8/13/2019 Minnesota's Punch Pizza to be featured in State of the Union

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 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   CONTACT Blois Olson

Fluence Media  651-276-1678

Punch Pizza to be featured in State of the UnionCompany’s investment in employees is recognized by President Barack Obama; Founder John

Soranno and employee Nick Chute are guests of First Lady Michele Obama

Minneapolis –  Minnesota’s own Punch Pizza will be recognized Tuesday evening by PresidentBarack Obama, as guests of First Lady Michelle Obama for their investment in their employees byestablishing a starting wage of $10/hour for their eight Twin Cities locations.

In November, Punch announced that it would increase wages to a minimum of $10 for entry-levelemployees, and pay other positions higher wages to ensure the company attracts and retains the

best employees in the food sector.

“We are honored to be recognized by the President and First Lady,” Punch Pizza founder and co-owner John Soranno said. “As we continue to grow Punch we recognize that only the mostdedicated employees will position us to compete and maintain the highest quality food and the bestservice in the market.”

Here are the details of the Punch Pizza investment in employees and quality:

•  All pizza cooks paid $12-15/hour with the most skilled cooks at a level equivalent of morethan $30,000/year

•  New manager salary/bonus more than $50,000 a year and experienced general managerpay of $100,000 a year

•  Launching of Punch University which includes an Italian demonstration and practice oven,video studio for training films and a multi media manager training facility

•  Development of “Pizza Cam”, an innovative quality control system that records every singlepizza cooked at all locations for training and quality analysis

“Our decision had nothing to do with politics, that’s what makes the recognition by the Presidentand First Lady such an honor. Punch made the decision to give raises purely based on what is bestfor our business and our employees,” co-owner John Puckett said. “We believe our investment inour people, and training will give us the an advantage in quality food and superb service in fast

casual food.”

Punch opened its eighth store in Woodbury last year, and will open a store in Maple Grove this May.

Punch is known for it’s award-winning authentic Neapolitan Pizza cooked at 800 degrees utilizingthe same centuries old techniques that Neapolitan masters use to create a truly authentic pizza.The world’s finest Southern Italian tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and top-secret dough are thefoundation of the pizza, but the true craft is in mastering the wood-fired oven.

8/13/2019 Minnesota's Punch Pizza to be featured in State of the Union

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 “For a small company that started with one store in Highland Park, and has been recognized for ourfood for many years, it proves that if you do the right thing, people notice,” said Soranno. “Thesweat and hard-work that our employees give to make our pizza and service excellent isemblematic of the American Dream.”

The investment will cost Punch almost $3 million over the next 10 years. The owners of Punchstrongly feel, given the success of Punch to date and its future growth prospects, the increase inemployees’ pay is the type of investment that will continue to make Punch a great company.

Punch’s award winning marketing has successfully grown the business and Punch’s customer basethrough word-of-mouth and social media with creative and spontaneously timed offers.

About Punch Pizza

Punch was founded in the Highland neighborhood of St. Paul and currently has 8 locations and

nearly 300 employees. The authentic Neapolitan Pizza restaurants have grown strategically since1996 in the Minneapolis-St. Paul market.

In December 2013, Punch announced that it would establish a starting wage of $10 / hour in all ofits locations and pay market-leading wages in all positions.

Our pizza has been featured on Food Network’s “Man vs. Food”, on the Travel Channel’s “PerfectPizza”, been named one of the Top 10 Pizza Restaurants in America by USA Today  as well as othernotable local, regional and national recognition. In 2006, Meryl Streep stated that Punch was the“best pizza” she ever ate in the world, while she was in town filming A Prairie Home Companion.