The family business based in St. Louis, Missouri, partnered with Grote to keep up with growing demand and expand further.
Dogtown Pizza is a family business in St. Louis, Missouri, run by Rick and Meredith Schaper and their three sons. The business is named after the neighborhood where they started making pizza in their home kitchen in 2006.
Over the years, Dogtown has grown to produce over 100,000 freshly frozen pizzas monthly. With demand growing, they struggled to keep up using only manual labor. They partnered with Grote Company to automate production with several orders of their pizza topping equipment.
RESULTS
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2x production rates
To 120,000-140,000 pizzas per month
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Up to 50%
In labor costs, by reducing its work week to four days with shorter shifts
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"Grote is the best! It is an incredible company to work with, one of the most
responsive and organized companies that we’ve bought equipment from.”
Rick Schaper, Owner
CHALLENGES
- Lower production rates
- Reliance on manual labor
- Couldn’t take on additional orders from new retailers
SOLUTION
Dogtown Pizza visited several OEMs at the 2019 Process Expo trade show, including Grote, which demonstrated its pizza topping line. They placed their first order for a Grote ValueDose Sauce Applicator and MC45 Border Free Cheese Applicator shortly after. Then, in 2022, Dogtown added two Peppamatic pepperoni slicers and another topping applicator the year after.
“Grote seemed to be the most knowledgeable in the pizza-making industry
and to have the most experience compared to similar companies,”
says Rich Schaper, owner of Dogtown Pizza."
The results of the automation speak volumes. Production rates have gone up significantly. Dogtown now produces 120,000-140,000 pizzas per month, more than twice per day before adding the equipment. It’s added new products to its line, expanded sales to more retailers, including Walmart and Fresh Thyme, and now sells to a broader geography.
They have also reduced their work week to four days with shorter shifts. Labor costs per pizza have been cut in half for some varieties, while processes have been simplified across the production line.
Based on their success, Dogtown plans to add another line to its manufacturing facility.
Download the complete case study.
Learn more about Grote Company’s pizza topping line.