Korea-headquartered famous pizza brand GOPIZZA recently opened its 15th outlet in HSR Layout, Bangalore, and has announced massive expansion plans in the Indian market. GOPIZZA, is known for its one-person, oval shape, fire-baked pizza with quick serving speed and affordable price. The brand which opened its first outlet in India in Bangalore in 2019 aims to expand to 500 outlets by the end of 2025.
In 2016, 27-year-old Jae Won (Jay) Lim started serving tasty, one-person sized pizzas from a food truck on the premise that pizzas could be inexpensive when eaten by an individual alone. Spurred by the immense popularity of these oval-shaped pizzas, he established his first outlet in South Korea in 2017 and from then GOPIZZA has seen explosive growth to 5 countries with over 140 stores. To make the offering even more efficient and consistent, the brand uses patented technology to produce pizzas in its ‘GOVEN’ – an automatic pizza oven and infusion of robotic and AI technologies, called GOBOT in its smart kitchens to produce single-serving pizzas to perfection in three minutes.
“We have pioneered the fastest and most convenient pizza operations in the world which ensures standard quality,” says Jae Won Lim, Founder, and CEO of GOPIZZA. The brand which started pre-pandemic India is buoyed by the promise the country has shown. “India is a market where we have seen the immense potential for growth. Our entry into India as the first overseas market outside Korea has ensured that we are poised to be a truly global brand. From here we aim to become a unicorn company with more than 10,000 stores worldwide.”
“A young country and the biggest consumer market in the world, India has tremendous possibilities for a brand like GOPIZZA that takes pride in offering one-person pizzas of superior quality at competitive prices. Our strategy in India has been localized to the tastes of our consumers with a differentiated menu from Korea and Singapore. In the next few years, we aim to consolidate our presence across India with stores in Pune, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, and some key Tier 2 cities including Chandigarh, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Kochi, and Kozhikode” says Mahesh Reddy, CEO, GOPIZZA India.
At a GOPIZZA outlet, every step of ‘pizza making’ is redesigned to enable a one-manned operation in a small kitchen. The GOVEN is a patented oven that bakes six single-serving pizzas to perfection in three minutes. This oven improves efficiency and allows employees to spend time on less tedious work. The ‘GOBOT’ is a cooperative robot that cuts pizza, sprinkles the proper sauce, and even manages it so that it doesn’t cool down, and the ‘AI Smart Topping Table’ tracks and monitors the toppings on a pizza in real-time through AI technology developed in-house. This ensures the same quality and service to customers around the world.
The Korean brand, with its unique take on pizza, now aims to make people consider it a single-serving dish, with a goal to expand to more than 300 locations in the next 2 years. “Our success in South Korea, India, and Singapore has given us the confidence to establish ourselves across Asia and then ultimately make GOPIZZA a global pizza chain,” signs off Jae Won Lim.