Family hopes dough comes rolling in

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/08/2010 (4597 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

What started out as some family fun for Bill and Veronica Suszynski has evolved into an enterprising opportunity that Winnipeggers are eagerly gobbling up.

The husband-and-wife duo are the owners of Rollin’ Dough Pizza, which they claim is the city’s only mobile pizza truck. Most days they can be found parked near the corner of Mountain Avenue and Bentall Street in the Inkster Industrial Park.

The inspiration for the business was cooked up in a family kitchen more than a generation ago.

“Pizzas in our family really started as my dad’s hobby. It really grew into a passion for him and many others in our family,” Bill said.

“We just carried on the tradition and have been doing it for about 20 years now. (It) became a Friday night mainstay in our house,” Veronica added.

When the pair found themselves with the opportunity to strike out on their own as entrepreneurs, they wanted to do something unique. They were looking for a niche market and found it staring them in the face every Friday night.

“We were watching trends but wanted to something that was a bit different,” said Bill, noting portable pizza vendors are catching on in the United States, especially in California.

The Suszynskis, who live in the Grant Park area and recently relocated from River Heights, are using their tried-and-tested family recipes for their pies.

“We’re keeping everything fresh. We hand roll the dough and only use fresh toppings. We take about eight minutes to go from no pizza to something fully cooked,” Bill said.

They’ve been selling pizzas for less than a month. Despite a relatively slow start, business has been improving ever since, according to Veronica.

“It’s a bit funny, we’ll get somebody order a slice and head into their office. A couple minutes later, out comes the rest of the office,” Bill said.

Rollin’ Dough has become even more of a family affair of late. Nephew Mike Zacharias and niece Alexee Klassen are working some shifts while the Suszynskis’ own kids are also involved in the business.

“The extended family is quite excited about the whole idea,” Veronica said.

The Suszynskis are concentrating on increasing their customer base and are already looking at expanding their menu.

“We’re going to be looking at salads and sandwiches next as well as a few catering opportunities.”

For more information see www.rollindoughpizza.com.

rob.brown@canstarnews.com