Roberto Petersen’s new life: he makes pizzas to bake with his son and they export them to Hong Kong

Sundays (every Sunday) Roberto Petersen turned on the clay oven from his house and began a family ritual that included the participation of his children, especially Matthewand whose objective was to share a dinner with italian pizza as protagonist. That family tradition, which they have maintained for decades, became a entrepreneurship that they already taste in USA and Hong Kong.

Although they carry a surname of Danish origin, the Petersens have a part of their Italian heart. “I was always a pizza maniac.. On Sundays it was a classic when dusk fell, I would throw some buns in the clay oven and my children They went to the garden to look for the ingredients. When there was leftover, I put it in the freezer and throughout the week my children grabbed and ate until one day I thought ‘why not make to sell?‘” he told TN the renowned chef on how his project was born Neapolitan baking pizzas.

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In 2018, according to Mateo, one of the chef’s sons, they began to shape their business. Zen Pizza in the corner of Roberto’s catering warehouse. “It took us six months to have the right recipe. for frozen pizza. We test various flours, sauces and mozzarella so that in 12 minutes a person can eat a restaurant-quality dish at home,” explained the Petersens.

Furthermore, as happens in most family businesses, Mateo commented that during the first years They were the ones who made the deliveries with his car in AMBA from the northern zone: “We were in charge of going to look for the products, kneading, packaging and ring the bell from clients’ homes. “I put the frozen pizzas in thermal bags and I was going to distribute them around the city.”

During the pandemic, entrepreneurship exploded and not only did they have to change the kitchen “because the warehouse was already too small,” but they also began to hire employees: “Now we are 30 in total“We started two and over time we were able to give work to many people.” Currently, they distribute to more than 350 points of sale in the country -from supermarkets and diet stores-, in 14 provinces, and also due to “Mateo’s whim” the business extended to the foreign premises of the country and they do not rule out sending their pizzas and empanadas to Europe, Israel and the rest of Latin America.

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From Roberto Petersen’s dream to Mateo’s whim

In the middle of the transition from distributing Neapolitan pizzas around the neighborhood and starting to send them to the rest of the country, they received the proposal that their products be on the shelves of a American supermarket that sold Argentine items. Mateo didn’t doubt it, although his father did. “He told me that it had to be done, he was infatuated with it, and at first I told him no, that I didn’t like it, but in the end I was right. It was a surprise and a learning experience because They come to certify the plant, all the productive processes and when it happens it gives you great pride,” said Roberto.

According to what they say, the export began as a nostalgic memory of Argentines in the United States who missed the Argentine flavors, but, without expecting it, it expanded to other supermarket chains in that country and also came to Hong Kong. In that sense, the Petersen clan remarked: “Now We have orders for pizzas and empanadas to Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Israel and England but we want to go little by little. Although in Argentina everything seems difficult and the business model is complicated because It is 100% handmade“In the country you can do things and for anyone who is thinking about starting a business, the path is not easy, many times you stumble, but you can do it.”

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Roberto and Mateo maintain that for them the secret of success is quality of your products and have an honest price for their customers, since mozzarella, margherita or provolone pizzas range between $6,000 and $7,500 on the shelves. They work without intermediaries and directly with producers of organic flour, cheese, tomatoes and even salt: “We were growing together and by working directly with them we can agree on a logical and fair price. We have had many suppliers since we were two, when buying a few kilos of provolone cheese was a problem and now they sell us tons.”

“I I always wanted to have something on the supermarket shelves and I was able to fulfill this dream. We make something very artisanal, very by hand and with very high quality standards. That doesn’t give much pride,” Roberto Petersen concluded while his son stated that “they never stop thinking and working on new flavors.”