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April 2003
Superman is Alive and Well By Stephen Millar
He owns La Porchetta's in Carlton, Melbourne

We first walked into this fine establishment with Steve and Linda Green and a very good friend of ours, Mr. Joe Dolce, who insisted that we try La Porchetta. We saw a short man in stature, but a big man with energy who had a driving passion and purpose. His philosophy is every person, including his staff, is important. This man they call the Roc has more energy than ten wound up clocks. The atmosphere is nurtured and grown with attention to every detail that only comes from caring about those important to you… your customers. With us seated in the restaurant and talking to Rocco, there were constant reminders of his passion and attention to customers and product. There were people hanging out of the doors waiting for their order to be filled. People constantly interrupted to pat him on the shoulder to say 'hi' or just say they love the meal on their way in or leaving. Families have grown to know Rocco over the years and now their siblings are visiting his friendly surroundings.

La Porchetta - Superman Lives

Italian-born Rocco Pantoleo studied accounting before he arrived in Australia in 1977. He started his pizza life at Universal Pizza Restaurant at Lygon Street Carlton. He later found a small, little known establishment around the corner called La Porchetta where he was employed until 1985.

"I had some of the best teachers when I was a kid," Rocco says. "I learned at a very early age what good food is. I took this knowledge and applied it to La Porchetta and now we have the best food."

He made the move, along with a friend Felice Nania (fellow employee), to buy a restaurant on Rathdowne St. that has been there since 1962.

Since 1985 there has be a steady growth with La Porchetta to the stage of franchising 90 restaurants throughout Australia and New Zealand and they are exploring other countries internationally at the moment. Rocco attributes his success to "Good Quality Food at Affordable Prices." A strong European belief was adopted that if you give value for money, they will come. From that he has grown to be the best value in Victoria. He refuses to compromise value, quality or service.

Rocco believes in his system and has his franchisees replicating this strong philosophy of "Good Quality Food at Affordable Prices" at every La Porchetta restaurant around the country. Many of the items you will find on the menu at La Porchetta can ONLY be found at La Porchetta. Dishes are made with the freshest ingredients and in many cases are made exclusively for them, such as the marinated vegetables for the antipasto pizzas. The ingredients are prepared and packaged in plastic containers so they stack efficiently in the coolers and can be pulled out quickly when needed. By having these items made exclusively, to get that taste you must go to La Porchetta. One of the key factors in setting your restaurant apart is to be different and if customers can get a signature item only at your restaurant, you have them hooked.

Rocco also adds that having a supplier who can offer you exclusive items in bulk is another key he learned from American business. "To run a multiple-location operation and do high volumes, you have to be able to mass produce items. With the number of restaurants we have, it creates consistency and high quality when we have items mass produced exclusively for us," Rocco says. "We even have our own prosciutto and use only the best quality mushrooms. If you want to be the best, you have to start by using the best ingredients."

Another thing La Porchetta does to control costs and quality is making their own bread. "We use the same dough as our pizzas," Rocco explains. "We take the dough and cut it into pieces about the size of a roll and bake them in our ovens. This way, we don't have to buy bread. "We cook everything in our Blodgett ovens," Rocco said as he made us some samples. "These are the Rolls Royces of ovens. To get a wood-fired taste, we place the pizzas directly on the conveyor screens without placing them on a pan. You get an appearance like a wood-fired oven and the taste is similar."

One little thing we noticed while we were there was the constant ringing of a bell in the background. This lets the waitstaff know when an order is up so they can get it to the table hot and fresh. This is a great way to ensure that a quality product is delivered to the customer and also a neat novelty for the restaurant that sets them apart.

Rocco claims to work over 120 hours a week in the restaurant; more than 16 hours a day, seven days a week. He spends 90 cents on every dollar on the customer. That is why they need great numbers though the door to make the returns viable. Rocco and his crew aren't afraid to roll up their sleeves and give it a "bloody good go."

Conservative estimates put La Porchetta at around 2,800 pizzas a week, which makes him a lot busier than most franchise pizza chain outlets. He is a big hit with the students that frequent La Porchetta because of the value for money. Price average around $5.50 for a small pizza, $6.50 medium pizza and $7.50 for a large pizza. Students spend an average of $10 - $12 for lunch and a little more for an evening meal. La Porchetta doesn't offer delivery, only dine-in and take-out.

Pizzas
We sampled four great pizzas. The first was Smoked Salmon Pizza with tomato, cheese smoked salmon, onions, capers, fresh basil & olive oil. Scrumptious. This pizza was presented in such a way that the smoked salmon and onion rings appeared to be added after the cooking process. This one comes highly recommended for its melt in the mouth taste. The capers and fresh basil just top off a fine pizza.

The second pizza was a Focaccia Pizza. The ingredients were on the inside with a layer of dough over the top and was a pleasant surprise with the presentation and was tantalizing the taste buds. The next pizza was Rocky's Speciality Pizza. This mix of tuna, mixed seafood and a sprinkling of basil gives it a very distinct flavor without a seafood aftertaste with just enough oregano on top to add to the flavor. The last pizza was Pizza Focaccia Prosciutto with mouth-watering ingredients certainly meet all the favor expectations. They were without doubt some of the best pizzas that we have ever tasted.

Marketing
"Our strongest marketing is word of mouth." Rocco said. "We look after our customers in quality of food, prices, ambience and versatile menu. We also encourage all our franchisees to sponsor local sports teams and advertising in their local papers and supporting their community."

Rocco's marking plan stresses product and quality at a fair price. He doesn't follow any other marketing plan like others, such as direct mail, door hangers or box topping. Sara (Rocco's sister) explained customer service support as being the BIG marketing picture. "Look after what you have, not what you don't have," she says. Their restaurant doesn't support home deliveries so they get to see their customers when they come to pickup a take away (Carry out) or when they dine in. Service and quality customers are like the film A Field of Dreams to Rocco…If you build it, they will come.

Rocco's restaurant walls in Rathdowne Street ooze with his passion of fast cars and bikes. The whole place is decked out with pictures of celebrities such as Greg "The Shark" Norman & actors. There is also memorabilia such as pictures of old cars like classic Ferraris, some with Rocco in the car or beside them. Motorbikes that are actually set on the wall and other items filling any gap that was present. The whole place hums when Rocco is dancing around. It would take a month of Sundays to read and look at everyone who was in all of the photos on the wall. It is just a delight to take it all in.

People adore Rocco, whose larrikin image is reflected by the one of two Harleys he rides and places outside his front door. With the Harleys parked out front, the crowds know Rocco is at work. If you visit a La Porchetta we know that you will not be disappointed. But if you want to drop in on Rocco's La Porchetta at Rathdowne Street North Carlton, tell him the PMQ team sent you.

The La Porchetta Story
Back in 1985, Rocco Pantoleo and Felice Nania bought a run-down pizza parlor called La Porchetta, located in the heart of Melbourne's Italian restaurant district, Rathdowne Street, Carlton.

Together, they introduced the European notion of providing good quality food at value-for-money prices. This formula proved a big hit with customers and soon transformed La Porchetta into a thriving restaurant.

Using their hands-on business experience, Rocco and Felice developed and refined the La Porchetta franchise concept. Their first franchise restaurant opened in Reservoir, Victoria in 1990, paving the way for the 70 La Porchetta franchises now operating across Australia.

The company continues to expand and innovate with the launch of their exciting new La Porchetta Express concept. Offering a selected range of take-away La Porchetta menu items, and operating from within retail outlets such as convenience stores and shopping centers, La Porchetta Express offers prospective franchisees even greater choice and flexibility. The first La Porchetta Express franchise opened in Melbourne, Victoria in 2000.

La Promotions
Promotions have proven to be an effective marketing tool for La Porchetta. Here are some of the promotions they have received exceptional response from.

Coca-Cola™

Purchase a "Coca-Cola"™ Tumbler with your choice of a "Coca-Cola"™ product
And receive a peel and reveal ticket, match the three "Coca-Cola"™ symbols and you have instantly won a trip for two adults and two children to Sea World on the Gold Coast.
If unsuccessful, fill in your name, address and telephone number on the back of the peel and reveal card and place the competed entry card into the "Coca-Cola"™ entry box to enter the second chance draw.

Village Cinemas
WIN your own private screening in a Village Gold-Class Cinema with 27 of your best friends to see the amazing new movie called EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS.

To be eligible for entry, simply purchase any Medium sized Pizza at participating La Porchetta stores and you will go into the draw to win great weekly spot prizes and then the chance to win that special screening of EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS.

PMQ

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