Karol Pryba, the founder of Napolino Pizza, has adopted a customer-first approach to his pizza pop-up that mirrors Amazon’s famous “day one” philosophy. In this approach, the focus isn’t on immediate profit, but on providing value and cultivating customer satisfaction, with the belief that success will follow. This mindset has been key to the rapid growth of Napolino Pizza, which Pryba launched in 2024 on the outskirts of London.
A pizza-making enthusiast who grew up in Poland and relocated to England, Pryba started his pop-up business as a side gig while keeping his day job at a flooring company. When it came to setting prices, he channeled his inner Jeff Bezos by considering what he, as a customer, would want to pay when trying a new food vendor. At the beginning, he priced his Margherita pizza at £7 (around $9). His goal was to attract customers, and it worked. The demand grew quickly, and soon, Pryba needed two Gozney Roccbox ovens to keep up, cooking up to two dozen pizzas an hour.
Despite the low price, which likely resulted in barely breaking even, Pryba didn’t worry about profitability in the early stages. His focus was on building brand recognition. After a few markets, he realized his prices were too low and gradually increased them to £8, and then to £9. Surprisingly, sales remained strong despite the price hikes, demonstrating that customers were willing to pay more for the quality they were getting.
As his business grew, Pryba continued to learn and adapt. He discovered that one oven wasn’t enough for the high volume at peak times, so he invested in a second Roccbox, which allowed him to maintain the high quality of his pizzas by giving the oven the necessary time to heat back up between batches. This attention to detail and willingness to improve is central to his approach.
Pryba’s pizza-making journey started years ago when he was trying to make ends meet as a young man in his 20s, freshly relocated from Poland. He started making pizzas as a hobby, experimenting with recipes until he perfected his technique. Over time, he became drawn to the pizza community and was inspired by Pizza Pilgrims, a London-based Neapolitan pizza brand that has grown to 24 locations since its founding in 2012.
While Pryba acknowledges that he still has a long way to go before opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant, he is focused on building his brand at farmer’s markets across London. He believes that by continuing to put the customer experience at the forefront—offering amazing flavors, a fun atmosphere, and high-quality service—everything else will eventually fall into place. For Pryba, the philosophy of customer-first thinking is central to his long-term success, just as it was for Amazon.
“I think if you focus on customers and provide them with an experience and amazing flavors and have a good time, then everything else is just going to follow,” he said. This simple yet powerful mindset could be the key to Napolino Pizza’s continued growth and success in the competitive food scene.
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