Forno Bravo in Australia

[james]

Hey guys,

I have a question for our Australian members where I could use your help. Forno Bravo has been doing very well over the past 3-4 years, and we are continuing to grow at a rapid pace (despite the recession). Our new products are doing well, we have some exciting new things in development, and we are expanding our manufacturing capabilities. Which leads me to my question.

We are looking for a business partner to introduce Forno Bravo into the Australian market.

If you know anyone who might be interested in working with us, send me a message at james at fornobravo dot com. We are very excited about kicking this off.

Thanks,
James

[Alter ego]

Re: Forno Bravo in Australia

James,

You should do well in Australia as there has been lots of media interest and TV shows on building WFO's over the last few months that I have seen. When I mention to friends that I am building an oven the response I always get is "great, I wish I had one of those." So far I have not got a negative response.

In Australia we are lucky enough to have the weather and outdoor lifestyle that makes a pizza oven in the back yard an attractive option.

Good luck with finding a partner.

Paul

[james]

Re: Forno Bravo in Australia

Thanks Paul. I think you hit it right on -- great weather, long summer, outdoor living, plus a great heritage of grilling. :-)

I have heard that Australia has a large number of ex pat Italians. Is that true?
James

[david s]

Re: Forno Bravo in Australia

Lots of Italians came up our way to cut sugar cane. It was extremely hard work done by hand and seen as too tough for lazy English heritage Aussies. Consequently the Italians ended up owning most of the cane farms while the Aussies were busy pissing it up against the wall.

[Alter ego]

Re: Forno Bravo in Australia

I have heard that Australia has a large number of ex pat Italians. Is that true?
James

After WWII The Australian government realised that they would not be able to defend the country against possible invasion because the population was so small compared to the size of the country so they opened the country to immigrants. As there were so many displaced Europeans a huge number of Italians, Greeks and others took up the offer and immigrated.

In the Newcastle area (pop. 500,000) if you exclude Australian & UK ancestry, those with Italians ancestry are the 2nd largest group being 1.7% of the population

Germans are higher at 3.6% and Americans are way down the list at 0.2%

All of the figures are from the Australian 2006 census.

Paul

[redcoat]

Re: Forno Bravo in Australia

we live in australia, and have just been to the perth royal show, and we saw a pizza oven with your companys name on it, it has been made out of a corrugated rain water tank, and we would like to make one if possible so if anyone can help us out, that would be great.

[Himzo]

Re: Forno Bravo in Australia

Hi James,

Personally I think if you have a look at the demographics (sp) then you will realize that the best place for you to set up shop is indeed Adelaide, surely we have the highest representation on this web site.
FWIW Adelaide has a very Mediteranean Climate and the interest in WFOs is huge, and yes many many ex-pat Italians in Adelaide (probably more in Perth though), with some of the best market gardens around. The Country's best wine growing regions (which means the worlds ) in The Coonawarra,Barossa, Mclaren Vale and The Clare Valley..

Do you get the feeling I want you to set up shop in Adelaide?

BTW I will pass on your info to those that I think may be interested.

Himzo.

[james]

Re: Forno Bravo in Australia

Hey Redcoat,

We have family relations in Perth (he's in the oil and gas industry). It's nice to see the Forno Bravo brand on a corrugated water tank oven. Thanks. :-)

Himzo, I think we have already heard from your mate who might be interested. Thanks for that as well. I need to go shopping for some Adelaide wine this weekend.

James

[heliman]

Re: Forno Bravo in Australia

I am in Perth and was recently discussing this very topic with someone who has a woodfired oven business. I was told that there are now 12 woodfired oven companies in Australia. The main market is DIY due to the lower cost, but it is difficult to gauge market saturation as I don't think that there are any stats available.

I was also at a woodfired oven company at the weekend and I asked the the guy there what business was like. He said that it has been very quiet since the beginning of the year, but has now started to pick up.

I guess then in answer to the question as to whether the Australian market can support another woodfired oven company, I would say that the answer would be "yes"! What it would probably require though is that the product should be fabricated here to give it a "local" made content and to save on transport costs. The key with the FB product would be the quality - which clearly sets it aside from many of the cheap options available.

There is a large Italian community in Perth which is likely to have a strong interest in the product, but the market is likely to be much wider. With the success of programs like Superchef, many people are becoming "culinary aware" with sales of cooking utensils increasing dramatically. This would also be a good market to tap into..

[nissanneill]

Re: Forno Bravo in Australia

Hi James,

I need to go shopping for some Adelaide wine this weekend.

What were you looking for in particular?
We have friends who own a large winery on the Flourier Peninsular (just south of Adelaide) and they also do a huge amount of bottling/labeling/packaging for other local wineries, especially out of season.
My son's best mate is one of the owners and gets a darn good rate on clean skins left over from the bottling run.
Only trouble is the freight from Aust to the US, but might have an edge in there too!
You need to talk to my older brother in Morrow Bay California, who is also a red wine lover and sources many great Australian wines over your way.

Interesting the thoughts about the expansion of FB to this great country.
I am aware of numerous wood fired oven sellers here, but we Aussies are an enterprising lot and build our own, but then again there are many who have no idea, nor desire to build, but will buy what appeals and is within a budget.
It would be a hard task to sucessfully get into such markets and would need considerable capital, resources, dedication and time to capture the market leadership.
I wonder how many of the 118 Australian members that i have in my ever growing list of contributing, (that have contributed over time to this forum), would buy their oven kit or get an oven built rather than assembled if they had the opportunity to buy rather than build?
Maybe we should start a new thread with a similar survey to gauge the interest!

Cheers.

Neill

[james]

Re: Forno Bravo in Australia

Hey guys,

I really appreciate all of this input. It is very helpful -- I have been internalizing all of this and I will have more to report and we move forward.

Thanks again!
James

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: Forno Bravo in Australia

Hey James,
I think you could start easily down under with just a container of firebrick and a container of refmix,,,,, for starters,, they are paying 3.30 each for brick

Cheers
Mark

[Himzo]

Re: Forno Bravo in Australia

Hey James,
for starters,, they are paying 3.30 each for brick

Cheers
Mark

which is about $2.93US at the moment, I would certainly appreciate cheaper bricks if possible.

Himzo.

[Johnny the oven man]

Re: Forno Bravo in Australia

$3 ex our new store in a couple of weeks. Melbourne area. 0451 470 371

[Padme]

Hi James,
I know this is an old post but did anything ever eventuate from this?