Pizza Ranch says its focus on community involvement has cultivated a loyal following. Many restaurants have become local hubs, according to its president.

In late May 2007, the Emmetsburg, Iowa, Pizza Ranch became less of a pizzeria, and more of a political forum when Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton made a stop there on her presidential campaign tour. The visit attracted an enthusiastic audience that “packed the house,” says founder and President Adrie Groeneweg.

The presidential hopeful likely chose the Pizza Ranch location for a simple reason. “Most of the communities we are in have populations of no more than 3,000 to 5,000 people,” Groeneweg says. “Our restaurants have become somewhat of a local hub for people in the area, and I’m sure Hillary chose us because we’re the popular place to spend time in a lot of these areas.”

Strong Roots
Founded by Groeneweg in 1981, the 140 Pizza Ranch locations remain close to its roots in Iowa, and the company ensures new stores open no more than 100 miles away from existing locations, according to Groeneweg.

The Pizza Ranch’s most popular menu items include specialty pizzas, such as its newest smoked chicken pizza, but restaurants also allow customers to create their own pie by choosing from a number of crusts, sauces and toppings, the company says.

In recent years, however, one of the Pizza Ranch’s most popular offerings has been its buffet operation. Only five years ago, the company operated a buffet one day per week, but quickly responded when customers demanded more, Groeneweg says.

“That night became the busiest of the week,” he says. “After realizing this, we opened it on Thursdays, as well, and eventually started offering the buffet every night of the week.”

Although buffets in general do not often have a positive reputation, “the customers are the ones with the money, and they were telling us they wanted more,” Groeneweg remarks. “We struggled with it at first but, it’s been going very well so far.”

The Pizza Ranch ensures quality by limiting the products that are available in its buffet. “We’re very strict about what we allow on our buffet,” Groeneweg asserts. “We don’t want 50 items on there, we want people to be able to pick from six or seven choices, and we always offer 10 different pizzas. We’ll only serve our highest-quality food on our buffet.”

Buffet Your Way
Recently, the company started promoting Buffet Your Way, where customers are able to order pizzas directly from the counter if they are not available on the buffet itself.

“We’ll make it fresh and bring it to the customer’s table,” Groeneweg says. “It’s not an inconvenience in any way, because we’re honored to do it. We’re trying to make sure people realize that we’re about more than food; we’re about service, too.”

Many franchisees were already offering these services to customers, Groeneweg notes. Franchise operators stress service, and remain dedicated to serving the communities in which they operate. To be awarded a Pizza Ranch franchise, candidates must be more than savvy businessmen and women. “They have to be motivated and realize that owning a Pizza Ranch will basically become a way of life for them,” he says.

Community Focused
“We don’t want people owning a Pizza Ranch just for the money,” Groeneweg says. Franchisees must also be prepared to play an active role in their communities.

“In this business, we have the opportunity to work with our youth, and in many cases, we have the chance to change their lives. There are a lot of broken families out there, but if these kids have a solid place to work, we can actually make a huge difference in their lives,” he says.

Franchisees are recognized not only for their store’s performance, but also for their involvement in the community. Aside from the Pizza Ranch Franchisee of the Year award, the company also honors the owner who has the biggest impact on his or her community.

“We make a big deal about this award, because we believe that as we give back to our communities, the people become very loyal to us, and appreciate what we do for them,” Groeneweg explains.

Steady Growth
To keep up with its growth pattern of opening 15 to 20 stores per year, the company is in the process of building a new corporate office to accommodate this expansion.

“Today, we’re located in three different buildings, but we’re moving to a 21,000-square-foot facility, where we were at 2,500 square feet previously,” Groeneweg says. The additional space will offer training rooms and Pizza Ranch’s first test kitchen for developing new menu items.

As the company continues to grow, Groeneweg plans to further solidify its corporate values, while remaining devoted to Pizza Ranch’s vision statement, which goes beyond simply serving pizza.

“It’s our mission to glorify God by positively impacting the world we live in,” he says. “We stress that’s what we’re all about at Pizza Ranch, and we want people to know it.”