America's most environmentally-friendly restaurant will become county's first organic certified restaurant
October 09, 2008 // Franchising.com // San Luis Obispo, Calif., - Pizza Fusion (www.pizzafusion.com), the most environmentally friendly restaurant in America, will be opening a new restaurant in San Luis Obispo next to Trader Joe's at 3971 S. Higuera St., Suite 120, San Luis Obispo, Calif. 93401. The restaurant, upon receiving certification, will be the first organic certified restaurant in San Luis Obispo. The new restaurant will be the third Pizza Fusion to open in California, following openings in San Diego and Temecula. Pizza Fusion currently has restaurants in development in Santa Monica, Clovis, and Palo Alto. Entrepreneurial duo Brandon and Susan Borene are the franchisees behind Pizza Fusion's new San Luis Obispo location.
"We were blessed with the birth of two healthy twin girls in September of 2004 and have since led a quest for a healthier lifestyle," Brandon explains. "Our recent search for a career change, led us to the discovery of Pizza Fusion's socially conscious restaurants, featuring a delicious organic menu of gourmet pizza, sandwiches, salads, and more. We're looking forward to introducing Pizza Fusion to San Luis Obispo. Pizza Fusion is a perfect fit with our lifestyle; not to mention the health and socially conscious residents of San Luis Obispo."
Pizza Fusion, whose motto is 'Saving the Earth, One Pizza at a Time,' practices an eco-friendly approach to their entire existence, including their restaurants' buildout, service and overall operations. Through building all of their restaurants to LEED certification standards, delivering their food in company owned hybrid vehicles, and offsetting 100% of their power consumption with the purchase of renewable energy certificates (among many other things), Pizza Fusion is setting the standard for sustainable restaurant practices as the most eco-friendly restaurant in America. Furthermore, Pizza Fusion is the first and only restaurant chain to mandate third-party organic restaurant certification at all its locations.
Pizza Fusion is considering likeminded franchisee candidates to open 60 planned locations throughout California over the next five years. Currently, the company has over 75 restaurants opening in 15 states across the U.S.
"We're very excited to continue our expansion in the West Coast as Californians warm up to our delicious organic pizza and earth-friendly initiatives," Vaughan Lazar, CEO and co-founder of Pizza Fusion, continues. "We're proud to have Brandon and Susan as part of our family. We know they will represent Pizza Fusion well while introducing San Luis Obispo's residents to a more delicious means of supporting the environment."
In the United States, restaurants are the top electricity consumer among retail businesses, accounting for 33% of the total consumption. Each restaurant produces an average of 50,000 pounds of waste per year. Pizza Fusion's LEED certified restaurants reduce water waste by 40 percent and electricity consumption by 20 percent annually.
Pizza Fusion's restaurants feature a number of unique, eco-efficient products, techniques and designs, including eliminating the use of water heaters and air heating units by recycling heat from their ovens to heat the water in the restaurants. Pizza Fusion restaurants' other eco-elements include countertops made from 100% recycled detergent bottles, bamboo flooring, 30% recaptured industrial concrete, ceiling panels made from 74% recycled aluminum cans and 24% post industrial metals, USG Gypsum Board made from pre-used drywall, insulation made from recycled blue jeans, ceiling baffles made from recycled composite board, low voltage and low heat lighting, seat cushions made with soybean oil, furniture made from reclaimed wood and much more – all the way down to the 100 percent post consumer toilet paper in their bathrooms.
Brandon Borene of Los Gatos, Ca. comes with a successful franchising background. His wife, Susan Claassen Borene is a San Luis Obispo County native and part of a multi generational family with impressive historical ties to the area. She currently operates her family's long time business in Paso Robles. The couple enjoys living in San Luis Obispo County and are the proud parents of two beautiful girls.
About Pizza Fusion
Founded in the best interest of the individual and the environment, Pizza Fusion combines a fresh, organic menu with an industry-leading environmental approach to restaurant service in chic dining destinations built to LEED certification standards. Pizza Fusion specializes in a full-service approach to gourmet pizza, ciabatta sandwiches, salads, desserts, and organic beers and wines, all in their purest form - untainted by artificial additives, such as pesticides, preservatives, antibiotics and hormones. With numerous franchises opening across the U.S., Pizza Fusion is well on its way to 'saving the earth, one pizza at a time.' For additional information, visit: www.pizzafusion.com.
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