Alidoro

About

Alidoro is an artisanal Italian quick-serve restaurant concept and Zagat's #1-rated sandwich in NYC.

Born in Soho in 1986, we are a company and cuisine comprised of two distinct regions that represent arguably the richest and most prolific food cultures. Since then, New Yorkers and tourists alike have been lining up to get a taste of the city's most authentic Italian sandwiches. Now, after almost three decades, we have additional New York locations at Bryant Park, Rockefeller Center, The Hugh at 53rd & Lexington Ave, Penn Station's Moynihan Train Hall and Brooklyn.

Alidoro has become an industry leader in luxury QSR. We source and prepare all of our ingredients either locally or directly from Italy. Never sacrificing purity, we routinely adhere to utilizing the finest Italian ingredients, but also to the methods by which they are prepared and served. This careful attention to detail traces back to our original owner’s Italian roots in Italy, where he grew up making pizzas and sandwiches in his parents’ restaurant, pizzeria and supermarket. “For me, it’s always just been about sharing my authentic Italian culinary journey with as many people as I can.” That authenticity shines through with each bite of anything Alidoro.

Our brand honors tradition while folding innovation into its DNA and our customers love the marriage of the old with the new. Overall service expands beyond individual sandwiches and includes full-scale catering, charcuterie, salads, crostini bites, desserts, breakfast, wholesale and a growing consumer packaged goods business. Customers gravitate to our warm, Tuscan-rustic styled shops, where our gold wings logo is instantly recognizable to local foodies. Our bread is baked and delivered fresh daily and any of our sandwiches can be prepared cold or hot, which has added an entirely new dynamic to our business in combating seasonality.

On one hand, we’re unequivocally Italian, importing most of our ingredients directly from Italy and applying precise preparation tactics passed down from generational families. On the other hand, Alidoro is a heritage New York brand, both in its culture and innovation. There’s a unique level of excitement, edge and creativity the world associates with New York City's food scene. Being a legacy brand with a contemporary approach, we embody the city's culinary process to a T. Everything is very purposeful and proprietary about our methods and overall strategy, so in that sense, we see it very much in the spirit of NYC. We appreciate your interest in our brand story and are excited for what the future holds - we can't wait to serve you.

Mangia!

BUSINESS MODEL

Uniqueness of Product:  No one forgets the first time they bite into an Alidoro sandwich.  This is a testament not only to our adherence to authenticity and high-quality ingredients, but to our unique and distinct flavor profile created over decades.  We craft everything in-house and have honored the many proprietary recipes developed decades ago, while painstakingly developing fresh approaches to our offerings.

Authenticity & Tradition:  Our brand is steeped in tradition and is the bedrock of who we are.  Born in 1986 and the brainchild of a true Italian immigrant, the European influence is direct and palpable.  The authenticity of the product is our foundation, from sourcing best-in-class Italian ingredients, to our time-honored recipes to maintain the integrity and flavors of classic Italian sandwiches.  This is apparent not only upon first taste, but also in the design influences in our stores, packaging/branding choices, and on.  Maintaining this is part of our company DNA and at the core of every business decision we make as we continue to scale.

Quality & Freshness:  Using fresh and high-quality ingredients is paramount to what we do and is apparent immediately.  We’ve established relationships with both European and local producers/suppliers to source fresh olive oils, vinegars, produce, meats, cheeses and breads, carefully considering and curating every individual component of our offerings.

Menu Optimization:  We have developed a focused menu that offers a well-curated selection of popular items. This helps maintain operational efficiency, reduces complexity and ensures consistent quality.  This menu is often limited and augmented to fit certain applications such as food halls.  Additionally, while we have a set menu of specialty sandwiches that has been painstakingly developed over decades, we also allow for customization to cater to individual preferences.  This was in response to a focus group we conducted early on which indicated a 98% positive response to this option. It is a way to further cultivate the customer experience and personalization.

Small Footprint, Low Start-Up / Cap Ex:  Alidoro was born in a space no larger than a modestly sized closet.  This is the operational foundation of our business and is still apparent in our stores.  While our bread-and-butter footprint is between 800-100 sf, we’ve operated in stores under 100 sq ft.  Additionally, we do not require conventional cooking equipment, nor do we need venting, ansul systems, hoods, ovens, ranges, etc.  This not only means we’re highly efficient in confined spaces and allows for substantially more real estate opportunities, it also ensures that our start-up / build-out costs are significantly lower than industry standards.

Efficient Service & Throughput:  We ensure a streamlined ordering process, rapid / systemized assembly of sandwiches and prompt service to accommodate customers looking for quick service.  Over the past several years as we’ve established an increasingly robust and capable operations team, we have been finding better ways to improve this segment and have implemented numerous SOP’s and technology solutions to align with best practices.

High-Traffic, High-Volume:  We generally target highly dense urban landscapes to prioritize lunchtime retail and catering opportunities.  This allows us to generate significant revenue within a relatively small window and maximize labor and profitability.

Technology Integration:  Not only do we embrace technology to enhance customer experience and improve operational efficiency, it is increasingly becoming the cornerstone of every aspect of the business.  If there was one positive thing that came out of the pandemic, it was the jarring recognition that maximizing these efficiencies was necessary to stay competitive and profitable and that consistent development in our tech stacks was crucial to success.  In response, we have focused heavily in this space, augmenting and adding dozens of systems to improve operations across the board.  Restaurant 365, Toast POS, payroll, inventory, scheduling, catering management, self-service, online/mobile ordering, loyalty programs, etc; this is a space we’ve fully acknowledged the importance of and will continue to develop in response to new opportunities and consumer trends.

Branding & Unique Experience:  We are an extremely brand-forward business, prioritizing this at the same level as product.  Our brand identity is distinct, recognizable and purposeful, from our store esthetics to our custom-made gold foil.  Brand momentum is a constant creative effort, engaging in cross-promotional collaborations, various activations and partnerships.  We are constantly finding ways to stay relevant and exciting in the broader hospitality and lifestyle space.

Long Shelf Life & Expansive Distribution:  Our product not only tastes great right off the slicer; it also holds tremendously well, which allows for excellent shelf life and additional profit centers.  Catering currently makes up over 30% of our gross revenue and growing, and we have already established a thriving wholesale vertical. These are both segments of our business we are focusing on continuing to grow.

Extended Revenue Opportunities:  We are just now scratching the surface.  Brick and mortar units are the anchor of our current business both in revenue and brand, but there are many new concepts/verticals currently underway; some already in existence or development.  This includes licensing (airports, cruises, etc.), franchising, ghost kitchens, food halls, e-commerce, wholesale, CPG, beer/wine programming, small-bites formatting, etc.

VISION AND STRATEGY 

Italian Born, NY Made.  Alidoro is simple done right.  We are a business that focuses on what makes a great sandwich, operation, and brand. 

Our priority in this next phase is to further our strategic implementation of the touchpoints we’ve identified and prioritized for growth.  While continuing to develop our infrastructure for scale, improve our general operations/profitability and promote our brand, we will target and build our next market.  Currently, we are tracking on Denver, Charlotte, Raleigh, DC, Houston and Dallas.  All of these cities are undergoing population explosions and the consumer demand for what we offer is palpable.  This second market will not only fill an offering gap, but will also establish a border proof of concept for additional scale and investment.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

Over the past decade plus, the F&B industry has changed drastically in response to the increasing demand for more refined offerings.  We see this across the globe, from the local bodega being replaced by a boutique grocery store with curated local delicacies, to the airport terminals being overhauled with offerings from the likes of Bobby Flay and Danny Meyer.  We are in a new era and the culinary preferences of the consumer have shifted to a significantly more refined palate and expectation. 

As we acknowledge and observe this shift, there is one segment that has been noticeably left behind…sandwiches.  Across the country, you have developers signing thousands of deals with new, better, more elevated brands; ie. Dos Toros, Shake Shack, Sweetgreen, etc.  Yet in the sandwich segment, you still only have the old.  No one has come to the table with a better, scalable option.  Enter ALIDORO.  We are the solution to this gap in the market and a category-changer in our space.  

Having not only survived the pandemic, but pivoting / growing through it, we have spent the better part of two years opening new stores and honing our craft.  From product, to cost savings, to increased efficiencies, to brand positioning/partnerships, to preparation for scale, we are at the inflection point of our company and excited to answer the resounding consumer demand for what we do and who we are.

Highlights

Alidoro is an Italian specialty sandwich shop originally founded in 1986 in the heart of New York City’s SoHo, with locations across NYC

• Upscale QSR category-definer in otherwise undeveloped sandwich segment; a space highly sought after by developers nationwide.  We are the Shake Shack and Sweetgreen of the Sandwich space.
• Level of efficiency largely unparalleled: small footprints (increased real estate options), low start-up costs, minimal equipment, no cooking, no venting, no professional culinary staff, minimal inventory, little to no waste, agile operations, low COGS, and low labor cost
• Long shelf-life and easily mobilized, yielding significantly greater opportunities across many profit centers.  This explains a catering division occupying 30% of our current run rate (and growing).
• Secured unflinching brand loyalty in NY market, now poised to expand and scale aggressively beyond NY with wheel-and-spoke model
• Augmenting brick-and-mortar model into food halls, airports, wholesale, CPG, beer/wine programming, small-bites format, additional licensing and franchise spaces
• Operations / Management team in place for growth, positioned to take on new capital, additional units and broader strategy + execution
• Focuses include additional stores in and outside NY market, further tech stack development, additional HR and marketing support, food service R&D for improved COGS/QC/distribution, CPG, etc.  
• Intellectual Property secured through multiple trademarks across several classifications