The fifth pizzeria by Viacheslav Prokudin is opening now in Georgia and each stage begins with pre-defined revenue targets, trained local staff, and consistent adherence to a proprietary location analysis methodology.
In 2025, Georgia’s tourism revenue hit a record over $4.4 billion, with foreign visitor spending boosting HoReCa, urban services, and food delivery. Tourism is now less seasonal, creating steady demand, especially in Tbilisi and Batumi.
Georgia maintains a strong culinary identity rooted in hospitality, making the restaurant market highly competitive against home cooking and traditions. This environment demands faster service, better digital experiences, and consistent quality. Success now favors adaptable networks that can scale standards, not individual concepts. Dodo Pizza, led by master franchisee of Dodo Pizza in Georgia & CEO at Vitagold LLC, Viacheslav Prokudin, exemplifies this, having opened over a dozen pizzerias in Georgia and abroad, including the most profitable one in Batumi.
Expansion in Georgia as a Test of System Maturity
From the very beginning, the expansion strategy of Viacheslav Prokudin was built on a step-by-step model: first validate the concept in one location, then scale only after confirming its economic performance. The first restaurant opened in Batumi, in a high-traffic area on the embankment, combining both tourist and local demand. The project took about one month to design and four months to build, with supply chains organized through a combination of local and international sourcing, including partnerships with major logistics operators: a supply system was established using both international and Georgian ingredients, with logistics secured through East West Logistics, which also serves KFC and Burger King.
The results confirmed the strategy. The Batumi pizzeria generated around $170,000 in revenue in its first month – the highest starting figure among Dodo Pizza locations outside its native country – and reached break-even immediately, remaining among the top-performing restaurants in the network.
“To launch in Georgia, we conducted a detailed market analysis – studying consumer demand and competition. Locations were selected in central Tbilisi and on the Batumi embankment with high traffic, while teams were trained and prepared in advance,” expert Prokudin shared.
Following this, development continued in Tbilisi, where locations were selected in areas with high pedestrian and transport flow. Marketing strategies were adapted to the local context, focusing on social media, collaborations with local influencers, and launch mechanics such as promotional offers for first and repeat orders. Each restaurant was not treated as an isolated unit but immediately integrated into a unified management system.
Operational System: From Data to Daily Decisions
When the Dodo Pizza network entered Georgia, the first challenge was obvious: the brand was practically unknown in a country with one of the strongest culinary identities in the world. Georgian cuisine is deeply embedded in everyday life, built around hospitality and dishes such as khachapuri and khinkali, which set a high standard for taste and quality. Entering such a market required more than a strong brand – it required precise adaptation. Against this backdrop, the Georgian case under Viacheslav Prokudin’s leadership is particularly revealing. In more international food environments such as China and the UAE, franchise projects of the chain managed by other teams failed to achieve sustainable results. Georgia, initially viewed by many experts as a risky market for pizzerias, instead became an example of stable growth, highlighting Prokudin’s ability to compete within a strong culinary culture rather than against it.
A key element of this system is the Dodo IS CRM platform, combined with management accounting tools, which allows up to 90% of processes to be automated and provides near real-time analytics – from order timing to revenue forecasting and customer retention. This enables teams to respond quickly to deviations and manage operations based on measurable indicators rather than intuition.
At the same time, the company built a structured HR system. Each pizzeria launches with a team of around 20 employees, supported by an “Adaptation Passport” and mentoring system. This approach ensures that up to 90% of staff successfully pass probation, while early-stage turnover remains at about 10%, creating stable teams capable of supporting further growth.
Choosing Locations and Scaling the Network
Today, Dodo Pizza’s development in Georgia follows a continuous cycle, where each new opening generates data for the next decision. Entrepreneur Prokudin has already opened two new pizzerias in Tbilisi, with a fifth location set to launch soon. All projects are evaluated as part of a unified system, supported by an analytical model that considers demographics, infrastructure, delivery activity, and operational load to determine the real economic potential of each location.
In this context, the Georgian project by Viacheslav Prokudin demonstrates how modern restaurant chains evolve into data-driven systems rather than intuitive businesses. Growth here is not defined by the number of openings, but by the ability to refine decisions with each new location and build a model that strengthens over time.
