Doughboys Pizza is ready to expand its supermarket presence after walking out of Dragons’ Den with the backing of Peter Jones.
Twin brothers Luke and Owen Buckmaster secured £90k from the dragon on the BBC One programme in return for a 10% slice of the startup.
The brand supplies a four-strong range of frozen premium pizzas – which are handmade in Italy using local ingredients before being shipped to the UK – to customers in the hospitality industry.
Doughboys expanded beyond its core foodservice offering into retail in 2023, winning its first listing with Ocado before pushing into international markets with distribution in the UAE at Spinneys.
With investment from Jones, the brothers hope to win further UK retail stockists, expand the range, starting with a sweet salami pizza, and grow a newly launched DTC pizza kits operation.
“This year, we are really focused on securing new retailers, especially at the big four, with conversations already underway,” Luke Buckmaster told The Grocer.
“We also have plans to expand the range very soon with our premium, Italian take on the much-loved pepperoni.”
He added: “As of this week, we have launched our direct-to-consumer At Home Pizza Kit range. This is something we’ve been working on for the past year after recognising that, in the cost of living crisis, many consumers were opting for more premium ready meals as an alternative to eating out. Our long-term plan is to convert this concept into a retail-ready proposition and diversify our retail range into the meal kit category.”
The new kits are priced between £17.99 and £19.99 for two large pizzas, including hand-stretched sourdough pizza bases and premium ingredients.
The Buckmasters’ pitch impressed in the Den, with offers coming from three dragons.
Since launching in 2020, the business has sold more than two million pizzas and generated combined revenues of more than £2.6m, with forecasts to turn over a further £1.8m this year.
Doughboys initially catered to pubs and restaurants struggling with chef shortages, quickly scaling to serve more than a thousand venues across the UK, including Chelsea and Arsenal football clubs, the NHS, Holiday Inn and Greene King pubs.
Peter Jones, who fought off competing offers from Deborah Meaden and Sara Davies, told the brothers: “I could really help you scale this business, at speed actually, without the pitfalls that happens when you scale a business at pace.”
Luke Buckmaster added after the programme aired: “You watch the show at home and wonder how you’d handle the pressure, but nothing compares to standing there in front of the dragons for real. We felt an immediate surge of adrenaline but also pride in what we’ve built.
“Hearing their excitement about Doughboys Pizza validated all the sleepless nights and sacrifices we’ve made. Walking away with an offer from Peter Jones felt absolutely surreal.”
Mollie Nugent, frozen buyer at Ocado Retail, said: “At Ocado Retail, we’re deeply committed to nurturing challenger brands, and since launching Doughboys in July 2023 as their first stockist, we’ve been proud to champion them and support their journey.
“The incredible 1,469% week-on-week increase in searches on the site for ‘Doughboys’ and the 7% week-on-week increase in sales of Doughboys’ range shows just how much their story is resonating with our customers.”
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