Behind the 800 Degrees UK launch

What is your background in the industry and with 800 degrees? I've been in the restaurant industry for over 30 years, having started out with Brinker International, the parent company for Chili's grill and bar, and I’ve been with 800 degrees since 2017. We are a global pizza and wings restaurant, with a strong franchise model for growth, allowing us to partner up with great operating partners around the world. For the move to the UK, we partnered with Reef technologies. We both thought it was a great fit for 800 degrees in the UK, and a great starting point to gain a foothold in the UK market. We're excited to be here with our operating partner and we're excited to bring 800 degrees pizza wings to London to start. Was the expansion to the UK a long-term goal for the company? Yes, it was one of our goals. We first started the brand back in 2011 in Los Angeles, and we were an early adopter of an international presence. Since then, we’ve opened in Japan, Singapore and in the Middle East in the UAE and Qatar. We recognised that pizza is an international cuisine, everyone and everywhere loves it, so global expansion was a natural progression. We've been wanting to go into London for quite some time, and this was a perfect opportunity for us to partner with Reef. This is an opportunity for us to get into the UK, get the brand known, get people loving our pizza, and then ideally we find an operating partner over there that wants to do some more brick and mortar style restaurants. What different challenges does a move to the UK bring? What similarities are there between the two markets? There are a lot of similarities, but also a lot of challenges. Ultimately, what we stand for is great food, and a great time with friends and family. That’s a universal concept. So there's a lot of similarities that we feel will translate well from the US to the UK. One of the main challenges was adapting to the different flavour profiles that exist in the UK that are distinct from the US. At least in my opinion, I believe that London diner’s specifically have a more interesting flavour profile compared to the US guest. That has influenced some of our new additions to the UK menu: for example, we put butter chicken on the pizza. It would be unthinkable in the US, but in the UK it is a beloved dish, and Indian food has a huge influence. It’s about adjusting our pizzas to take advantage of the different cultures and palates that exist. Another challenge is supply chain food availability. We're a local, fresh food restaurant, so we are still working with our partner Reef to enable us to build our supply chain in the UK. there. So far, it’s worked out really well, and we are very happy with our ability to get great quality ingredients to create our pizzas. How does 800 degrees plan to stand out in a competitive UK market? We know people already have their favourites in London, we know people are creatures of habit, and we know there is already great pizza in London and the UK more widely. But our pizza is fantastic; We have premium toppings, we have our own sauce that has a unique special recipe, and our dough crust is unique. It's a thin crust, but it's not a cracker crust. First and foremost, we trust in our product that once people try us, they will want to keep coming back. We don’t have an aggressive marketing strategy to entice people in. That’s one of the beautiful things about pizza, it’s universality. You can go for any occasion and any day of the week, whether for a birthday party on Saturday or a football match on a Wednesday. We don’t need to trick people into coming to us, we just need to deliver for people who are having a good time together, and want to have the best pizza they can.

Behind the 800 Degrees UK launch

800 Degrees CEO Tommy Lee talks to Catering Today about it’s launch in the UK, plans for the future, differing flavour profiles in the UK and the US, and why pizza is the ultimate leveller

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