Breaking Economic, Age and Racial Barriers with Healthy Food

Food is really an effective tool to break down barriers, be it age, race or economy. This is what happened when an investment banker from Nairobi had to wait for 75 to 90 minutes to have a pizza delivered. That was in 2011 and looking at where he is right now, it can be said that it was a good thing he did not rant and rave at social networking sites, called to cancel his order (he and his family were quite hungry to do that) or post negative reviews. The situation became the way for him to think that Kenya needs to know how service is done in other countries, leading him to invest in a Naked Pizza franchise. Right now he is immensely enjoying the positive outcome of a frustrating experience two years back.

From investment banker to pizza franchise owner

Ritesh Doshi is an investment banker from Nairobi, Kenya. His job has taken him to several places, including Amman, New York and London. While visiting his parents in Kenya, they decided to order take out one evening. For their order that evening, they had to wait one hour and thirty minutes for the pizza to be delivered. The following night they tried another pizza place. The delivery time was shorter by only 15 minutes. Since he had lived in several first class cities in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East, he is familiar with the delivery times of most pizza joints: about 35 minutes max!

Ever the finance guy

Doshi saw the opportunity, being an investment banker and all. He decided that the pizza industry would be better for him, which would also benefit his neighbors, and provide employment as well. So he quit his banking career and decided that Naked Pizza was a concept that he wanted to bring to Nairobi. Aside from the financial gain, he fully subscribed to the concept of healthy eating, even if the product was a fast food staple, known to be high in fat and cholesterol, relatively speaking.

Naked Pizza

The international franchise, which was born in the United States in 2006 has five stores in Dubai. The one that Doshi owns is the first outlet in Kenya, which Doshi started in 2012. The pizza company is known for using only fresh and natural ingredients and hormone-free meats. He went through the whole birthing pains of starting a business. He had to go through Kenya’s bureaucratic process, licensing agreements for almost everything, including the bicycles they use and faced the challenge of building a supply chain.

Positive results

Today he is happy that the people around Westlands in Kenya are eating healthier, embracing pizzas with all-veggie toppings, although the one with all-meat toppings is another best seller. His monthly sales is increasing and he is now thinking of opening another branch and the possibility of retail outlets. Now even people in his hometown that have never tasted pizza before are enjoying the tummy-filling meal.

People in his neighborhood are not just learning to eat healthier, according to Doshi. For him this is a triumph, with pizza being the tool to overcome boundaries – be it age, racial or economic. Ritesh Doshi and his Naked Pizza store are continuing to overcome barriers through food, which is considered an international language broker.

Image attributed to FreeDigitalPhotos.net KEKO64