Kotipizza net sales up 12 percent this quarter, new brands in works

Things are singing along nicely at European pizza superpower, Kotipizza, where comparable net sales grew 12 percent, and EBITDA grew 19 percent this year for the Feb. 1 to April 30 period, compared with the same time last year. 

The Group estimates that the full fiscal year that began Feb. 1 will ultimately ring in total chain sales of approximately 120 million Euros and that comparable EBITDA will increase compared to 2017 numbers. 

Other key figures for the Feb. 1 to April 30, 2018, period include:

• 17.6 chain-based net sales growth. 
• 11.6 percent comparable net sales growth or 20.4 million Euros.
• 19.1 percent comparable EBITDA growth or 1.93 million Euros. 
• 12 percent net sales growth to 21.5 million Euros. 
• Outlook for Q1 2019 unchanged.

"Kotipizza's chain-based net sales continued their strong growth in the first quarter of the financial year," Kotipizza Group  CEO Tommi Tervanen said in the release. "The chain's net sales presented excellent development in terms of both same-store sales and the average purchase."

During the same financial period, Kotipizza Group Oyj's board approved a 3-year strategy and financial goals that involve the group's mission to manage a portfolio of brands. The release said this means the company is working to develop and operate an array of restaurant concepts and markets around the fast casual model, along with the franchising business model and achieving topnotch customer experience. 

The company said the mega-trends influencing this strategy include increasing movement of populations to city cores, as well as the growing use of digital tools and popularity of home delivery. 

The group has been working to redesign Kotipizza's home delivery concept and introduced new home delivery vehicles equipped with special heat box technology to stabilize the delivered temperature of pizzas. 

Kotipizza Group also is continuing to build the SocialBurgerjoint brand, which leadership believes will "disrupt Finland's hamburger market" and be successful nationwide. The chain has now two locations with four total expected up and running by the fiscal year-end. Two of its execs will pitch the concept in front of a panel of advisers and the attendees of this year's Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit in London, July 16-18 in London.

In tandem with the company's new strategy, Kotipizza Group's has launched two other brands: No Pizza and Tasty Market, a lunch restaurant concept in which the consumer can pick and choose their lunch from a selection offered by several fast casual brands. 

In the kick-off phase, Tasty Market will have products on its menu from at least Kotipizza and Chalupa. Kotipizza Group is looking for partners and locations for Tasty Market. Business parks, office buildings and institutions of education are ideal partners, according to the release. 

Kotipizza Group CEO Tommi Tervanen is a speaker at the Franchising & Innovation Summit. Registration is now open.