A Conversation with Jane Grote Abell, Founding Member and Chairwoman of the Board at Donatos Pizza
A founding family member of Donatos Pizza, Jane Grote Abell currently holds the title of Chairwoman of the Board. Over the last four decades, Jane has held a variety of positions at both Donatos Pizza and Jane’s Dough Foods, including Chief Executive Officer. In 2003, Jane was a major catalyst behind the decision to purchase Donatos back from McDonald’s. Following the buy back, Jane led the company through a $10.5 million turnaround. A full bio can be found here.
Business Today (Anne Wen): After college, why did you choose to run the family pizza business?
Jane Grote Abell: I grew up in the family business, so I started working when I was 11 making pizza. For me, I was always passionate about being a part of the family business. I continued to work in operations as a manager while I attended The Ohio State University. While I knew my destiny was with Donatos, I did explore the idea of becoming a corporate labor attorney. Mostly because I get estranged with the laws, facts, and all things about protecting people. Upon my graduation I worked in our training department until a few years later when I was promoted to lead our People Department (Human Resources). I really understood my life passion was not just the pizza but the people in the business.
BT: You led the decision to purchase Donatos back from McDonald’s. What was the reasoning behind this decision?
JGA: I am often asked the question, why we bought the business back from McDonald’s, the answer really is because of our People. We had 5,000 people who were counting on us for their livelihood and future. It is interesting actually, as we had never planned on selling the family business in the first place. My father started with one restaurant and a vision to be able to grow his business with principles. Over the years we began to franchise, and by 1999, McDonald’s approached our family to sell. We were not necessarily looking to sell our business but were looking for opportunities to grow the business. McDonald’s had unveiled their Meal Occasion Strategy that included expanding their footprint into chicken, Mexican and pizza. They had approached us because they determined that we had the process in place to create a consistent high-quality product with the best in class people. We sold the company in 1999. A few short four years later, McDonald’s hit a historic low on their stock price. They were getting pressure from the street to stay focused on their core business and rumor hit the street that they were going to close or sell Donatos. I led the strategy to buy back the family business from McDonald’s in 2003. The reason for the buyback was easy; we believed we had a destiny and we did it for our people.
BT: What are common trends in the pizza industry?
JGA: I believe there are two trends in the restaurant industry that is not just limited to the Pizza Industry. One important trend is the speed of automation, machine learning, robotics and Artificial Intelligence. This trend shows up in how we communicate to our consumers, how we tailor our offerings and even how we train our associates. We not only will be making our products differently in the future, but we will be delivering them with different modes of transportation. The second trend is the future of food in and of itself. Whether it is plant based or made by a robot, our consumers are demanding more and they deserve it.
BT: How do you source ingredients, and how do you differentiate from other pizza chains?
JGA: We believe in serving the highest quality, best tasting products. We are famous for our thin crust pizza, we cover our toppings all the way to the edge, our toppings are on top, we use aged smoked provolone cheese, we slice our veggies fresh every day and we believe in abundant toppings. We will only serve the highest quality, so we source from local and regional business partners who have met all USDA and Federal Food Safety guidelines. We are recommended through the Diabetic Association as one of the healthier pizzas to eat. We have no preservatives and no artificial colors.
BT: If you were to look back on your business path, what advice do you have for people also interested in succeeding in family businesses?
JGA: I believe that there needs to be a solid process for onboarding the next generation. We are in the process of onboarding my son, who is the third generation. I highly recommend joining a family resource center and providing experiences for the next generation that allow them to find their own passion. It is critical that the next generation is passionate about the business for their own reasons and not because they feel a sense of loyalty to carry on a legacy. It is critical to put the aces in their places, work outside of the family business for a period of time, and recognize that not every family member is meant to be a part of the business. My biggest recommendation to people in family businesses is to make sure they’re not doing this to make their mom and dad proud, but they’re doing it because they love it, and that’s when they’ll be successful.
BT: Since its founding, why has Donatos concentrated their markets in Ohio? Have you considered expanding its reach farther?
JGA: We currently operate our restaurants in 170 stores in nine states, and over the next two years, have plans to grow across the United States. In addition, we have a private label brand, Sonoma Flatbreads. We currently sell Sonoma in over 7,000 points of distribution in the United States.
BT: How does the company experiment with pizza recipes?
JGA: We have an executive chef, a culinary design specialist, and a food technician that work to source ingredients, ideas and creative artisan pizzas with our business partners.
BT: What is your favorite pizza?
JGA: My favorite pizza is our famous signature pepperoni. We put over 100 pieces of pepperoni on every large so you have a bite of pepperoni in every bite.