Costa Mesa, Calif. — On Veterans Day, California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) unveiled an initiative to bring its signature California-inspired pizzas directly to U.S. military installations through a phased deployment of automated pizza kiosks.
Partnering with Ranger Group and its CEO, U.S. Army Ranger veteran, Mark “Ranger” Jones, CPK plans to roll out hundreds of automated pizza machines across installations serving the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and U.S. Coast Guard, with planned placements at bases across America.
The military initiative builds on CPK’s broader automated retail strategy to implement and operate up to 1,000 automated retail machines nationwide over the next 3 years, bringing restaurant-quality CPK favorites to airports, universities, hospitals and other high-traffic locations. The machines use Turbo-chef powered cooking and touchscreen technology to deliver a freshly baked CPK pizza in as little as 90 seconds.
The initiative expands CPK’s presence beyond traditional restaurants and grocery store shelves.
“As a veteran myself, I’m personally proud to bring our restaurant-quality pizzas directly to the places where our service members work and train,” says Michael Beacham, president of California Pizza Kitchen Global. “This initiative is both an expression of our gratitude and a meaningful step forward in our mission to make the California Pizza Kitchen experience more accessible wherever people are.”
The military rollout will proceed in phases, beginning with domestic installations and potentially expanding to additional military locations, including overseas facilities, in the future.
Founded in 1985, California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) revolutionized casual dining with its first restaurant in Beverly Hills, Calif. Recently celebrating its 40th anniversary year, CPK today has restaurants spanning 25 U.S. states along with nine countries and U.S. territories.
SOURCE: California Pizza Kitchen