Is there more money in Californian pizza dough? The people of Perth are about to be the first in Australia to find out.
Fresh from a peppery fight with WA pizza king Theo Kalogeracos, Perth real estate magnate Peter Peard has rolled out a new pie venture in Hillarys that opens on Wednesday.
Mr Peard, daughter Hannah and his partner Russell Hextall are bringing global restaurant brand California Pizza Kitchen down under - the first CPK franchise in Australia and, at 9500 square feet, the biggest one in the world.
The property mogul had a spat with Mr Kalogeracos over the quality of pizza bases at two Little C's franchises in Leederville and Hillarys they each co-owned at separate times (Kalogeracos has since opened a new pizzeria on Oxford Street, Theo + Co Pizzeria, just metres from Little C's).
Bizarelly, Mr Peard's new Californian pizza venture will go head-to-head with Little C's, which he still owns, with both pizzerias sharing a base at Hillary's Boat Harbour.
The new venue replaces the old Jetty's site and promises food with global flavours and a "Californian twist" ... but sourced from WA.
"There'll be swordfish from Rottnest, beef from down south, a local coffee supplier and the kitchen team goes to the markets every day for all their fresh fruit and vegetables," Hannah Peard said.
So how does CPK differ from Little C's?
"We don't do the traditional pizza flavours, all CPK pizzas are made with that Californian twist," Ms Peard said.
All cheese aside, CPK's dough is made fresh every morning and hand tossed, with pizza twists including the Jamaican Jerk (spicy sweet Caribbean sauce, authentic Jamaican spices, smoked bacon, red onions and capsicum) and the Californian Club (smoked bacon, roasted chicken and mozzarella, hearth-baked then topped with avocado, wild rocket, fresh torn basil and cos tossed in lemon-pepper mayo).
There's dough in pizza
The launch of CPK has been timed to perfection, with pizza franchises hot on the minds of private investors keen to get a slice of the pie.
One of Australia's biggest pizza brands, Pizza Hut, was recently bought out by a private equity firm eyeing the strong resurgence in pizza sales.
And after hearing Allegro Funds was also holding exclusive talks with Eagle Boys to purchase its franchisees, Dominos CEO Don Meij said there was demand for more pizzerias in Australia.
"We're struggling to keep up with the amount of growth, so there is room for other players," he said.
"They couldn't win a price war with us because we are three times bigger and much more efficient with embedded technology.
"But I think they'll find a niche in the market and that's good for the industry; we welcome that because it'll help to grow the pizza category."
CPK Australia intends to open two more restaurants in Perth within three years, with a view to expanding nationally.
The global brand has more than 200 stores in 14 countries and also produces a line of frozen pizzas and gluten-free bases. In 2002, owner PepsiCo was outed for replacing fresh ingredients with frozen vegetables and cheese but that practice was overturned when a private equity firm took control of the company.
