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Many Chinese people believe that pizza originated in Italy. They called Italy “The Hometown of Pizza.” But the people of Shanghai don’t need to go to Italy for a slice of original Italian pizza anymore; Pizza Italia has given to them “A Taste of Italy in Shanghai.”
There are now five Pizza Italia restaurants in Shanghai. They are very 
successful in Shanghai for selling their traditional Italian pizza and other delicious Italian food.
“I’ve been in China for 12 years; my business partner, Antonello Carlino has been in China about 20 years. We are doing consulting business in Shanghai. We opened our first Pizza Italia in 1999. We are the only Italian food company in China and it’s fully owned by Italians, we are very proud of it,” Annarosa Carnovale said. Annarosa and Antonello are both Italian and are owners of Shanghai Citex Food Co., Ltd.
“In China, people do not really know too much about pizza. Most Chinese only know Pizza Hut. Most pizzerias in Shanghai don’t have real pizza. Just like Chinese food in Europe, it’s not original and traditional. We were tired of the pizzerias that changed the original taste of the pizza to cater to the needs of Chinese customers; we wanted to introduce the traditional homemade style Italian pizza to the Chinese. We opened our first Pizza Italia in Shanghai and we used the restaurant to introduce our gourmet Italian food and to test the market. The result is that our foods have become very popular here; people like it. Our business is doing better and better,” Annarosa said.
At Pizza Italia, all you taste is 100 percent pure Italian style pizza and other Italian foods like Italian pasta, soup and desert. They also offer free delivery service to customers in Shanghai within 15 minutes driving distance, with minimum order RMB60.00 (USD$7.50).
“We imported ovens from Ali group Italy; these are professionally designed ovens for perfectly baking high-quality pizzas. Each oven can bake more than 60 pizzas per hour with no problem. We have spent a lot of money on them. We also have a commisary in Shanghai to produce all of the pizza dough and other main dishes for our five stores here,” Annarosa said.
In Shanghai, you can find so many international pizza chains and local brands.
“It’s a little difficult for us to find a good location in Shanghai. Pizza Hut occupies most of the good locations already. We have two outlets set in the busy shopping malls that have a very large flow of customers, and the business over here is very good. We are not afraid to compete with others because we are very confident with our food and service.” Annarosa said.
“Our customers are not only office workers, businessmen and foreigners anymore; families also have become major consumers. The proportion of Chinese 
customers has increased; local people are much more familiar with our style than before. I would say that more than 90 percent of our customers were foreigners when we opened the first outlet. Now the local customers have increased to 60 percent,” Annarosa said.
Pizza Italia has 50 percent business from carry out and delivery service, 70 percent of delivery business comes from foreigners who live in Shanghai and 30 percent from local Chinese.
“People enjoy relaxing at home and prefer the convenience of delivery during busy hours. We are the first restaurant to offer delivery service in Shanghai. Because these great ovens we have, we can handle 30 delivery orders per hour. Most pizzerias in Shanghai can’t compete with us at this point,” Annarosa said very proudly.
“We also did a lot of work on marketing. Besides our advertising in the local newspapers and magazines, a lot of Chinese and Italian media have written many reports on us, such as L’Espresso, Corriere Della Sera, China Briefing and Shanghai Evening Post, etc.”
Pizza Italia has a very unique website that serves Chinese and English. The website upgrades frequently with all of the restaurant’s new specials and events. You also can download the menu online and learn more about their food and service.
When I asked Annarosa if she has any advice she would like to share with all of our readers who plan to do business in China, she said, “You must have a lot of patience and put in a lot of hard work, respect people and culture, and do not try to force people to accept your opinions. I’ve been in China for 12 years, and I’ve gotten so much help from the Chinese. As a foreigner coming to China to do business, you must know the market here; that is the key to success. You may not have the professional knowledge, but you must know the market. I had a very good job in Italy before I came to China; I never thought that I would come to China, but here I am. I think I am very brave and I am proud of myself.”
She also stressed that, “Doing business in China takes a lot of investments because this is a long process. We had big investments while running our business here; so far we already invested 1.4 million US dollars. We also have a consulting company in Shanghai and we are still doing the consulting job.”
After 12 years living in China, Annarosa has developed a great passion for China.
“I like China and I like living here. People believed that paradise was overseas, now the paradise is here. The economy of China has grown very fast with the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and 2010 World Expo Shanghai.”
I asked her if Pizza Italia would develop the franchisee business in the future, and she gave me a very positive answer.
“We’re not planning on developing in other cities; only in Shanghai. And, we’re not going to franchise. The reason is that we must control the food quality and supervise the business by ourselves. Our business will remain in Shanghai.”
If you live in Shanghai or if you will have a chance to visit there, don’t forget to try the delicious original Italian style pizza at Pizza Italia while you enjoy one of the biggest cities in the world. To find out more about Pizza Italia Shanghai, please visit their website, www.pizzaitalia.com.cn. To learn more about the Chinese Pizza market, please contact PMQ’s Chinese Editor at weihua@pmq.com; visit PMQ’s Chinese website at www.pmq.cn .