The Marco's Pizza® Foundation Teams Up with No Kid Hungry to Help Provide 2.5M Meals to Children

Nation's fastest-growing pizza brand* strengthens its community giveback efforts

TOLEDO, Ohio, Feb. 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Marco's Pizza Foundation joins No Kid Hungry national campaign to combat child hunger and poverty in the United States. By committing to donate at least $250,000 to No Kid Hungry, the Foundation can help provide 2.5 million meals to kids**.  The new partnership also brings the Marco's Pizza brand, its franchisees, and the communities it serves together under one common cause.

"We know that 1 in 8 kids in the United States are at risk for hunger***, which makes tackling food insecurity and malnutrition in our communities a critical priority for us," says Stephanie Moseley, president of The Marco's Pizza Foundation and a Marco's multi-unit franchise owner. "This initiative is very personal to me because my mother grew up with food insecurity and became impassioned with fighting child hunger – as a school teacher, she always said, 'a hungry child cannot learn or focus' and that has always stuck with me; I'm humbled to lead our efforts helping to solve the issues of hunger and malnutrition in children, who are the future of our communities and society at large."

Established in July 2022, The Marco's Pizza Foundation's mission is to nurture and nourish local communities through four key pillars: School & Education, Hunger Prevention & Nutrition, Workforce Development, and Entrepreneurship. With an emphasis on the Hunger Prevention & Nutrition pillar, the partnership with No Kid Hungry cements the Foundation's commitment to addressing the issue of hungry children and empowers team members, franchisees, and guests to make a positive difference in their communities. Starting this month, customers at select U.S. stores are able to donate either $1, $3, or $5 to support the initiative.

"The work we are doing through The Marco's Pizza Foundation plays a vital role in our success as a business and as an effective corporate citizen," says Tony Libardi, Co-CEO and President of Marco's Pizza. "The campaign with No Kid Hungry is a national extension of the local store efforts already happening to support kids and will magnify the overall impact that the Marco's Pizza brand can have in the communities where we serve and operate."

"The Marco's Pizza Foundation's commitment to making a positive difference in its communities supports our mission of ending childhood hunger," says Diana Hovey, senior vice president of Corporate Partnerships at Share Our Strength, the organization behind the No Kid Hungry campaign. "Marco's Pizza has a proven track record of upholding community values and getting involved within its own backyard – the brand's support will help us continue to make a large-scale impact."

Community giveback is a key business priority for Marco's Pizza in 2023 as the brand closes out a historic 2022. The nation's fastest-growing pizza brand* reached key milestones with the opening of its 1,100^th store and surpassing $1B in annual systemwide sales. Additionally, Nation's Restaurant News Top 500 Report shows Marco's achieved the highest percent year-over-year sales change (+18.2%) when compared to the nation's top 4 pizza brands, making Marco's the No. 5 pizza brand in systemwide sales in America****. Now, Marco's has its sights set on becoming the No. 4 brand in pizza as it experienced a 12.8% increase in year-over-year Average Unit Volume (AUV), and the Top 50% of Marco's franchised stores generated $1,198,201 AUV for 2021*****.

At the crux of Marco's ongoing growth is its renowned high-quality pizza which has provided the basic foundation to scale and with this unparalleled growth trajectory and a focus on innovation and development in the year ahead, Marco's is positioned to support its communities more than ever before and looks forward to engaging its consumers with No Kid Hungry this year.

For more information on the Marco's Pizza Foundation, visit https://www.marcos.com/foundation.

ABOUT MARCO'S PIZZA 

Marco's Pizza is one of America's Top 10 Favorite QSR Brands according to the 2022 Market Force Information Study. Headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, Marco's Pizza is the fastest-growing pizza brand in the United States*. Marco's was founded in 1978 by Italian-born Pasquale ("Pat") Giammarco and thrives to deliver a high-quality pizza experience, known for its dough made from scratch and its three fresh signature cheeses. The company has grown from its roots as a beloved Ohio brand to operate over 1,100 stores in 34 states with locations in Puerto Rico and the Bahamas. Most recently, Marco's Pizza was ranked No. 51 on Entrepreneur Magazine's 2023 "Franchise 500" ranking. Other recent accolades include a high ranking on Newsweek's 2023 "America's Best Customer Service" in pizza chains list, ranked No. 40 on QSR's Top 50 and has been featured six consecutive years on Nation's Restaurant News' prestigious "Top 500" ranking.

ABOUT NO KID HUNGRY

No child should go hungry in America. But millions of kids in the United States live with hunger. No Kid Hungry is working to end childhood hunger by helping launch and improve programs that give all kids the healthy food they need to thrive. This is a problem we know how to solve. No Kid Hungry is a campaign of Share Our Strength, an organization committed to ending hunger and poverty.

*Marco's Pizza is the fastest-growing pizza brand based on year-over-year unit growth, according to 2021 NRN Top 500 U.S. Restaurant Ranking LSR Pizza Segment.

** Source: https://www.nokidhungry.org/blog/what-your-dollars-can-do

*** Source: USDA

****Marco's is now the 5th largest pizza brand in systemwide sales, according to 2021 NRN Top 500 US Restaurant Ranking LSR Pizza Segment."

*****Based on the Average Unit Volume of the top 50% of our Franchised Stores for fiscal year 2021. Based on fiscal year 2021, 146 of 389 Franchised Stores in the category (38%) met or exceeded this average. This information appears in Item 19 of our current FDD – please refer to our FDD for complete information on financial performance. Results may differ. There is no assurance that any franchisee will perform as well.

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SOURCE Marco's Pizza