Pizza vending machines will become more commonplace at the University of New Orleans (UNO), thanks to a new partnership between PizzaForno and Chartwells Higher Education, a company that specializes in campus dining services.
PizzaForno’s vending machines can bake and dispense a pizza in under three minutes, the company says. The first PizzaForno machine was placed at UNO in September 2022 in response to complaints about a lack of food options when the dining halls closed for the day, according to a press release from PizzaForno.
Richard Curtis, the general manager at Chartwells on the UNO campus, is clearly a pizza fan himself. “With every bite, your taste buds awaken, leaving you craving more,” he said. “Luckily for you, PizzaForno is always available.”
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“Our first PizzaForno location in New Orleans has been extremely successful, and we look forward to bringing more units to the University of New Orleans and other universities in the area,” said Miller Engelhardt, PizzaForno’s master licensee of New Orleans. “Our partnership with Chartwells has allowed us to branch out to other universities in the area and has helped us move to higher foot-traffic areas on campus, boosting our sales tremendously.”
PMQ learned recently that the University of Mississippi, located in Oxford, Mississippi, will also introduce PizzaForno units this fall in a pair of campus residence halls. Additionally, Ole Miss Dining Services began using a pizza-making robot from Picnic in its dining hall in January and has plans to create a pizza-focused ghost kitchen, with delivery provided by Starship Technologies’ robots. Those plans will be detailed in the upcoming August 2023 issue of PMQ Pizza Magazine.
Canadian entrepreneurs William Moyer and Les Tomlin founded PizzaForno in 2018. The vending machines are designed for campuses, hospitals, businesses, busy street corners and other areas with high foot traffic. The company said it plans to have 25,000 operating units by 2028.
