Inside the strategy that took Pizza Prime to leadership and R$200 million

The history of Pizza Prime begins before the name even existed and with a frustration that almost ended it all. At the age of 19, Gabriel Concon raised R$20,000 with the help of his father to buy his first pizzeria in São Paulo. The agreement was lined up, the word given. But, at the time of signing, the contract never came.

“That was my first big disappointment. I thought: ‘Is the business world like that?’ It was a huge blow.”

The episode could have been the final point. Instead, it became fuel. The next day, Gabriel decided to try again. The first neighborhood pizzeria was 20 m² in size, had a wood-fired oven and was completely manual in operation. There was no system, card or processes. The cash flow was controlled “in your pocket” and the dependence on the pizza chefs was total.

“I didn’t know how to make pizza. It was literally in their hands. I cried many times at home, but I grew calloused. The challenge was to make an experienced team respect a young manager. There I learned that a product alone doesn’t sustain the business”, says the founder and CEO of Pizza Prime, today one of the largest Brazilian pizzeria chains. Gabriel runs an operation with more than 80 units, presence in 10 states and revenue that should be more than R$200 million in 2025.

The businessman participated in the program From Zero to Topwhich tells the stories of successful entrepreneurs, and explained how a small neighborhood pizzeria became one of the biggest national food service businesses.

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From one to several pizzerias

The business grew store by store, with partners, friends and family. Each unit had a different name. The operation worked, but it was chaotic. It was only in 2011 that he made the strategic decision to unify everything under a single brand. “I needed to organize this mess. That’s when the concept of Pizza Prime was born”, recalls Concon.

By 2019, the chain had reached 26 stores without a formal franchise. Professionalization came not to sell expansion, but to structure relationships. At that time, the three brothers were also part of the business. “The franchise project was born more to organize people than to sell stores.”

The debut as a franchisor coincided with the pandemic. Twelve openings were planned for March 2020. Despite all the limitations, the stores opened. Delivery sustained growth. The network doubled in size.

Today, Pizza Prime operates with more than 80 physical stores spread across 11 Brazilian states, around a thousand employees in the units and a corporate structure that brings together an average of 100 professionals including the franchiser, central kitchen and back-office.

To find out more details about Gabriel Concon’s entrepreneurial journey and the delivery market, see the full episode on The program is available and in its podcast version on the main streaming platforms such as , , , and .

About From Zero to Top

The Do Zero ao Topo podcast is a production of InfoMoney and brings, every week, the stories of prominent women and men in the Brazilian market to tell their story, sharing the biggest challenges faced along the way and the main strategies used in building the business.