Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Newbie here and looking for info.

 

I am the father of a young son who suffers from severe food allergies.  Add to this story that I also own pizzerias and at one point there was nothing that our son could eat.

WHAT???? A kid that cannot eat pizza?  Sad but true.

Well, for that sad reason we took the time to develop what is not known to be the ONLY allergen-free/gluten-free/vegan-friendly pizza.  Sure there are products out there for people who follow a gluten-free lifestyle.  As for foods that are allergen-free, well there are no allergen-free pizzas, calzones, flatbreads and the like.  Why not?  For the most part they taste like, well you don't want to know.

As for our product, we have sold 10,000 plus pies out of one little pizzeria and have our products in a few local gocery stores, as well as our local Whole Foods.

Why am I here?  Simple.  I am sick and tired of the emails from around the U.S. asking why we don't offer this nationally.  I am tired of other pizzerias asking me why I won't sell them the product.  Why won't I, I cannot cut into my profits for such a small market segment.

Well, that's the two cent story so what would be advice for someone who knows that if given the opportunity to go National with stores such as Whole Foods, are there investors out there that invest in "feel good" foods.

If you watch the news you see an increased amount of stories about food allergies and Celiac disease.  This is not going away like the low-carb diet.  In many cases this is a matter of life and death....especially our son.  The great thing is that our son gets to enjoy pizza whenever he wants....and we are the ONLY pizzeria that can offer this option.

Your thoughts would be invaluable.

Thanks

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Couple of suggestions:

1) Have you thought about licensing it out to other, national, pizza companies - let them get it into the stores that you want to target.  You can then collect a royality for every pizza they sell for the rest of your life and probably for the rest of your son's life.

2) If you want to get it into national retail stores - then find some national sell reps to rep your product to them.  These individuals already have relationships with these stores.

Best of luck,

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