Super Fast Pizza not just about a quick buck

updated 8:00 a.m. ET May 5, 2005

FOND DU LAC, Wisconsin - Scott Matthew knows there’s nothing like a hot pizza delivered to your door on a January night.

One such night last year, when an hour seemed too long to wait, he went to bed hungry, but woke up inspired.

“If you bake the pizzas in vans on the way to you, it would be so neat. You could probably get it there in 20 minutes,” Matthew said.

He jotted down the idea on a Post-it note and incorporated two weeks later. Now his employees roam this central Wisconsin city of 42,000 in a pair of Super Fast Pizza vans, cooking pizzas in mobile kitchens and delivering them — with the cheese still bubbling when they reach people’s doors — in about 15 minutes.

“Most of the time, pizza is cool and soggy when it’s delivered, especially in northern climates,” said Dave Ostrander, a pizza business consultant whose Big Dave’s pizzeria was once ranked among the busiest in the nation. “I think this solves a huge problem.”

The company uses Mercedes-Benz Sprinters, high-roofed vehicles used as ambulances in Europe that cost about $32,000. For another $65,000 they were outfitted with coolers, five small pizza ovens and touch-screen monitors connected to an Internet-based ordering system staffed by a call center in Nebraska.

Darren Hauck / AP Jim Ulrich prepares a pizza for delivery at Super Fast Pizzas in their warehouse in March.

Ten types of thin crust pizza such as pepperoni and bacon cheeseburger are made off-site according to Super Fast’s specifications and kept cool in refrigerators for a maximum of four days. The pizzas cook in seven to 11 minutes in 600-degree Fahrenheit ovens. That is hotter than average, but workable with the right ingredients and care, said Ostrander.

The results are a cross between a supermarket-bought frozen pizza, a delivery from a chain like Domino’s and eating at a pizzeria where the pie comes straight from the oven. They’re not for fussy pizza connoisseurs, but will satisfy a quick craving.

“Our pepperoni tastes like a pepperoni,” Matthew maintained.

One Thursday evening, a ring signifying an order sounded in Super Fast’s warehouse garage at 5:27 p.m. By 5:32 p.m., employee Denise Volkenant had put five pizzas in the ovens, flipped on the timers and was on the road.

Volkenant and the other drivers work alone. Between driving with the window down, putting pizzas in the ovens, and tapping on the computer screen, there isn’t a second to spare. She said it’s up to her when to pull over to put pizzas in the ovens, when to arrange to have another driver take an order and how many pizzas to restock in the cooler when supplies get low.

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