FDBusiness.com

Cork-based Saturday Pizzas is planning to take a bigger slice of the frozen pizza market in Ireland, after opening its new factory in Little Island with the support of its Local Enterprise Office. Set-up in 2007 by German food entrepreneur and Ballymaloe Cookery School trainer, Philip Dennhardt (pictured), sales of Saturday Pizzas jumped 150% in the first half of this year, as consumers increased their spend on groceries during Covid-19 restrictions.

The Irish company, which makes Margherita and Pepperoni pizzas by hand, currently employs 8 with plans to grow staff numbers to 20 by 2023. Its pizzas are baked in wood-fired ovens before being flash frozen and are on shelves in several SuperValu, Spar, MACE and independent supermarkets.

Starting out thirteen years ago with a pop-up pizzeria on Saturdays, Philip Dennhardt, who learned the art of pizza-making in Rome, was producing 300 pizzas a day with his team at the company’s original food production unit in Shanagarry. Thanks to a Business Expansion Grant from Local Enterprise Office South Cork this year, Saturday Pizzas can now produce 750 pizzas a day from its new 2,000 sq ft unit in Little Island, boosting production capacity by 120%.

Breaking into international markets is also on the menu, according to Philip Dennhardt: “Our vision is to grow the ‘Saturday Pizzas’ brand into overseas markets. Growing can be uncomfortable but leaving the comfort zone is the challenge we are happy to face. We are very excited for the business to continue prospering and the support of our Local Enterprise Office has been invaluable. It is very reassuring to know that others believe in your business too and that is giving us the confidence to invest and grow.”

The Head of Enterprise with Local Enterprise Office South Cork in Cork County Council, Sean O’ Sullivan, believes that Saturday Pizzas is on track to become a household name in Ireland. “When the public were asked to stay home to help prevent the spread of Covid-19, supermarket sales rose dramatically. And at the same time, there was a big push to support Irish food and drink producers. So as a result, a lot of our clients in the food and drink sector – like Saturday Pizzas –  got an unexpected sales boost as many consumers were trying their products for the very first time. Now that Saturday Pizzas has opened its new factory and doubled production, they’re set to reach more supermarkets and consumers than ever before, backed by their Local Enterprise Office.”

Further information about the supports available to small businesses, such as training, mentoring and financial grants, is available at www.LocalEnterprise.ie