02/09/2026
Building Vito: A Different Slice of the Pizza Market
From its beginnings as a small pizza operation in Kandy, Vito Wood Fired Pizza has grown into a multi-outlet brand with a presence in Colombo, Negombo, Galle, and the City of Dreams. Founded by Ranil Gunasekara, who has a background in finance and hospitality. The business was developed by combining locally sourced ingredients, wood-fired preparation, and an emphasis on affordability. Its expansion has been shaped by a willingness to adapt.
Speaking with Business Today, Gunasekara discusses Vito’s evolution, the thinking behind its expansion strategy, the importance of its people, and the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.
Why pizza, and why wood-fired pizza? What made you believe that Sri Lankan consumers would embrace a product that was relatively unfamiliar to the mainstream market at the time?
It was certainly a challenging proposition. We initially focused on tourists because, at the time, I was operating a hotel on lease, and our Vito range of wood-fired pizzas was primarily offered to foreign guests. However, from 2017 onwards, a number of developments began to affect the tourism sector, most notably the 2019 Easter attacks. This had a significant impact on tourist arrivals and prompted us to rethink how we could take the business forward.
That was when we decided to introduce Vito pizza to the Sri Lankan market. We subsequently developed the brand specifically for local consumers, positioning it around the concept of wood-fired pizza. We also built our marketing strategy around Garfield, the much-loved cat who inspired the Vito name. Garfield became central to our promotional campaigns and helped us connect with a younger audience, particularly children, while making the product more familiar and approachable to Sri Lankan consumers.
You started Vito in Kandy rather than Colombo. Was that a deliberate business decision, and what did Kandy offer you that Colombo did not at that stage?
Vito’s beginnings in Kandy were largely due to the business environment in which I was already operating. My background is in accountancy, and I had worked in finance within the hospitality sector before establishing a management company to operate hotel properties that we had leased. Our model involved leasing buildings, converting them into hotels, and managing them primarily for the tourism market.
One of the properties we managed was Kandy City View, located on Saranankara Road near Kandy Lake. Its restaurant became the starting point for developing and introducing our pizza range. Saranankara Road is a popular area for tourists, with several established hotels in the vicinity, which provided us with a natural customer base and the impetus to experiment with a new food concept.
We initially served the pizzas during the evenings, primarily catering to tourists staying in the area. Therefore, starting Vito in Kandy was not so much a decision to choose Kandy over Colombo as a natural extension of the hospitality business we were already operating there. The presence of our hotel, the concentration of tourists, and the location itself provided the right environment for us to test and develop the concept before taking it further.
What experience in pizza making did you possess when you decided to venture into the business?
I did not come into the business with specialized experience in pizza making. My background is in finance within the hospitality industry, which gave me broad exposure to how different departments of a hotel operate. That experience eventually gave me the confidence to move beyond formal employment and establish my own hotel management business, leasing buildings, converting them into hotels, and managing them. Hotel management was therefore my first entrepreneurial venture, and it was the knowledge and experience I gained from that business that I brought to Vito.
When we first introduced pizza at one of our hotels, the restaurant served only breakfast and was underutilized during the rest of the day. We saw an opportunity to use the space in the evenings and brought in chefs to develop a range of pizzas for dinner. The response from tourists and customers in Kandy was positive, and at one point, the restaurant was ranked number one on TripAdvisor among nearly 300 restaurants and cafés in Kandy. That gave us the confidence to develop the concept further.
Our team has also been central to Vito’s growth. Several members of our original team, who joined in 2017, stood by the business through COVID-19 and later played an important role in our expansion from Kandy to Colombo.
Today, Vito is very much a team-driven business. Our Head Chef, F&B Manager, Operations Manager, Accountant, and other senior employees manage the day-to-day operations. Their experience and commitment have been essential to building and growing the business.
Vito began with a very small team. How has your role evolved from building the first restaurant to managing a growing multi-outlet business?
Our first outlet outside Kandy was at Independence Arcade in Colombo. Traditionally, restaurant brands expand from Colombo to other parts of the country, so bringing a brand from Kandy into Colombo created curiosity. We deliberately built our marketing around that story, and the response was strong from the first day.
The expansion also changed how I managed the business. Instead of creating a new management structure in Colombo, I promoted experienced members of our Kandy team and gave them greater responsibility. This became the foundation of our expansion strategy. I move on to a new outlet only when I am confident that the existing team can operate independently.
We followed the same approach as we expanded to Peradeniya, Negombo, Galle, and the City of Dreams. Today, our six outlets are managed by outlet managers and head chefs, with support from a Group Head Chef, F&B Manager, Group Accountant, and Operations Manager.
My role has therefore evolved from being directly involved in the day-to-day running of the first restaurant to building the people, systems, and processes that allow the business to operate effectively without my constant involvement. That has been essential to managing our growth.
Opening an outlet at City of Dreams was a significant decision in your expansion strategy, particularly given that the development was still establishing itself. What factors did you consider when deciding to enter this location?
City of Dreams was a development I wanted Vito to be part of from the outset. I had also considered One Galle Face, but felt it was already well served by food and beverage outlets. City of Dreams, by contrast, was still developing, with new components such as the cinemas expected to become operational in October. We were also approached by management about opening an outlet there.
When we first visited, we recognized that the Shops had not yet attracted significant daily footfall. While the hotel was performing well, the retail component was still building its customer base. We felt Vito could contribute by offering an accessible food option and giving people another reason to visit.
We also did not want to reposition Vito as a premium brand simply because we were entering the City of Dreams. The brand has always remained true to its Kandy roots, with affordability and accessibility at its core. Our objective is to make good pizza accessible to a broad customer base, and that philosophy continues to guide our marketing.
Our opening day at City of Dreams generated the longest queue we have experienced for a new outlet, supported by attractive opening offers. That response reinforced our belief that there was demand for an affordable food offering within the development.
Read more: https://businesstoday.lk/building-vito-a-different-slice-of-the-pizza-market/
