82 Business View - May 2015
FRANCHISE
heart and soul of Pita Pit is about the customer mak-
ing of it what they will. “The great thing about Pita Pit”
he claims, “is you can eat as healthy as you possibly
want or you can give it double Philly with extra cheese
on it, for the guy who says ‘I just want the taste.’”
Who are they up against? For Pita Pit it’s all about lo-
cation, location, location. “We’ve got a lot of competi-
tion with who’s located where,” says Kevin Sanders,
the VP of marketing. He goes on to mention how it’s
always been about even more than just a healthy or
guilty snack fix:
We have so many options to customize products that
[customers] can create a product that fits their nutri-
tional needs. So if they’ve got food allergies or if they’re
vegan, whatever they’re doing we have products they
can use. So it really gives people versatility they can’t
find in other concepts.
With such a fantastic business model, it’s a no-brainer
that others would want to get involved in the booming
force of Pita Pit. But the process isn’t as easy as just
buying a ticket and getting in line. “I joke about this
now but we could probably be at around a thousand
stores now if we let just anybody that had $25,000
into the system.”
Pita Pit maintains 20 corporate stores to use as train-
ing centers where they hold “Discovery Days” with pro-
spective franchisees, inviting them to a “two-way inter-
view” as Lange describes it. “[If they] went and tried
Pita Pit and loved it…that’s probably criterion number
one with us,” he continues. “You have to love what you
do. I have four little girls and I couldn’t promote ham-
burgers or hotdogs or French fries, because I don’t re-
ally believe in them.”
Lange admits the process is tough. Around 85% of ap-
plicants get rejected, but he says to hit the ground run-
ning you need mutual respect and love for the brand.
“You’re dealing with the fact that someone might not
