5 Brands You Should Know About (But Don’t)

Naked Pizza thrives as a better-for-you pizza take-out and delivery operation. Its pizza crust is made of 10 grains and seeds with prebiotic fiber from agave plants and added probiotics for digestive health. The toppings are all natural, and gluten-free pizza is also available.

“We’ve taken the world’s most popular and unhealthy food and made it better,” says Robbie Vitrano, cofounder of the rapidly expanding New Orleans–based chain.

Entrepreneurs Jeff Leach and Randy Crochet opened Naked Pizza, a product of post-Katrina redevelopment, in 2007 under the name “World’s Healthiest Pizza.” The ill-chosen moniker was rebranded to Naked Pizza in 2008. “Aside from naked and pizza being the two most favorite words in the English language, we wanted a name that was fun, accessible, and that also captures our all-natural, common-sense ethos,” Vitrano says. He officially joined the company when Naked Pizza put together its franchise company in 2009, fueled by two billionaire investors—Robert Kraft and Mark Cuban.

It positions itself as a post-recession, post-mass-media company. A franchise store build out costs from $250,000 to $300,000 with minimal marketing costs, given its social media marketing strategy. The brand has more than 11,000 Twitter followers, an impressive number for a company of its size.

For the three months leading up to the opening of its first store in Dubai, Naked Pizza established itself as a credible Twitter voice during the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings. “When the doors opened in Dubai, thousands of people showed up,” Vitrano says. Because of the company’s social media activity, customers were already familiar with Naked Pizza’s voice, which addresses issues of diet and health as well as entrepreneurship and sensible business practices.

It has grown to 20 units, with two open in Dubai, and has had some 6,000 franchise inquiries, with a few hundred units already in development.

By the end of 2011, the company expects to have as many as 70 units open, and likely 70 more in 2012. “If we decide to expand exponentially, we will be established [in large U.S. cities], and with that comes efficiencies in the ability to reach lots of people and continue to do what we do so well,” Vitrano says.

With a well-developed business model, fine-tuned operations procedures, and 26 available toppings, the company is positioning itself in the big leagues with the likes of Pizza Hut, Papa John’s, and Domino’s, with a healthy twist.

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