Damiano Messineo is a young entrepreneur with an innovative vision in the food sector. Since he was a teenager, he has developed a strong interest in entrepreneurship, which led him to undertake international experiences. Founder of Loopini, he revolutionized traditional pizza by using lupin flour, creating a product that combines taste and wellness without compromise. With a strong passion for authentic cuisine and health, Damiano has been able to transform an idea into a successful brand, focusing on quality and innovation. His ability to combine tradition and modernity has attracted the attention of investors and consumers, making Loopini an ever-expanding reality.
From Sicily to the United States: what was your path?
The United States has always been my dream. Sports played a central role in my life, and it was through soccer that I had the opportunity to realize it. After high school, I got a scholarship to study and play in Kansas. Although the experience was exciting, I felt that context did not fully reflect my aspirations. I was looking for a bigger city, an environment that really matched what I had envisioned. After a year, while recognizing the value of the opportunity I had been given, I began to think about an idea opposite to my path: to create a project that would allow American students to study and play soccer in Italy. Thus was born Wospac Italy the academy I founded in Rome. However, the dream of living in an American metropolis had never left me, and in 2021 I decided to move to New York to study economics at New York University, thus beginning my adventure in the city that never sleeps.
Where did the idea for Loopini come from? What was the biggest challenge in turning it into reality?
I have always had a strong entrepreneurial spirit. At the age of 16, I founded a PR and events agency that quickly gained a large following in Palermo’s nightlife; entrepreneurship has always been a part of me. Like every Italian, I have an innate passion for food, and pizza has always been a symbol of our gastronomic excellence. The idea for Loopini, however, was born almost by chance, during a visit of my sister to New York. She is diabetic, and as I walked around the city, I realized how difficult it was to find a pizza that was not only tasty, but also healthier and suited to specific dietary needs. So I started experimenting. For a whole year, we tried countless different flours, looking for the perfect formula, until we discovered lupin flour. It was exactly what we were looking for. Turning this insight into a real business, however, was far from simple. We initially relied on a university start-up accelerator and successfully passed the first two stages. The university even funded the development of the prototype, giving us a crucial boost. But when we got to the decisive stage, the one involving a $15,000 prize, everything changed: some team members dropped out and we were excluded. It was a difficult moment, because I was really counting on that path to validate the idea. Having overcome that hurdle, we faced another big challenge: the supply chain. Importing a frozen product from Italy while maintaining the cold chain was incredibly complex, especially in the beginning, when volumes were still small and costs high. Therefore, we initially decided to produce directly in New York. However, to ensure the authenticity of the product, we eventually chose to move production to Naples, in the heart of the pizza-making tradition.
You were the first and only in the world to market a pizza with lupin flour, what is the secret of this product in such a competitive market?
We are proud to be the first. Our difference lies first in the ingredient itself, which offers incredible nutritional benefits. Lupine is a legume that grows with very little water and is rich in protein, about 40 percent, as well as being high in fiber and phytosterols (about 20 grams), which help reduce cholesterol. Our pizza has fewer calories than a salad. But it’s not just the nutritional profile that makes it special; lupine is also a “regenerative crop,” which is a crop that makes the soil more fertile, improving soil quality. Our pizza with lupin flour is not only a healthy alternative, but a true tribute to Italian tradition, thanks in part to our collaboration with expert Neapolitan pizza makers who helped us perfect the recipe. Our goal was to find the right balance between flour innovation and maintaining the authentic taste of pizza, which is a distinctive element of our culinary tradition. We have tried to reconcile craftsmanship with the need for scalable production to satisfy large-scale U.S. retailers, while still maintaining a high-quality product. Ancient civilizations, such as the Egyptians, Romans, and Mayans, consumed it regularly precisely because of its ability to be easily transported and its nutritional values, and today we are reintroducing it in the form of pizza, a food that can fit perfectly into a healthy and nutritious lifestyle.
The project was officially launched three months ago but is enjoying great success…
To test real interest, we made our first bet at Fancy Food in New York, and it worked. The response was so strong that, with supermarket and corporate emails in hand, we went hunting for investors. The first ones came right away, and now word of mouth is opening new doors, including with venture capital. We launched our product at Pop-Up Grocer in the West Village, which we met right at Fancy Food. The debut was a success: by the end of March we were in about 20 supermarkets in New York City, and we are on track to exceed 100 by the end of the year. We need this year to test the market here in New York City, and next year we aim to expand into the Tri-State and then the Midwest. In the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) world, a crucial parameter is velocity, or how many units are sold per store each week. The national average for frozen pizza is 7 units per week per store. We, on the other hand, are selling 35 units per week, almost three times faster than our competitors. The result? We have been in first place in the freezer category since we launched. I think our strength also lies in the clean label: no additives, minimal ingredients, essential processing. The only process we undergo is kneading flour, water and yeast. We have filled a gap in the market. In the U.S., “healthy” pizzas are almost always gluten-free, often made with almonds, cauliflower or rice flour, alternatives that sacrifice taste and do not satisfy those who want a wholesome, nutritious, flavorful pizza. We offer just that: a healthy option without compromising on flavor, and the numbers prove it.
You are very young but have a clear vision: what would you recommend to other young people who want to become entrepreneurs?
The first piece of advice I would give to anyone who wants to embark on an entrepreneurial path is to not be afraid to put yourself out there, but above all to test the idea before taking any major step. It’s easy to get hooked on your project and think it’s the solution to a problem, but reality can hold surprises. Here they always say “get out of the building,” meaning get out of your world, talk to people, try to figure out if what you really think matches the needs of the market. Sometimes an idea that seems brilliant can be belied by the facts, and then it is important to be ready to pivotare, that is, to change direction based on what you learn from customer feedback. Also, if you are young and don’t have great financial resources, initially you have to be ready to put your own money on the line, or to find willing partners. And there is nothing wrong with looking for investors. The difficulty lies in building credibility: it is not easy to get funding without a solid base of experience, but determination, the ability to adapt, and actively listening to the market are key. Don’t be afraid to start even from scratch, with the right spirit and an open mind, slowly you will get where you want to be, with commitment and adaptability.
Where do you see Loopini in five years?
We see ourselves in a company that has reimagined the classics of Italian cuisine, making them healthier without compromising taste. We started with pizza, but our goal is to expand our offerings to include pasta and other baked goods, all made with lupin flours, to maintain an authentic flavor while offering a healthier alternative. The important thing for us is that people can eat them every day without guilt, enjoying foods that are really good and healthy. For now, we are trying to expand our distribution to gather as much feedback from customers as possible and continuously improve our product. We listen a lot to what they tell us, like maybe wanting to add three basil leaves instead of two, or reduce the acidity of the sauce. Five years from now, we want our brand to become synonymous with healthy Italian cuisine that doesn’t sacrifice flavor for health. And yes, we are proud to be the first to reinvent pizza with lupin flour. We like to say that we have created a real revolution in the world of pizza, making it healthier without sacrificing authenticity. We will also soon be releasing a study with New York University showing that our pizza has a low glycemic index, preventing blood sugar spikes, which is critical not only for anyone who wants to eat healthier, but especially for people with diabetes. This is just the beginning of our journey, and there is much more to come.
The article Damiano Messineo and Loopini: pizza that reinvents taste and health comes from TheNewyorker.
