The restless entrepreneur from Madrid who 'sold' pine nuts as a child and today conquers Spain with his 27 Neapolitan pizza places

Hugo Rodríguez de Prada (

Madrid, 1984)

As a dwarf in school he would collect pine nuts from a nearby pine forest and sell them.

He later used the money that his parents gave him to be able to buy a motorcycle that he had been wanting to have for a long time.

, he says with a satisfied smile.

Then, after having studied Marketing and Advertising at ESIC and previously worked in "many wedding and baptism caterings where I learned everything", Rodríguez de Prada's paths took him to Naples, passing through his native Madrid.

With 27 stores open today,

.

A job full of effort that Hugo combines with taking care of his three children and keeping an eye on another one that is on the way.

"I'm looking forward to enjoying the holidays with them," he says in one of his many hectic days in which greeting and asking how his workers are doing is a constant.

At the same time sharing

By the end of 2023, Hugo Rodríguez and his partner Jorge Blas plan for Grosso to have

(the current 27 are distributed between Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Seville, Murcia, Valencia, Pamplona and San Sebastián) and shortly after to give the jump to Portugal if the circumstances were given.

Now,

"This year we have exceeded two million pizzas. The Neapolitan pizza has a size of more or less 30 centimeters in diameter. When they ask us the secret of our success, in addition to wanting to do things well, creating a team and working hard is respect the identity of Neapolitan pizza. In fact, we have quite a lot of Italian people who come to taste our pizzas", says Hugo in the place they have open a few steps from the Santiago Bernabéu stadium.

To explain the success of this traditional Neapolitan pizza chain, this Madrid entrepreneur talks about

.

"In Grosso, four aspects are fundamental: the

which we work with imported flour; the

that are collected from the banks of Vesuvius, very robust and made by a master craftsman;

suppliers in Italy that we choose with blind tests to ensure a good product and the

the pizza masters who, at the same time, are artists and ambassadors of Naples in a space that is the oven and that every customer can see from the bar or from table".

According to the 50 Top World Artisan Pizza Chains 2022 ranking,

.

An award that Hugo Rodríguez speaks of with great pride.

"They're like Michelin stars for pizza," he explains.

From him and from his father, dear Miliki,

"the desire to do something, the passion that ends up turning into success. Emilio is a very important figure of reference for me. It is a pleasure to be able to talk with him about the enormous experiences he has had in his life. He always tells me that you have to keep your feet on the ground and your head on your shoulders, without letting yourself be carried away by nonsense. And enjoying a lot".

When the subject of work is touched upon, Hugo Rodríguez also mentions the family.

"

We do things with them to build that team."

Their objective: "to respect the identity of Neapolitan pizza. Sometimes it is thought that innovating is changing, but I think it is also realizing that

Jorge Blas and Hugo Rodríguez

, the two founders of Grosso Napoletano, met through an advertising agency that Hugo had with Icíar Aragón, his wife.

Later, that friendship gave way to a business venture.

"We always dreamed of creating and we began to share ideas about pizza. Jorge had a trattoria in Madrid and we decided to put on a presentation. With the money from family and friends

For me it was very special because it was where my grandmother bought bread. A bakery that had been closed for years and where we started

And there we continue"

Lastly, when asked about the keys to his success, some advice that can help especially the youngest.

"As an entrepreneur, you cannot have everything under control. If you want to have everything perfect, you will never jump into the pool. Little by little, with trials and errors, we find ourselves where we are. We continue to learn."

An idea that expands with the bases of a project that seem very solid.

"

. We respect the rules that have helped us get here. We have things clear and we know where we need to go. Being profitable but without forcing things, always offering the highest quality. Pizza is the second most consumed food in the world and we believe that there is no limit to doing things well."

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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