And he did.
'We developed the product to share with vegetarian
on a small burner with an AMC cooking pot, and a glass
friends and family. I started out doing this for myself, but
thermometer to control the temperature. The sausage
in a sense, I didn't believe I'd make it – it's very, very
peeling involved a small piece of electrical conduit through
tough becoming a vegetarian. It's worse than giving up
which Wally pushed the sausages – he had a Stanley knife
smoking, because it's a social thing. Take the turkey out
to cut the cellulose casings, and a cappuccino machine
of Christmas and what have you left? The real essence
delivering steam. 'This was the machinery I had when I
of Christmas. The real meaning. Once I'd broken through
got a listing in a major supermarket chain.'
these illusions, I'd made it easier for myself. We created
Entrepreneurial to the core, Wally told the buyer, 'I'm
four or five beautiful, tasty products, really acceptable
so backed up with orders, I'm not sure I can produce for
even to meat eaters.'
you immediately.'
A vegetarian phoned Wally. His father was the
'I had to rush out and make a factory. I didn't even
chairman of the Vegetarian Society of South Africa. He'd
know which machines to buy. There was some divine
heard about the products and wanted to taste them.
intervention there, because the day after seeing the
He loved them, and as an experienced marketer, said
buyer, there was an auction of machinery in Durban. I
he'd teach Wally how to market them. 'He did this huge
bought everything because I didn't know what I needed.
marketing plan and basically taught me what I needed to
Didn't even know if it worked, and if it did, no idea how
do to see a supermarket buyer.'
to work it anyway. I trucked it back to the mini factory
For packaging, the Frys created mock-ups on
ODYSSEY 64
•
DIGIMAG
The Frys had no factory. The products were made
I'd taken.'
cardboard, prepared all the products in sample form
Eventually they were making 50kg a day of what
with little information flags on them, and walked into the
became known as Fry's Family Foods. In one shift now,
first supermarket buyer's office: 'He wasn't keen to taste
Fry's makes around 14 000kg.
it,' but Wally was persuasive: 'I've prepared all this, so
Initially, it was just Wally and Debbie, and they
please, you should...'. He did, and called in the staff from
employed three people. 'I was literally loading a whole
surrounding offices. The response was overwhelming. He
container on my own. Debbie did the weighing – I did
said, 'When can you supply?''
the production – and we'd clean the factory together in