targeting new outlets.
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