By Killian Maree—For the North Star Reporter
Food Feud is hosting a Pizza Palooza throughout the month of October to raise money for the Greater Boston Food Bank, and some local pizzerias are among the participants.
The creators of the fundraiser started the competition to help give back because of the increase in food insecurity and hope to have another feud every month.
Dana Paul DiPaolo and Phil DiPaolo went to pizza restaurants in person and gave them fliers to sign up. Fourteen restaurants are now signed up, including Attleboro House of Pizza, Pizza Time Foxboro and Classic Pizza. North Attleborough contenders are Best Pizza Market and Slice Pizza House.
Yazi Ferhi, the owner of Slice Pizza House in North Attleborough, said that he is excited to represent the restaurant in the competition.
“For us, this competition is more than just a contest. It’s an opportunity to bring our pizza to the community, meet other local pizza makers, and share what we’ve been building at Slice Pizza House,” he said. “Pizza has been my passion for many years, and every pizza we make reflects the experience, attention to detail, and love for the craft that we’ve put into this business.”
Melina Summers from Attleboro House of Pizza is also excited for the competition.
“Getting the opportunity to put our pizza up against some of the other great shops in the area is something we’re looking forward to,” said Summers.
When asked what the restaurants were doing to prepare, many said the same thing.
“We’re preparing by focusing on what we do best: fresh ingredients, quality dough, great sauce, and a pizza that represents who we are,” Ferhi said. “We’re not trying to reinvent ourselves for the competition—we’re bringing the same pizza our customers enjoy every day and making sure every detail is right.”
Tickets for the competition are $15, with discounts for first responders, educators and military.
Dana Paul DiPaolo said another is to bring new customers to the mom and pop pizza restaurants of Massachusetts.
“The average cost of acquisition for a restaurant in Massachusetts, like a pizza place to bring in a new customer, is probably anywhere between $30 and $50, minimum. Right now, we’re bringing them new customers for the price of a slice of pizza. So it’s a real win-win,” said Dana Paul DiPaolo.
When a person who is participating in the Food Feud goes to a restaurant to try a slice of pizza, they are asked to fill out a survey about their experience. The data goes right to the restaurant, so they can see the answers to the surveys that were filled out, even though they are anonymous.
The winner of the competition will be decided by the surveys that are filled out. Food Feud will compile all of the data and decide who gave their customers the best pizza experience.
Because Food Feud wanted to give the winners something other than a certificate for their achievement, the winner of the competition will receive a Food Feud belt. Dana Paul DiPaolo said it will resemble something like a championship pro wrestling belt.
“We want to make it… something different that they can be proud of,” said Dana Paul DiPaolo.
Food Feud is not stopping in the greater Massachusetts area, however, and will continue the competitions into next year. In November, there will be another pizza competition for just Boston restaurants, in December there will be “wing wars,” and in January there will be a competition to see who has the best healthy drinks.
“I think our goal really is threefold. One, it’s all about us giving back. So supporting the greater Boston Food Bank to help those who have food insecurities. The second one is driving new business to restaurants. We know they struggle with that. And really the third component is we’ve gamified this whole idea about going out, and we want to make it real, it will always be really reasonable,” said Dana Paul DiPaolo.
To participate, one download the Food Feud app in the App Store or sign up online at https://tinyurl.com/3t5xzjbs. Pizza Palooza begins in October.