Pizza. Who doesn’t love a great pizza? Flippers Pizzeria, a growing chain of authentic and fresh pies in Florida, uses Easy Ice at many of their locations. Top quality ingredients and consistently tasty pizzas has made Flippers a favorite for 25 years.
Marketing Iceologist, Heidi, chats with Flippers’ VP Operations, Ben Richardson, about ice, his growing business, and of course, pizza!
The Iceologist: You have ice machines from us in five of your locations. What drove you to choose a subscription over buying or leasing ice machines?
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Ben: We chose Easy Ice subscriptions for our higher volume locations — stores that go through 500 lbs of ice or more a day. Your service is really good and you guys are on top of things. Having repairs and downtime ice (Breakdown Ice) covered are big deals.
Time flies in the restaurant industry. If you’re not taking the time to change water filters, you can really do damage to the ice machine. With Easy Ice, I don’t have to worry about this stuff anymore. Not having to worry is a big deal to me.
The Iceologist: How has Easy Ice simplified your operation?
Ben: I have no worries about keeping the ice machines running and clean. You guys take care of all that. The cost of buying extra (bagged) ice is exorbitant. We don’t make money from ice, but we need it. And it’s nice to have a set price for ice and ice machines — easy to budget.
The Iceologist: The pizza industry is a crowded space. What’s the differentiator that’s made Flippers such a success?
Ben: It’s the pizza. We execute at a high level, using only the best ingredients. We achieve high quality and consistency at all of our stores. Once you’ve had our pizza, you’ll crave it!
The Iceologist: What are Flippers’ growth plans?
Ben: We currently have nine corporate-owned stores and three franchises in Central Florida. We’re about to open another and have plans for 16 more locations in the St. Petersburg, Tampa, and Clearwater areas.
The Iceologist: What’s the number one favorite item on Flipper’s menu?
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Ben: Ahhh, the Margherita— it’s authentic and legendary! The Margherita is historically the first type of pizza. We use the best tomatoes imported from Italy, fresh mozzarella, and the highest quality extra virgin olive oil. This is pizza at its genesis. The sweetness of the tomatoes and the simplicity make the Margherita pizza the shining star of our menu.
Flippers Pizzeria at a glance:
12 locations in Central Florida – more opening soon.
Signature wood-burning ovens.
37 toppings and three styles of crust.
Pizza plus starters & flatbreads, sandwiches, wings, and pasta.
Available for dine-in, delivery or carry out.
Learn why smart businesses like Flippers are choosing ice machine subscriptions over buying or leasing!
As the Co-Founder and COO of Easy Ice, John Mahlmeister has been working in the commercial ice machine industry since 2009. Co-headquartered in Phoenix, AZ and Marquette, MI, Easy Ice is the only national provider of full-service ice machine subscriptions in the industry. Since Easy Ice was founded, the number of ice machines under its management has grown to over 30,000 units across 47 states, with no signs of slowing down.