Toppers Pizza Sets the Fast Casual Bar with Better Pizza and Passionate People

Toppers Pizza* was founded 25 years ago with one mission: to make a better pizza. Since then, the brand has managed to stay ahead of the curve in the competitive $40 billion industry, and that’s due, in large part, to Toppers’ ability to create a higher-quality pizza while delivering it at the same speed—if not quicker—as the major national chains.

That devotion to doing pizza the right way has helped Toppers stay on target as customer demands evolve—especially amongst their largest demographic: Millennials.  

Connecting with Millennials has been part of Toppers’ DNA since its founding in 1991. Now, Toppers Vice President of Marketing Scott Iverson says they’re watching as every other pizza brand out there races to play catch up.  

“I’m seeing things become popular that we’ve already been doing for the past two decades,” Iversen said. “Toppers has always been innovative and cutting-edge, and our vision to unlock customer choice was not only ahead of the trends in the pizza industry, but also fast causal in general.”

The customer choice Iverson alludes is the brand’s fully-customizable menu and recently launched straight-up pricing offering. Toppers, as the name indicates, has always been focused on providing an incredible array of options for those to add to their pizza. Not only do consumers have a standard list of toppings, but they can also choose from less common options like mac n’ cheese, tater tots or jerk chicken. To honor their customers’ freedom to customize, Toppers unveiled a straight-up pricing implementation this fall that allows customers to add as many toppings as they want, without being slammed with additional fees. This means that visitors can select every topping on the menu for one unwavering price.

The customized toppings that Toppers provides also come with a high-quality guarantee and a promise that every pizza will be delivered fast.  The brand has long set itself apart from other players in the pizza game because of its commitment to outstanding delivery. The “run to the door” style sends drivers to a customers’ door in 30 minutes or less—answering the Millennial demand for great food, fast.

“A lot of what Toppers does is a direct response to the speediness that people expect with QSR, coupled with the better foods that people crave with fast casual,” says Iverson. “We create a quality product at the same speed as QSR.”

Leading the way in customization, speed, and transparency has ultimately helped the Toppers brand grow, but it has also caught the attention of pizza industry veterans. Founder Scott Gittrich left Dominos to open Toppers Pizza in order to inject new life into the industry, and over the years, former pizza business owners have decided to follow his lead. Iversen, for example, also had years of experience at Domino’s before joining the Toppers team. Countless other members of the brand’s leadership team and franchisee system share a similar story.

“What we’re seeing at Toppers is that people are looking to expand in the pizza market, and they choose us because of our authenticity. The brand is transparent, and it showcases an item that still works after 25 years,” Iversen says. “We are attracting those who have pizza sauce in their blood, and it’s time for them to rekindle the magic with people who are doing it right – Toppers is that answer.”