Craig McKenzie (Debonairs)

Oct 12, 2016, 4:00 – 7:00 PM

Craig McKenzie is the Founder and ex-CEO of Debonairs Pizza. Debonairs is the leading pizza brand on the African continent and has grown to more than 500 outlets. He is a serial entrepreneur who was previously involved in many of the Famous Brands entities such as Ola Milky Lane and Juicy Lucy.

In-person event

About this event

Craig McKenzie is the Founder and ex-CEO of Debonairs Pizza. Debonairs is the leading pizza brand on the African continent and has grown to more than 500 outlets. He is a serial entrepreneur who was previously involved in many of the Famous Brands entities

McKenzie was a 23-year-old, second year BSc Agric student at UKZN campus when he and then partner Andrew Harvey founded the award-winning Debonairs Pizza in 1991.

He came up with the idea on a gap-year trip to Los Angeles. On his return to South Africa, after much planning and amid major scepticism, he and Harvey kicked mom and dads car out the garage and started making pizza after hours in Pietermaritzburg.

In the beginning Debonairs had benefited from the support of young, energetic and good looking drivers, to the extent some women customers would only order if the pizza was delivered by a specific driver in “bow-tie".

From the garage they moved into the back of a bakery, and the very first outlet was in Pietermaritzburg, followed by Umhlanga and then Durban

The growth of the chain was unheard of in the South African business world, with the opening, at one stage, of up to one store a week. Debonairs is now owned by Famous Brands.

Check out what happened

Speaker

  • Craig McKenzie

    Debonairs

When

When

Wednesday, October 12, 2016
4:00 PM – 7:00 PM UTC

Agenda

4:00 PMNetworking and Food
5:00 PMFireside Chat with Craig
5:40 PMQ & A session
6:00 PMNetworking & Dessert

Organizers

  • Raeesa Bayat

    Startup Grind

    Chapter Director

  • Khayelihle Nkabinde

    Co-director

Partners

Chilli Chocolate Chefs logo

Chilli Chocolate Chefs

Cooee logo

Cooee

The Mercury logo

The Mercury

black ticket business bureau logo

black ticket business bureau

Epic Videos logo

Epic Videos

Re-Volution Photography logo

Re-Volution Photography

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