From the province of Modena to the global markets. Italpizza is the leading exporter of frozen pizza to the United States. The key to success? Making a pizza with the typical characteristics of a pizzeria, but on an industrial scale. Giampaolo Colletti interviews Cristian Pederzini, founder & CEO of Italpizza, for FARE INSIEME.
by Giampaolo Colletti
@gpcolletti
There are stories that rise slowly, like good dough. They take time, but then become irresistible. This also applies to Italpizza, a Modena-based company that today churns out over 90,000 pizzas an hour, 1.8 million a day produced in seven factories, with exports accounting for 65% of its turnover. Behind these numbers are the stories of women and men who have created entrepreneurial success, starting with an icon of Italianness: the pizza. This company has brought to the world not only the delicious aroma of a wood-fired oven, but also the culture of Emilian know-how, combining intelligence, resilience, expertise, and vision.
The history of the company. This story begins in Emilia. It was 1991 when a very young Cristian Pederzini, in his early twenties, decided to embark on his own adventure. «I was in college, but I felt the need to build something with my hands. My uncle worked in mechanics, but I wanted to go further. So I rented a place and started making pizzas in wood-fired ovens, then freezing them by hand in blast chillers.» It all began in the back of a small rented space, paid for with promissory notes. A dream smelling of flour and courage. And that was born more from instinct than calculation. «A friend asked me: “Have you done a business plan?” I looked at him like I was from Mars», Pederzini still says today, smiling. The idea was simple but revolutionary at the same time: bringing the quality of a pizzeria into freezers. «Refrigeration is an extraordinary technology. It captures the product's excellence at the perfect moment and returns it intact to the consumer. My grandmother used to freeze tortellini, cakes, and pies. She taught me that preservation can be synonymous with quality», says Pederzini. Thus, Italpizza was born, amidst hills and passion, in a laboratory that smelled of a wood-fired oven and of future. In the 1990s, while many viewed industry as synonymous with standardisation, Pederzini decided to follow a different path: that of artisanal craftsmanship replicated on an industrial scale. Italpizza is not a pizza factory, but an industrial pizzeria: this is the motto that has accompanied the group since its inception. The first factory opened in 1999 in Modena, along the highway. It is there that the beating heart of the company took shape: production, research, development, and management. From that moment on, growth has been continuous. The company has specialised in private labels, collaborating with the most important international retailers and becoming the leading exporter of frozen pizza to the United States. But that's not all. In 2016, the company launched its own brand and the legendary 26x38 pizza, the rectangular pizza reminiscent of a home-made pan. That was the turning point. «It's a pizza that speaks of the Italy of sharing. It recalls the family and is authentic, just like a chat in the kitchen», says Pederzini. Since then, the brand has never stopped, becoming the leader in its category in Italy in less than ten years. The recipe for success? Twenty-four-hour natural leavening, hand-rolling, and baking in a wood-fired oven. No compromise on quality. Even Massimo Bottura mentioned it in a conversation with Reid Hoffmann, founder of LinkedIn: “There's an extraordinary company in Modena called Italpizza. If you follow the recipe with the precision of a machine, you can make a perfect pizza.”
From Emilia to the whole world. From Modena, the story has expanded: Mortara (Pavia), Castelbelforte (Mantua), Malgrat del Mar (Spain), Caudry (France). A mosaic of experiences that has led Italpizza to become a continental hub of flavour and innovation. Today, the group employs over 1,800 people and has a turnover exceeding €400 million, with the goal of producing 575 million pizzas by 2028. But within this company, the spirit of that workshop still lives on. «Some of the workers have been with us since day one. We are a highly manufacturing-focused company: 90% of our people work on the production line, with a strong focus on young people, training, and quality. It's a company that grows with its people», says Pederzini. Strong Emilian roots, but with a global outlook. «Our tomatoes come from Emilia-Romagna, our firewood from the Tuscan-Emilian forests, but our pizzas travel to 65 countries around the world. It's proof that local excellence can become universal. We're investing to consolidate our international presence, focusing on European markets, particularly the French one. It's an important step, a sort of love letter to Italpizza. It means providing stability, strengthening cohesion, and looking to the future with an even broader vision», says Pederzini. From a small pizzeria with a wood-fired oven to a world-leading group. This is Italpizza's story, which tells us a lot about Emilia, which innovates by doing. «Here, every idea is born around a table, between hands that knead and minds that plan. Doing business, after all, is precisely this: doing things together.» Teamwork where – it's true to say – you have your hands in the dough. And the market is rewarding these efforts: since 2023, Italpizza has become the leading brand in its category on the Italian market. «Emilia is our driving force. It's a region that never stops working. Here, you can breathe in the culture of doing, and of concreteness. The district has taught us that quality is a serious matter and that relationships matter as much as ideas», concludes Pederzini. In this story of flour and cold, of wood and logistics, innovation coexists with memory. What an incredible story!
https://podcast.confindustriaemilia.it/
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