Topper’s Pizza franchisees Pratik Shah and Robbie Patel are going above and beyond for their communities
By Mei Linh Cheng
Opinions may be divided on Hawaiian pizza, but on the topic of pizza in general, almost everyone agrees it’s a slice of heaven. Pizza is made to share. It’s lunch for dozens of elementary students, comfort food to share with your friends or family after a long day, or a midnight snack on a lazy Sunday with your cherished pet.
Topper’s Pizza is a restaurant franchise baked perfectly at 400 degrees. Started in 1904, the Toppazzini family has grown their family business to 43 locations across Ontario. A Toppazzini family dough recipe, one shared through generations, is the heart of Topper’s Pizza’s success. But when it comes to heart, the brand also cultivates a network of franchisees who value community and giving back.
Ontario-based Topper’s Pizza franchisees Pratik Shah and Robbie Patel share how they’ve spread the love, with donations of pizzas to the Queensway Carleton Hospital, providing discounts to frontline workers during the pandemic, and supplying elementary schools with pizzas regardless of whether or not students can afford them.
Putting the pizza in pizzazz
Pizza day is always an exciting day in elementary school. Fortunately, Topper’s Pizza has ensured that it always stays that way thanks to their lunch program. Topper’s sells pizzas at a discounted price to schools, but that’s not all. They also donate pizzas to students who can’t afford the discounted rate and provide two large pizzas to the volunteers delivering the goods.
The Topper’s Pizza lunch program has been baking for many years, but it wasn’t until October 2025 that they garnished the program with few extra toppings. In an email broadcasted to all the schools they supply, Topper’s offered free pizzas for students who are unable to afford enrolling in the pizza program.
For Pratik Shah, franchise owner of Ontario Topper’s Pizza locations in Ottawa, Trenton, Stittsville, and Belleville, this means over 1,500 pizzas are being made, delivered, and eaten each week. Shah’s locations supply over thirty schools with lunch once a week.
“My goal at the end was that every kid apart—from the allergies and restrictions of the religious—they should get the pizzas. No matter what. If the money is there or [not],” shares Shah. “Every kid should have a pizza in their hand on the lunch program. I don’t want any kid left behind due to the finances.”
Shah’s sentiment is shared by others in the system, too. For more than five years now, Robbie Patel, franchisee of Topper’s Pizza in Newmarket, Ontario has participated in the lunch program as well. Patel explains that “any underprivileged kid that cannot afford pizza throughout the week … just let the school know and we [will] deliver the pizza.”
Topper’s Pizza requires schools to register for the program, but for those that have missed the deadline or can’t register, Patel reaches out to them and provides pizzas based on his prior schedule with registered schools.
Over the five years Patel has been donating pizzas, the number of students unable to afford the program is increasing. He says, “Now it is like four-five pies a day. It is increasing but, you know, it just makes me happy that I’m doing something. I’m not doing it for any PR … because whatever I’m doing is actually just for the people that [have a] need for it.”
Gouda causes
For Shah, it’s been since 2019 that he’s been actively involved in giving back to his community. He purchased his first Topper’s Pizza location at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic that, in 2020, caused the largest decline of operating revenue in the food services and drinking places subsector since 2001 according to Statistics Canada[1]. Instead of packing up, he began speaking to the community. He introduced himself and shared his worries, not expecting anything in return.
In fact, according to Shah, the pandemic changed his mindset about business. When he spoke to the community, they “told him they would help and be there for him.”
When asked why he gives back to the community, Shah says they’re “the people who are there for me. I always see them three times a week–four times a week. They were only coming there to support me because they know my story of that gentleman who had just bought a pizzeria and the COVID-19 [hit].” He adds, “These are the things that make me say ‘you know what? I want to give back.’ It’s my time now to give back. That’s why I’ve been so actively involved in this community since 2019.”
It’s not pizza itself that Shah thinks every kid deserves, but food and community, which is why his location also donates to the Queensway Garden Hospital and offered discounted rates to frontline workers during the pandemic.
Similarly, Patel has been with Topper’s Pizza for a decade now. Throughout this time, he’s become an integral part of his community. From sponsoring sports teams to supporting underprivileged kids, Patel has raised awareness and spread smiles, one day at a time.
“Overall, I feel charity is [the] more humane thing to do. There is so much war, so much stuff going on. If everyone started thinking about other people as a family, there would be … no suffering.” He goes on to say that “however small a difference I can make in someone’s life, I’m happy to.” And he has more than enough examples of times he’s silently donated and aided charities.
In addition to Topper’s lunch program, Patel has been a part of multiple charitable initiatives in his community. As a franchisee—and someone who values giving back—he’s sponsored food banks for multiple years, collaborated with the York Regional Police on their Holiday Heroes Toy Drive, sponsored seven local sports teams, and gives gift cards and coupons to other charities.
A pizza their hearts
When Shah was interviewed by his franchisor, one of the first questions they asked him were about his plans to give back to the community. Just as tomato sauce and cheese are integral to a good slice, giving back to the community is invaluable to Shah’s Topper’s locations.
More proof that local philanthropy is important to both franchisees, Patel recalls a few stories from his own community initiatives. For example, he once sponsored a program that offered children with autism an opportunity to learn and play soccer. One day, the children gifted Patel a hand drawn image, and he was so touched that he still has it hanging in his office. Children in the Topper’s lunch program have also asked their principal if they can write Patel a thank you note.
From the sentiments shared by Shah and Patel to the gestures made by the children they’ve impacted, it’s clear that the act of giving back connects franchisor, franchisee, and the local community.
Learn more about franchising with Topper’s Pizza
[1] https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220412/dq220412e-eng.htm