Tourism & Hospitality | Wednesday 29 April, 2015 9:16 am |

- Serial entrepreneurs eye own slice of fast casual food sector in UAE-


- The original owners of NKD Pizza in the UAE have ended their franchise agreement and are now launching FREEDOM PIZZA. The carry out and delivery business will be operational immediately with five stores across Dubai, a 237-strong team, 127 delivery drivers and an unrivaled average delivery time of 23 minutes.
Established by two of the original founders and UAE franchise owners of NKD Pizza Robbie Vitrano and Ian Ohan, FREEDOM PIZZA is a cool, independent and authentic F&B business that combines delicious, honest pizza with a culture that cares.
The seasoned entrepreneurs have between them a wealth of experience in the fast casual food sector and share a passion for building a business that is deeply connected to its customers and community. FREEDOM PIZZA is the manifestation of their dream to create a locally-owned brand that embodies trust, generosity, honesty, and a spirit of collaboration.
“This is, without doubt, the hardest decision of our entrepreneurial careers, but we believe authenticity matters and it trumps just about everything if you put it into food and people and relationships and service. We’ve chosen Dubai as the home for Freedom because it perfectly mirrors our attitude – fresh, dynamic, multicultural, ambitious, fast-growing and open to sharing with the world,” said Ian Ohan, co-founder and CEO.
The Freedom brand pays homage to the company’s independence and the determination to offer the best products, delivery and service. It uses clean, natural ingredients of exceptional quality, sourced locally wherever possible and offers a multi-grained dough that contains no preservatives or additives.
Working closely with UAE partners, Freedom Pizza sources its fresh vegetables from Greenheart Organic Farms while its gluten-free pizza crusts and desserts are baked fresh every day by Skinny Genie. It also uses authentic Italian-style artisan cheese products made in the UAE with locally sourced milk.
“Ian and I started working together five years ago with a profound mission that informs our new undertaking. Freedom Pizza is about being true to self, to others, and to the community. We used to be a franchise, now we are locally owned. This allows us to do more for our customers, our staff and the community,” said Robbie Vitrano, co-founder and chief brand architect.
Freedom Pizza stores are located in Al Barsha, Dubai Marina, Dubailand, Downtown and Mirdiff.