How Crust Pizza Co.’s CEO is positioning the franchise for major growth

Take-Away with Sam Oches

Nation's Restaurant News

Business, Entrepreneurship

2.5 • 15 Ratings

🗓️ 6 November 2024

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talks with Carl Comeaux, CEO of Crust Pizza Co., a 30-unit pizza franchise based outside of Houston. Carl has been an entrepreneur since he was a teenager and was part of the team who cofounded Main Squeeze Juice Co. back in 2017. Now as CEO of Crust, Carl is tasked with scaling this pizza brand that serves Chicago-style thin-crust pizza with a hybrid service model that thrives both with dine-in and to-go business. He joined the podcast to talk about how his knack for entrepreneurialism has given him a unique viewpoint as CEO of the business and how the partners are creatively positioning Crust as they prepare to scale it across the Southeast.

In this conversation, you’ll find out why:

Scalable requires simple
Pizza doesn’t have to be dine-in or off-premises exclusive
The Pizza Hut of yesteryear made an impression on younger consumers
Developing your own proprietary tech is a value add for your whole system
The more you give, the more you receive

Have feedback or ideas for Take-Away? Email Sam at [email protected].

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey there, welcome to Takeaway with Sam Ocus, a podcast from Nation's Restaurant News.
0:04.6	I am Sam Ocas, editor-in-chief here at NRN, and this is the show where I give you an all-access
0:09.4	pass to the restaurant industry's most influential decision-makers.
0:13.2	This week, I'm talking with Carl Como, the CEO of Krust Pizza Company.
0:18.2	It's a 30-unit pizza franchise based outside of Houston, Texas. Carl has been an
0:23.9	entrepreneur since he was a teenager, and he was part of the team who co-founded Main Squeeze
0:29.0	Juice Company back in 2017. After exiting that business, Carl and his business partner, Nick Fontenow,
0:36.0	fell in love with crust, and they initially
0:38.5	franchised the concept to bring it back to their home in Lake Charles, Louisiana, before
0:43.6	eventually teaming up as partners in the business. Now, as CEO, Carl is tasked with scaling a pizza
0:50.4	brand that serves Chicago-style thin crust pizza with a hybrid service model that
0:56.4	thrives both as a dine-in and to-go business.
1:00.0	He joined the podcast to talk about how his knack for entrepreneurialism has given him a unique
1:05.1	viewpoint as CEO of the business and how the partners are creatively positioning crust
1:10.7	as they prepare to scale it
1:12.4	across the southeast. In this interview, you will learn more about why scalable requires simple,
1:19.0	why pizza doesn't have to be dine-in or off-premises exclusive, and why developing your own
1:25.7	proprietary tech is a value ad for your entire system.
1:30.3	Jumping now into my interview with Krust Pizza Company's Carl Como. Also, don't forget to stick
1:35.8	around after the interview as I will share my five takeaways from this discussion, actionable
1:40.1	insights that you can take with you on the go. Okay, I'm sitting down with Carl Como, CEO of
1:46.4	Krust Pizza Company. Carl, thanks for joining me today. Yeah, thanks for having me, Sam. So, Carl,
	...

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