We recently connected with Jerry Belcastro and have shared our conversation below.
Jerry, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
It all began when my wife and I started judging barbeque for the Georgia BBQ Association in the summer of 2019. I always had a great love for food, as I have been a former restaurant owner, caterer, a regional manager of international catering for Delta Air Lines, and I briefly had a column for a local newspaper visiting restaurants in our county and writing reviews. So, food has always been in the forefront of my life. In judging barbeque I discovered there was another food competition, and that was for Steak! My wife and I joined the Steak Cookoff Association and started judging both steak and barbeque. And then Covid came along. This pretty much shut down all competitions, and as for many of the people in the world, we spent a lot of time at home. My wife and I were always into watching the food channel shows, and I had mentioned to her…what do you think about a Pizza Cook-off Association?? We talked about it, but nothing very serious until we watched the show on the History Channel…The Foods That Built America. They had an episode on Dominos and Pizza Hut, and how they got their start. This show really hit home with me, as they came into the scene when I owned a Pizza Restaurant in the mid 80’s. After watching this show, I told her…”I’m going to do this!” So I started my due diligence on pizza competitions, and found out there wasn’t anything being done on a weekend basis. There were annual competitions in Las Vegas, and the world championship competitions in Italy, and some sporadic events in New York and California, but nothing weekly. So I took the best of the best from the rules of these competitions, and created the “Pizza Cook-off Association”.
Jerry, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My heritage and background is Italian and Ukrainian, but during my upbringing our household was primarily Italian. My father did most of the cooking, but my mother did cook some of her Ukrainian dishes such as pierogis and stuffed cabbage, But on Sundays, especially when my sisters and I moved out on our own, we all got together for Sunday dinner, and 90% of the time it was an Italian dish. Coming out of college one of my sister’s and I opened at Pizza and Sub Shoppe in our small town, and had a monopoly for about 5 years before Pizza Hut and Dominos came along. After about 8 years into the restaurant business, I applied at Delta Air Line for the heck of it…and I went to work for them. I kept my half of the restaurant for about 2 years before selling my half to my sister. I started at the bottom at Delta, but knew I wanted to be in their food/catering department. It took me about 5 years, but I finally made it. I held different positions, with the last position being a regional manager of international catering. I overseen about 55 flights out of Atlanta with regards to everything on-board catering! The job took me all over the world and this is where I really discovered the true appreciation for the different foods in different cultures. I have mentioned the different associations I judge for. and to give everyone a brief idea of my Pizza Association, This competition is a weekend event where pizza cooks can register to win prize money to the top 5 winners, with $1000, $500, $400, $300 and $200 respectively. I have trained judges that go through a 4 hour class I teach with categories on Appearance, Construction. Crust, Taste, and Overall Impression. For more details check out my website at https://www.pizzacook-off.com/
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
My Pizza Cook-off Association is a cooking competition very similar to BBQ associations around the US and the Steak Cookoff Association. My biggest challenge was…how do I try and differentiate myself from those various competitions. I know Pizza itself is different from BBQ and steak…and in these competitions you have to a similar timeline with regards to how your event will flow throughout the day. So…what can I do to make myself different. In all these competitions, whether it be BBQ or Steak…the public cannot taste or buy anything that’s being cooked. Sounds crazy…but it’s true. So I have it in my rules that every cook competing must donate at least 1 pizza to the promoter to either give away, or create a people’s choice award. I also try to coordinate with a local pizza place to sell slices of pizza at the event. This makes a lot of people very happy!
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
The answer to this question is very simple….honestly This holds true in any business, and it all parts of life. I have found out as my association has grown that people respect me being honest, open and humble. Not only do I have to build relationships with the members of my association, I have judges, cooks, and sponsors. I’ve learned in my previous positions with Delta Air Lines, that building relationships are with these key components are the best foundation for success.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.pizzacook-off.com/
- Instagram: Jerry Belcastro
- Facebook: Pizza Cook-off Association
Image Credits
Photos courtesy of Trist Glaze.