The unique flavor of South Africa’s homemade pizza – import and export

We first came up with the idea of ​​designing a pizza oven suitable for grilling in 2012. We soon realized that making a great pizza requires a lot of heat. On Friday afternoon the first prototype was completed and on Saturday we had our first pizza BBQ party. The idea is great and works. It worked so well that we decided to expand the wedding venue design and make pizzas for up to 90 guests.

Despite hosting many successful pizza roasts over the years, we have yet to realize the full potential of pizza roasts. 2020 is here, the city is closed, everyone is at home, and they cook a lot of barbecues. After tearing down the first prototype, we only had the XL version of the pizza grill, which was too big for a regular grill.

The craving for pizza grows every day, but so does the need for a pizza grill that’s small enough to stay in your grill when not in use, but still have enough room to grill. Back to the drawing board.

A completely new design was developed and a prototype built. The design worked better, faster, and was much smaller, and we quickly learned that it was also versatile.

Soon we had another pizza barbecue party and our friends wanted a piece of our pizza barbecue. We figured, since we have to build 10 baked pizzas, why not build more?

And thus Pizza Braai™ was born. What started as a simple idea between friends soon turned into a booming business. We began refining our design, incorporating feedback from initial customers, and experimenting with different materials and configurations to ensure optimal performance. Our goal was simple: create a pizza oven that is not only efficient and easy to use, but also durable and beautiful.

How is the Pizza Braai™ different from traditional pizza ovens and grills? What are its main features and advantages?

The Pizza Braai™ combines the best aspects of traditional pizza ovens and broilers with innovative features designed for the modern cooking enthusiast into a unique (first of its kind) and versatile cooking solution. Here are its unique selling points:

• Easy to use – Just light a fire (wood or charcoal) on top of the Pizza Braai™ and slide your pizza into the drawer.
• Versatile – Can also be used to bake and grill meat, chicken, fish, bake bread and more.
• Can be used anywhere a fire can be made.
• Great for camping
• Rugged steel design – durable
• No fragile parts
• Easy to clean
• No assembly required

What distribution channels do you use to reach your target market? How do you balance direct sales with retail partnerships?

Our sales mainly come from direct channels such as WhatsApp, email and our online store. Social media plays a vital role in spreading awareness and reaching potential customers. Takealot is another great platform to gain exposure, especially for lesser-known brands. While we have strong relationships with some of our retail partners, we value direct interaction with our customers and prefer to maintain that connection.

Pizza Braai™ has started exporting to Europe. Beyond this, have you explored the potential of exporting Pizza Braai™ to international markets? If so, what are the challenges and opportunities?