BIZ TODAY REPORT
KARACHI: Pizza warrior is a family owned eatery located at Karachi’s upscale are of Naval Housing Scheme (NHS) Phase 01. The reason why Pizza Warrior is widely known as Auntie’s Pizza, is because of its chef Kiran Sohail (Mrs. Sohail Hussain).
Team BizToday was talking casually to owners of Pizza warrior at their outlet where the hosts were very generous to treat us with hotly brewed tea followed by Creamy Chicken Pasta, Super Creamy Pizza and then Chicken supreme punch Pizza. All of these items were served piping hot which felt like an added flavour in cool raining breeze that was flowing all around. Owners responsible for running Pizza Warrior successfully are wife & husband duo Muhammad Sohail Hussain and Kiran Sohail. They are well-supported by their daughter Rawaha Sohail (Rawa Sohail).
We formally started our discussion with the head of the family Mr. Muhammad Sohail Hussain who said; “idea of starting my own pizza restaurant came, when I used to work for Nurpur as a sales representative and had to go to restaurants all over Karachi. Idea struck somewhere during 2016 and I started thinking over it whenever I got time. I talked to several people, and finally a chef agreed to partner with me on this project. We started off with just three people with chef and delivery boy being the other two besides me and initially it was decided that my partner (chef) was took after inside-operations i.e. (kitchen) and i was to look after all the outside-operations which included purchasing, administration, hiring of staff, finance, sales, deliveries etc etc.”
Sohail Hussain added that; “during early days things weren’t going that well as we had expected and I came to conclusion that chef was just preparing a normal routine type pizza, nothing exceptional to it. I tried to infuse my ideas into him but that also didn’t work and chef decided to quit. Once he quit I asked my wife to join-in and take control of the kitchen and when she did, she did it amazingly. My wife had done some cooking courses earlier and she use to cook excellent tasting pizza at home. Pretty soon pizza prepared by her became very popular within our friends circle. This helped a lot in replacing my partner/chef, who wasn’t cooking as what i had in my mind. When requested my wife to join in she took charge of the kitchen immediately with much effort. With her joining in the Pizza Warrior became our family business. After some-time our daughter also joined-in and she helps her mother in kitchen and also lends me a helping hand with my work-loads. Now Pizza Warrior has a workforce consisting of me, my wife, my daughter, a helper in kitchen and eight delivery boys”.
He further added; “since the joining of my wife, our pizzas became an instant hit and name of Pizza Warrior got familiar very soon. It is more than three years now as we started off on 14th August 2017 and this independence day we celebrated our outlet’s third anniversary. We are planning to open our second branch soon in nearby locality. We also participate in various events where we enlighten the ambiance with our live cooking”.
On concluding note, Mr. Muhammad Sohail Hussain said; “biggest hurdle being faced at this moment is the constant growth in US Dollar rate. 70% of ingredients that we use are imported. Cheese, olives, olive-oil, sweet-corn, jalapenos & some spices that we use are imported and are of best available quality but despite all the hurdles that are being faced, it is always better to be working as an entrepreneur then to work for someone. It gives you utmost satisfaction. My message to young generation is to go towards entrepreneurship rather than setting your sights on trendy jobs.”
Up next was Kiran Sohail (Mrs. Sohail Hussain) who happens to be real force behind Pizza Warrior and its popularity. Such is her footprint that a lot of customers don’t know the actual name of Pizza Warrior and they prefer to call it Auntie’s Pizza. Mrs. Kiran Sohail feels very proud that her creations were getting thumbs up all over Pakistan. She said; “our pizzas are very popular among regular domestic travellers from Lahore, Islamabad, Turbat, Ormarra, Gwadar & Himaliya and our pizzas are specially requested by our clients from these cities. Whenever someone from their family is travelling back from Karachi they specially request for our pizzas. We get plenty of orders from corporate sector for their lunch and also for their events, also for school parties, school events, family picnics and guest parties etc etc.”
Mrs. Sohail Hussain said; “we prepare dough and sauces in-house and even chicken is marinated under my watchful eye. We focus primarily on quality along with quantity. Quality is our main concern. Most of the ingredients that we use like cheese, olives, jalapenos, olive-oil are imported from best available sources. I would say that we prepare pizzas with our very own personalized recipes and our very own personalized toppings too. You will not find this taste and these toppings in other pizzas. Our pizzas are a lot different from other pizzas that are available in the market. Our pizzas are liked by those who love over-loaded pizzas with rich toppings. They prefer to have toppings and cheese in abundance. I would like to assure of the fact that no pizza in Pakistan is more stuffed then the one prepared by Pizza Warrior.”
On concluding note Mrs. Kiran Sohail said; “our most in-demand and hot favourite commodities are pizzas and besides pizzas we have also started offering pasta, chicken broast, chicken zinger, sandwiches etc. Our Super creamy Pizza and Chicken supreme punch Pizza are our hottest and most in-demand pizzas. Our creamy chicken pasta is also in demand a lot.”
Rawaha Sohail (Rawa Sohail) is also trained chef and has a passion for cooking. She specializes in cooking/preparing pizzas of various types, but is currently working under the tutelage her mother. Rawa joined into this family business pretty recently and has plans to take it to next level. Being from the younger generation among the two, she intends to use latest tools and technologies to take this family business of hers to next level. Online marketing is the first thing that she has set her mind on and according to her; “for Pizza Warrior, we will start online marketing pretty soon and we also intend to increase our presence on social media with accounts on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter. Then we will surely go for our very own dedicated website for Pizza Warrior. We are also talking to various delivery options like Food Panda, Bykea etc and pretty soon Pizza Warrior will be on Food Panda too. Like my parents my emphasis is also on quality rather than on quantity”.
