Food Engineering logo
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
  • NEWS
  • PRODUCTS
  • TOPICS
  • EXCLUSIVES
  • MEDIA
  • FOOD MASTER
  • EVENTS
  • RESOURCES
  • EMAGAZINE
  • SIGN UP!
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • NEWS
  • Latest Headlines
  • Manufacturing News
  • People & Industry News
  • Plant Openings
  • Recalls
  • Regulatory Watch
  • Supplier News
  • PRODUCTS
  • New Plant Products
  • New Retail Products
  • TOPICS
  • Alternative Protein
  • Automation
  • Cannabis
  • Cleaning | Sanitation
  • Fabulous Food Plants
  • Food Safety
  • Maintenance Strategies
  • OEE
  • Packaging
  • Sustainability
  • More
  • EXCLUSIVES
  • Plant Construction Survey
  • Plant of the Year
  • Sustainable Plant of the Year
  • State of Food Manufacturing
  • Top 100 Food & Beverage Companies
  • MEDIA
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Webinars
  • White Papers
  • EVENTS
  • Food Automation & Manufacturing Symposium and Expo
  • Industry Events
  • RESOURCES
  • eNewsletter
  • Custom Content & Marketing Services
  • FE Store
  • Government Links
  • Industry Associations
  • Market Research
  • Classified Ads
  • EMAGAZINE
  • eMagazine
  • Archive Issue
  • Advertise
Food Engineering logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Food Engineering logo
  • NEWS
    • Latest Headlines
    • Manufacturing News
    • People & Industry News
    • Plant Openings
    • Recalls
    • Regulatory Watch
    • Supplier News
  • PRODUCTS
    • New Plant Products
    • New Retail Products
  • TOPICS
    • Alternative Protein
    • Automation
    • Cannabis
    • Cleaning | Sanitation
    • Fabulous Food Plants
    • Food Safety
    • Maintenance Strategies
    • OEE
    • Packaging
    • Sustainability
    • More
  • EXCLUSIVES
    • Plant Construction Survey
    • Plant of the Year
    • Sustainable Plant of the Year
    • State of Food Manufacturing
    • Top 100 Food & Beverage Companies
  • MEDIA
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • FOOD MASTER
  • EVENTS
    • Food Automation & Manufacturing Symposium and Expo
    • Industry Events
  • RESOURCES
    • eNewsletter
    • Custom Content & Marketing Services
    • FE Store
    • Government Links
    • Industry Associations
    • Market Research
    • Classified Ads
  • EMAGAZINE
    • eMagazine
    • Archive Issue
    • Advertise
  • SIGN UP!
AutomationCase Studies & Field Reports

Case Study

Missouri Pizza Maker Doubles Daily Production with Automation

Grote Pizza Line Sauce

When Dogtown Pizza needed to automate its pizza line to keep up with demand, the freshly frozen pizza producer turned to Grote Company for a ValuDose Sauce Applicator. Image courtesy of Grote Company.

March 14, 2025

Dogtown Pizza is a family business run by Rick and Meredith Schaper and their three sons in St. Louis, Missouri. The business is named after the neighborhood where they started making pizza in their home kitchen in 2006.

Over the years, Dogtown has grown to produce over 100,000 freshly frozen pizzas monthly. Today, pizza enthusiasts can find the St. Louis-style pies all over town at grocers large and small.


The Challenge

With demand for its pizza growing, Dogtown Pizza was struggling to keep up using only manual labor.

As an alternative, the owners started investigating pizza equipment to help automate parts of the production process. They found Grote Company online and reached out to learn more about how the company’s industry-leading pizza topping line solutions might meet their needs.

 

The Solution

After discussing the possibilities with Grote Company application specialist Randy Medina, the Dogtown Pizza team visited Grote at the Process Expo trade show in 2019 to see the equipment in action. Shortly after seeing a demonstration, they placed an order.

“We started with just a ValuDose Sauce Applicator and an MC45 cheese depositor in 2020 in our old facility,” Schaper says. “Later, we developed a new production facility and bought two Peppamatics at the same time in 2022. We then bought another MC45 in 2023.”


The Results

Since adding the Grote Company machinery, production rates have increased significantly. Dogtown now produces 120,000-140,000 pizzas per month – more than twice the number of pizzas per day it was making before adding the equipment.

The company has also reduced its work week to four days with shorter shifts. Labor costs per pizza have been cut in half for some varieties, while processes have been simplified across the production line.

Further, Dogtown has added new products to its line, expanded sales to more retailers, including Walmart and Fresh Thyme, and now sells to a broader geographic area.

  

The Future

Grote Company looks forward to further collaboration with Dogtown Pizza, as the company plans to expand in the future.

“Grote is an incredible company to work with, one of the most responsive and organized companies that we have bought equipment from,” Schaper says. “Grote is our favorite company to work with when it comes to service, as they always go out of their way to help fix the root cause of any issue, they are timely, and they explain everything we need to know in detail. We feel they give us the most time of day, whereas some other companies don’t seem as keen to help or are unable to help as much.”

Although he’s unsure of the timing, Schaper believes Dogtown will add another line to its manufacturing facility.

“A second line will happen one day down the line,” Schaper says.

KEYWORDS: frozen food pizza manufacturing

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
to unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • Global Organic Food & Beverage Market to Grow

    Global Organic Food & Beverage Market to Grow

    With a CAGR of 12.07%, Bonafide Research estimates this...
    People & Industry News
  • skilled MEP worker

    Predicting Food and Beverage Manufacturing Trends for 2024

    The two words that should be kept in mind are labor and...
    Automation
    By: Derrick Teal
  • cleaning and sanitation

    The basics of cleaning and sanitation in food plants

    Sanitation maintains or restores a state of cleanliness...
    Food Safety
    By: Richard F. Stier
Manage My Account
  • eMagazine
  • eNewsletter
  • Online Registration
  • Manage My Preferences
  • Customer Service

Food Plant Openings and Expansions June 2025

Food Plant Openings and Expansions June 2025

Celebrating Women in Engineering: Shalima Sreenath

Celebrating Women in Engineering: Shalima Sreenath

Celebrating Women in Engineering: Samara Heaggans

Celebrating Women in Engineering: Samara Heaggans

Food Plant Openings and Expansions May 2025

Food Plant Openings and Expansions May 2025

More Videos

Popular Stories

Cargill Cocoa Plant

Cargill Invests in its Cocoa Supply Chain

Campbell’s Utah plant

Going for Gold(fish): Inside The Campbell’s Company’s $160M Cracker Plant Expansion

Chicken Alfredo Listeria Products

Listeria Outbreak Connected with Pre-Made Chicken Alfredo Meals Results in 3 Deaths

CHECK OUT OUR NEW ESSENTIAL TOPICS

Alternative ProteinAutomationCleaning/SanitationFabulous Food Plants

Food SafetyMaintenance StrategiesOEE

PackagingSustainability

Events

June 17, 2025

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods’ State of the Cold Chain

On Demand Kelley Rodriguez, Editor in Chief of Refrigerated & Frozen Foods, will be joined in this 60-minute webinar by industry experts to help unpack the latest research.

July 23, 2025

Decarbonizing Process Heat: What You Should Know and Next Steps

Driven by climate goals, business risk, client interest, and resilience considerations, food and beverage companies are increasingly turning their attention to decarbonizing their production processes.

View All Submit An Event

Products

Recent Advances in Ready-to-Eat Food Technology

Recent Advances in Ready-to-Eat Food Technology

See More Products

Plant of the Year

Related Articles

  • Soft Robotics' Automated Pizza Solution

    New automation solution for pizza production

    See More
  • Pepe’s Inc. installed a Lyco Chill-Flow continuous pouch cooler system that cools 5-lb pouches to below 40°F. Photo courtesy Lyco

    Pouch cooling system speeds up production for Mexican food maker

    See More
  • Energy-efficient production boosts supplement maker's output

    See More

Events

View AllSubmit An Event
  • May 6, 2025

    Fortifying Food Production: Automation and the Critical Role of Cybersecurity

    On Demand Food manufacturers face many challenges, including maintaining quality, managing labor shortages and sustaining the safety of their products, workforce and facilities. How can producers possibly keep up?
  • September 9, 2010

    Food Plant of the Future: Surviving and Thriving with Automation

    On-Demand: Forward-thinking plant managers aren’t just reviving their aging plants with automation – they’re building thriving, operationally effective workplaces.
View AllSubmit An Event
×

Elevate your expertise in food engineering with unparalleled insights and connections.

Get the latest industry updates tailored your way.

JOIN TODAY!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Food Master
    • Store
    • Want More
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletter
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey/Respondent Access
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing

Food Engineering logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Food Engineering logo
  • NEWS
    • Latest Headlines
    • Manufacturing News
    • People & Industry News
    • Plant Openings
    • Recalls
    • Regulatory Watch
    • Supplier News
  • PRODUCTS
    • New Plant Products
    • New Retail Products
  • TOPICS
    • Alternative Protein
    • Automation
    • Cannabis
    • Cleaning | Sanitation
    • Fabulous Food Plants
    • Food Safety
    • Maintenance Strategies
    • OEE
    • Packaging
    • Sustainability
    • More
  • EXCLUSIVES
    • Plant Construction Survey
    • Plant of the Year
    • Sustainable Plant of the Year
    • State of Food Manufacturing
    • Top 100 Food & Beverage Companies
  • MEDIA
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • FOOD MASTER
  • EVENTS
    • Food Automation & Manufacturing Symposium and Expo
    • Industry Events
  • RESOURCES
    • eNewsletter
    • Custom Content & Marketing Services
    • FE Store
    • Government Links
    • Industry Associations
    • Market Research
    • Classified Ads
  • EMAGAZINE
    • eMagazine
    • Archive Issue
    • Advertise
  • SIGN UP!