When and Why Use a Commissary Kitchen for Your Pizza Company

Building a production facility to scale your restaurant business

Consistency. It’s the one word that makes or breaks the quality every pizzeria strives for. While consistency can be manageable in one or two locations, producing the same quality product across several locations can be challenging.

Enter commissary kitchens. They are commonly used by food trucks, pop-ups and ghost operations, often known as shared kitchens. For brick-and-mortar pizzerias, adding a commissary can be the move that points the needle to growth mode. When executed effectively, commissaries can produce cost efficiency, scalability, flexibility, a source of innovation, operations efficiency and quality controls for a growing pizza business.

Two independent pizzerias with eyes on expansion share with Pizza Today why launching commissaries has been a gamechanger for their businesses.

Philadelphia-based Pizzata Pizzeria | A Commissary Built Out of Necessity

For Pizzata Pizzeria in Philadelphia, a commissary was built out of survival. “Our tiny take-out pizzeria was getting overrun by dough production. Every day felt challenging and, frankly, unsustainable,” says co-owner Vinny Gallagher.

With two locations, Gallagher and partner Davide Lubrano Lavadera searched for a commissary location that was perfectly positioned between the two spots. “To keep our options open, we scouted locations as though we were launching a brand new pizzeria,” Gallagher says. If the commissary idea bombed, we’d at least have a solid Plan B. That mindset helped us evaluate the market more clearly.”

They secured a space with a good lease and low rent in their target area. Building out the space was not cheap. “To give you an idea: Wall upgrades and whiteboarding came to about $12K, a new double front door for moving the big mixers ran us $2K, electrical upgrades including a phase converter cost around $20K, and plumbing fixes like installing sinks and resolving bathroom issues added another $7K,” he says.

Pizzata’s commissary is a dough-production facility. “The commissary’s pretty decked out,” Gallagher says. “We’ve got three roll-in dough fridges, a mixer lineup that ranges from 10 quarts to 200 quarts, plus a proofer and a divider. Up next, we’re adding a water meter, a chiller and a rounder to streamline things even more.”

It is still in the early stages, Gallagher says. “But the commissary’s been a gamechanger. We’ve expanded our hours, added new workstations since the dough gear got relocated, and our product quality’s way more consistent. Plus, our payroll’s trimmed down. It’s not all smooth sailing, of course, but problem-solving is how we’ve made it this far. Solving issues quickly (and correctly) is what we’re banking on to keep us moving in the right direction.”

Up next, Gallagher says they plan to add mozzarella and pasta production. “We’re taking a close look at both our shops to see which items we can centralize, and which ones make financial sense to tackle in-house.”

Scratch Pizza in Dayton, Ohio |  A Commissary Built for Growth

Dayton, Ohio-based Old Scratch Pizza has grown to four locations over eight years. Owner Eric Soller saw a need for a commissary with store No. 3. “Our food is handmade, and we weren’t willing to compromise on consistency, quality or labor efficiency,” he says. “A commissary allowed us to centralize time-consuming or complex prep, reduce redundancy across locations and elevate consistency.”

True to its scratch concept, teams were making everything at each location. “But with everything made from scratch – sauces, dressings, meatballs, condiments – store-level prep became overwhelming,” Soller says. “The commissary relieved that burden and created space for better execution and guest focus.”

Soller lucked out on a commissary location when a space adjacent to one of the locations became available. “Having the commissary right next door has been incredibly convenient – especially for recipe testing and sharing labor or resources between teams,” he says.

Old Scratch’s commissary serves multiple functions. “On the dough side, we use 140-pound spiral mixers, a water doser and an automated divider/rounder,” Soller says. “For cooking, we have combi ovens and a large tilt skillet. For prep, we rely on slicers, a 40-quart food processor and industrial immersion blenders. We vacuum-pack all prepped products for safe and efficient transport to our stores. One of the most critical investments has been walk-in refrigeration – lots of it. And, of course, a refrigerated truck to handle distribution.

“We produce as much as possible at the commissary for consistency and quality,” he continues. “We have around 35 products that we produce centrally and distribute to the stores. That includes all dough, dressings, sauces, pickles and toppings like roasted garlic and caramelized onions. We also slice all meats for sandwiches at the commissary, which has allowed us to eliminate slicers from the stores and improve safety.”

Several items still are made at a store level. “Things that are best prepped fresh, like lettuce and salad toppings, are still done in-store. Some items – like mushrooms, croutons, and meatballs – are also still cooked on-site for quality reasons,” he says.

Soller already is planning for commissary 2.0 as the pizza company expands, including a tilting mixer with 600-pound capacity, a scissor lift to make loading easier, ambient temperature controls in the dough-production area, and more walk-in refrigeration space.

The expense to build a commissary is a broad spectrum, according to Soller, and costs are heavily dependent on the infrastructure exists. Dough production equipment alone may run $60,000-$100,000.

Another area often missed in the planning is required certifications. “In Ohio, our inspections and licensing are handled by the state Department of Agriculture, as opposed to the local health department,” Soller says. “You will also need people on staff with HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) training and certification.”

Upfront costs to build a commissary can be high, but pizza companies looking to scale should run the numbers on their store-level outputs and a projected commissary. It just might be the gamechanger that Pizzata Pizzeria and Old Scratch Pizza have found in their markets.

Denise Greer is Executive Editor at Pizza Today.