Like any foreigner in Paris, Rohit Shekhar Sharma, Founder and CEO of iMatrix Group of Companies, was fascinated by art and architecture. While attending an exhibition, he came across a pizza-dispensing machine and wondered if he could replicate the idea at home.
Pizza ATM at Sukhna Lake, Chandigarh. Photo Courtesy: Amarjot Kaur
Rohit says, “It was about four years ago, before Covid, when I first saw the machine in France and other parts of Europe. Importing it to India meant an investment of ₹60 lakh, so after coming back to India, we started manufacturing the machine at iMatrix World Wide’s factory in Mohali.”
He says that the machine was installed in Chandigarh’s Sukhna Lake in January 2021, after the company received the tender issued by CITCO (Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation Limited), a Chandigarh administration undertaking. “We are now waiting for the renewal of the tender which is due this year,” he says.
Equipped with a pizza oven, commercial microwave oven and a deep freezer, the LED-body panel machine delivers pizza in just two and a half to three minutes. Photo Courtesy: Amarjot Kaur
Pizza ATM is a complete food outlet in itself, which stores, cooks and delivers pizzas. Equipped with a pizza oven, commercial microwave oven and a deep freezer, the LED-body panel machine delivers pizza in just two and a half to three minutes, says Rohit.
“The interface of the machine with the user is such that you have to insert a token or scan the bar code. Then seven options of different pizzas open up in the machine. A robotic arm gets activated and picks up the stored frozen pizza. The machine can store up to 50 pizzas. It brings it to the oven where the pizza is baked and then served to the customer through the service window,” he says, explaining the functioning of the machine.
Available in medium and large sizes, Pizza ATM offers only vegetarian pizzas. Photo Courtesy: Amarjot Kaur
Available in medium and large sizes, Pizza ATM only offers vegetarian pizzas. Options include Margarita, Paneer and Corn, Special Jain Pizza, Hawaiian Pizza and Paneer Tikka Pizza, available in medium and large sizes.
“We are looking at the franchise model and want to expand within the country as well as outside. So, we want uniformity and the ingredients are sourced from different companies, like Del Monte, Veeba, Amul, Britannia and Go Cheese. They are our main suppliers. Making frozen pizzas is a different process and also a company secret; we have done our training from Paris,” shares Rohit.
Medium-sized pizzas are priced between ₹220 and ₹340, while large-sized pizzas are priced between ₹320 and ₹490. The prices are much lower than many international pizza chains, says Rohit. “We are selling about 100 pizzas a day,” he says, adding that business has been good for the last three years.
Pizza ATM is next to Sukhna Lake Chandigarh, Sector No. 1, Chandigarh. A meal for two costs around ₹500.
