Marco's Pizza® Achieves Highest FUND Rating in the Pizza Category While Being Named Honorable Mention Winner of FRANdata's 2022 TopScore FUND Award

Leading Pizza Franchise Recognized for Superior Franchisee Financing Support & Performance Excellence

TOLEDO, Ohio, March 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Marco's Pizza, one of the nation's fastest-growing pizza brands, is named an honorable mention winner of FRANdata's 2022 TopScore FUND Award. The honor was announced today at the Multi-Unit Franchising Conference in Las Vegas. Marco's received the highest FUND rating in the pizza category and second highest across all categories – based on the brands attending the conference. The awards are presented annually to brands that exemplify performance excellence and lender friendliness.

Marco's 890 FUND Score is in the top 1% of all evaluated franchise systems and is among the top three scores for all QSR brands. These impressive rankings are a testament to the brand's commitment to financing guidance as a core focus of its franchise development strategy which has led the 1,000-plus unit brand on a path to explosive growth.  

Understanding the challenges surrounding lending, Marco's Director of Franchise Financing, Brad Fletcher, and his team, have established partnerships with eight preferred banks and lending institutions. Through quarterly meetings, the Marco's finance team provides key updates on the state of the business, growth, and performance. As a result, banks are in a better position to lend favorably to individual Marco's franchisees.

"It is an honor to be among those recognized for this award," said Fletcher. "Our FUND score demonstrates not only the results our franchise opportunity provides to franchisees, but the immense attention we place on financing guidance by enhancing access to capital and enabling our franchisees to receive competitive rates. As a people-first organization, it is especially rewarding to be recognized for our commitment to our franchisees and we could not be prouder of their achievements."

The TopScore FUND award was created to highlight those brands that have risen above their peers by simplifying the financing process while understanding and improving key performance metrics that lenders look for when lending. This achievement is based on unit economics, great franchisee/franchisor relationships, and supporting franchisees to perform their best - the scoring system lenders rely on to gauge that in franchising is the FUND score. The FUND scoring system is embraced by banks of all sizes that collectively represent over a trillion dollars in assets. Brands are given honorable mentions for their commitment to strong performance as reflected in their outstanding FUND scores. 

"Marco's Pizza's unit economics has shown an outperforming trend among their immediate peers, which is reflected in their excellent FUND score," said Darrell Johnson, CEO of FRANdata.

With strong growth and performance, Marco's is on track to reach $1B in annual systemwide sales in 2022 and sets its sights on becoming the No. 4 brand in pizza. The brand continues to grow at a rapid pace, setting a development goal of 1,500 units open by the end of 2023. There's never been a more opportune time for both existing and prospective franchisees to grow with Marco's. The Top 50% of Marco's franchised stores generated $1,059,574 AUV for 2020*.

For more information on Marco's Pizza franchise opportunities, visit https://www.marcos.com/franchising/ or call 866-731-8209.

ABOUT MARCO'S PIZZA
Marco's Pizza is America's Most Loved and Most Trusted Pizza Brand, according to the 2019 Harris Poll EquiTrend® Study. Headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, Marco's Pizza is one of the fastest-growing pizza brands in the United States. Marco's was founded in 1978 by Italian-born Pasquale ("Pat") Giammarco and thrives to deliver a high-quality pizza experience, known for its dough made from scratch and its three fresh signature cheeses. The company has grown from its roots as a beloved Ohio brand to operate over 1,000 stores in 34 states with locations in Puerto Rico and the Bahamas. Most recently, Marco's Pizza was ranked No. 2 in the Pizza category on Entrepreneur Magazine's 2022 "Franchise 500" ranking, and No. 4 in the Fastest Growing category on Restaurant Business' 2021 "Top 10 Fastest Growing Chains" ranking. Other recent accolades include a first-time presence on Newsweek's 2022 "America's Best Customer Service" in pizza chains list, ranked No. 42 on QSR's Top 50 and has been featured five consecutive years on Nation's Restaurant News' prestigious "Top 500" ranking.

*Based on the Average Unit Volume of the top 50% of our Franchised Stores for fiscal year 2020. Based on fiscal year 2020, 142 of 369 Franchised Stores in the category (38%) met or exceeded this average. This information appears in Item 19 of our 2021 FDD – please refer to our FDD for complete information on financial performance. Results may differ. There is no assurance that any franchisee will perform as well.

ABOUT FRANDATA
FRANdata is a leading franchise-focused research and advisory company. By leveraging the largest verified database of franchise information and with over 30 years' experience analyzing the franchise market, FRANdata creates targeted business development strategies and actionable solutions that provides their clients with the information they need to understand risk, measure opportunities, and improve performance.  FRANdata is the creator of the FUND (Franchise Credit Scoring) report which is relied upon by lenders with over a trillion dollars in assets to assess their franchise credit risks. For more information go to www.frandata.com.

SOURCE Marco's Pizza