A new pizza delivery service will be hitting the streets of the Port City early next month, with a radically different approach, according to the founders of Wheelz Pizza.
Joy Sprenger and Paul Parker say they aim to change the online pizza delivery business by delivering the highest quality and best-tasting pizzas via a network of Wifi-enabled mobile kitchens expected to efficiently deliver pizzas on demand.
Sprenger and Parker said they have implemented mobile technology, similar to that used by Uber, as well as ultra-compact, high-tech ovens that can bake pizzas in just 90 seconds, to deliver fresh, hot pizza in a fraction of the time it takes for brick-and-mortar locations to deliver. Pizzas are baked en route to the customer and brought to their doors straight from the oven.
All orders will be placed and paid for via a mobile app, and with multiple vans throughout the city, customers will connect with the van nearest their location, often receiving their orders in just minutes.
Wheelz will specialize in New York/Neapolitan-style like pizza, prepared with all natural ingredients. The dough and 100% organic sauce, along with all other ingredients, will be prepared daily at a commissary kitchen at 2323 S. 17th St, where customers will also have the option of picking up their pizzas for carryout.
“We intend to be very transparent about our ingredients,” Parker said.
Sprenger and Parker hired an international pizza consultant to help with recipe development and experimented with over 200 dough recipes and countless types of equipment, before settling on Wheelz signature dough and the Italian-made ovens they’ve installed in each of their mobile units.
Each of the high-tech mobile kitchens can carry enough ingredients for 100 pizzas and can make 30 to 40 pies per hour, they said.
Founders say that as the company grows, the commissary will continue to support as many mobile units as necessary. Three employees will staff each of the units: a driver, a passenger who helps organize routing and delivers the pizza, and a pizza chef.
Wheelz will hold a soft opening at an event at the Wrightsville Beach Museum on June 2, and be up and running shortly thereafter, Sprenger and Parker said.
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