There are better times to start a business than weeks before a pandemic was due to reshape the world's economies, but if your business can survive that successfully as Doughboys has, it can survive anything.

When did you first decide to go into business? 

We've both always had a keen interest in business since school, however, finding the right opportunity to turn into a business with serious potential took time for us to find.

So, when we stumbled across a manufacturer in Italy who produced high quality pizza bases, which are hand-stretched and stone baked - just like those you would expect to find in a pizzeria- we knew this had huge potential  here in the UK.  

The pizza market is pretty saturated with big players involved globally, what does Doughboys bring to the party ?

Yes, the UK pizza market is dominated by a few big players and flooded with poor quality products. Doughboys Pizza [1] challenges this by being disruptive within this market- disruptive from a quality and innovation perspective and disruptive by our bold and engaging branding.

Unlike other products, our pizzas have multiple USPs which make our pizzas stand out from the crowd. From being hand-stretched and stone baked in southern Italy, to the high percentage of sourdough in our recipe and the extended 24 hour proving period, all of which contribute to our authentic award-winning pizza base. 

Were you stablished pre-pandemic? 

We official launched Doughboys back in February 2019, completely unaware of the pandemic which was to unfold only a few weeks later and inevitably, it hit us hard. Like many businesses, the pandemic forced us to adapt and diversify from being a B2B led company into new sectors such as retail and D2C. This move in direction instantly became a success and ultimately saw us through the pandemic.

With life slowly getting back to some semblance of normality, how is business now at Doughboys?

The business has come a long way since we began and despite the pandemic, we're so pleased with the progress we've achieved. This year alone, we've sold hundreds of thousands of our pizza bases and regularly supply a loyal customer base of more than 200 pubs, restaurants, and hotels on a weekly basis.

To date, we've spent very little on marketing and have managed to grow much of the business organically, especially by word-of-mouth which is incredibly satisfying.

How do you see the company performing in 2022?

We have big plans for 2022 and some exciting projects which are already underway! We expect to double our B2B customer base meaning we'd supply more than 400 venues. In addition, we'll be expanding our product range, enhancing our D2C home pizza kit offering and starting new partnerships with some national hospitality groups.