How is Oath Pizza Building a Feel-Good Pizza Brand?

 
Statista states there are more than 75,000 pizza restaurants in the United States. That’s
a lot of slices served every year! For a business to stand out in the pizza market, it must
find ways to melt hearts with more than cheese, sauce, and dough. Personal pizza lover, Barbara Castiglia of Modern Restaurant Management and host of
The Main Course podcast, wanted to find out what it takes to make a unique name for
one’s pizza brand these days. She may have found her answer in the form of feel-good
pizza.

Drew Kellogg, CEO of Oath Pizza, believes it has a unique recipe for success in the
industry that can take the idea of feel-good pizza to the next level. He shared Oath’s
approach to brand engagement with Castiglia.

“I cut my teeth with Chipotle,” Kellogg said. “I was fortunate to join Chipotle when an
awful lot of growth was happening. Chipotle was looking for people to help them grow,
looking at small unit leadership, taking restaurant teams, and developing leaders that
could grow and upscale the company. That set me up well for this opportunity with Oath
to try to do it again, build teams that understand the customer experience well, and
understand operations, supply chains, labor challenges, and look to scale another.”

Castiglia and Kellogg highlight several areas throughout their conversation:

• Oath’s mission and brand promise

• The importance of offering gluten-free, vegan, and other menu options that cater
to all food consumers

• Assessing the competitive landscape for pizza and finding ways for brands to
differentiate

“We’ve been tested, and we’ve made many changes,” Kellogg said. “I feel like we’ve
gotten a crash course in survival, and—knock on wood—we’re coming out of this
absolutely fantastic. But most important thing is, I know that the team has just been
extraordinary in the restaurant and at the supporting level for the teams in the
restaurant.”

Drew Kellogg is a United States Naval Academy graduate and holds an MBA from John
Hopkins University. In addition to his seven years as a Naval Officer in the U.S. Navy,
Kellogg spent nine years in leadership positions within the Chipotle Mexican Grill
organization. As CEO of Oath Pizza, Kellogg is on a mission to grow a strong, national
brand to positively impact the world through the 100% feel-good pizza Oath serves
every day.