McGrath has launched Slicey, which he claims is the world’s first air fryer-focused pizza brand. The rectangular, Sicilian-style sourdough pizza snack comes in margherita, pepperoni and diavola. It is currently available in Tesco, Supervalu, Eurospar and Spar stores, with Dunnes set to stock the product soon.
Multiple investors have backed the venture, including CKS Finance dealmaker Conor Sheahan and entrepreneur Conor Ridge, who heads up sports management company Horizon.
‘We are not messing about. We are very serious about taking this to mainstream retailers in the big markets, says McGrath. Photo: Tesco
McGrath said he had ambitions beyond Ireland for Slicey, having held discussions with interested retailers across the UK and the US. He claimed the brand was already selling ahead of his expected forecasts.
“It has been unbelievable, to be honest,” McGrath said. “The retailers have really engaged.”
McGrath and fellow Fulfil co-founder Tom Gannon have both worked on the Slicey project, having self-funded its progress to this point. However, McGrath, who is leading the venture, said fresh investment was essential to ensure Slicey hits its potential.
McGrath said there was a “huge level of interest” in Slicey from investors.
“There is an opportunity,” he said. “Clearly there are challenges for copycat products and other people stealing your lunch, but we have very big plans and very big ambitions both here and internationally with the brand.
“We are not messing about. We are very serious about taking this to mainstream retailers in the big markets.”
McGrath said it was the right thing to do to give up some of the equity in the business.
Clearly there are challenges for copycat products and other people stealing your lunch
“I would rather have a big chunk of a pineapple than all of a grape.”
Inspiration for Slicey came about seven years ago through McGrath’s young son Scott, who drew up branding for a sliced pizza brand while on holiday.
Based on the drawings, McGrath sought trademarks in the EU and US, eventually landing one in America in August.
He eventually decided to focus Slicey around the increasingly popular air fryer.
McGrath had big ambitions for quality, setting Bambino, the popular pizza slice shops in Dublin city centre, as Slicey’s benchmark.
McGrath identified an Italian manufacturer who bought into the concept and became an investor. After several iterations, they made the product air fryer-ready.
“We were trying all these different balancing exercises to try and get the final product, so you can just put it in the air fryer, put it on 170 degrees and pull it out after between eight and 10 minutes.”
McGrath does not intend to challenge pizza brand heavyweights. He wants Slicey to create incremental value in pizza and become a new air fryer-snacking subcategory.
McGrath does not intend to challenge pizza brand heavyweights
McGrath and Gannon have been involved in multiple food businesses since their Fulfil days. The pair recently exited from the hot sauce brand Cali Cali, which they set up after leaving Fulfil.
They also backed Imbibe Drinks, trading as Newport Brands, when it acquired C&C’s soft drinks arm. The portfolio includes Tipperary Water.
While McGrath is always coming up with consumer food ideas, Slicey is his focus.
“I am hell-bent on making this a global success,” he said.