The Portion PadL, a pizza cutting board that cuts equals slices, is going big in a BIG way. Last month NuVo Grand, LLC., parent company of the Portion PadL, received an order from a distributor for their customer in California who purchased a custom-made Portion PadL for a twenty-eight inch twelve slice pizza that they sell as a whole pizza and by the slice.
“I receive quite a few orders on a weekly basis from customers who need a custom-made Portion PadL for a twenty inch New York style pizza, and I think that’s a big pizza,” said Greg Getzinger, inventor and owner of the Portion PadL.
“For this particular customer, I used a new Portion PadL product called the, “No HandL Portion PadL.” Instead of a handle, the No HandL Portion PadL can be used as a serving plate. There is also a unique lifting and carrying feature called, the “Grip N Go.” The customer can lift and carry the pizza without burning their hands. I don’t know if this is the first equal slice cutting board made for GIGANTIC pizzas, but this is a first for the Portion PadL,” said Getzinger.
The No HandL Portion PadL combines three unique features: the Grip N Go design for lifting and carrying; an attractive serving platter, and an equal slice cutting board. Inquiries for a custom-made standard size Portion PadL as well as for GIGANTIC size pizzas, please email Yvonne Widenor at yvonna@bestpizzasupplies.com or Greg Getzinger at greg@portionpadl.com.
Approaching the five year anniversary of Greg’s first Portion PadL sale, he shared an interesting story about how he came up with the idea for the Portion PadL and how his experiences in his pizza business gave him the insights needed to design the Portion PadL.
People in the pizza industry are inventors. We invent our own signature pizzas. We love testing different ingredients for making a pizza crust , spices, sauce and toppings for that perfect pizza that we can claim as our own and share with our customers. When I owned my pizza business, I too enjoyed creating unique tasting pizzas. Perfecting that incredible one of a kind pizza and sharing it with my customers. It’s that desire for perfection that gave me the drive to come up with a solution to a problem I was having in my pizza business. About six years ago, I opened my first school lunch and concession stand account. I was selling whole pizzas to the school, so they could sell slices to the students for lunch. A few weeks after the program started. I received a complaint from the school’s nutritionist about the pizza not being cut into equal slices. She said the students were choosing the bigger slices over the smaller slices. The nutritionist’s staff felt pressure from the students to only sell the bigger slices. Though my general manager and I had thought we were cutting equal slices, the perception, real or not, was real. I researched the portion control devices that were on the market, but none of the products on the market seemed to be very efficient, simple to use and easy to clean. Three elements that are required for my employees to use without question. If a piece of equipment does not meet those three elements, my employees will stop using it as soon as I turn my back or walk out the store.
Then one morning, at 4:00 AM, I woke up with an idea. The portion control device has to be a cutting board. I need one to cut our pizzas. The device has to have some kind of groove to lock the knife so the knife stays straight when cutting through the pizza. Then incorporate centering circles on the surface which will allow for perfect centering of the pizza. I made one out of wood, which included centering circles for my nine, twelve, and fourteen inch pizza. I showed the nutritionist a sample pizza cut using the circle and groove cutting board. She was pleased that I had come up with a solution to the problem. After over a dozen revision and prototypes, material changes and several months, of using the near final prototype, I was ready to take my prototype to a pizza convention to get feedback. In February, 2010, I attended the North American Pizza and Ice Cream Show. All I had was a two sided Portion PadL prototype. By then, I had figured out how to use both sides of the cutting board to allow for several pizza slice and size applications. I showed the prototype to a pizza trade magazine, who was an exhibitor. They were intrigued. They spent quite a while asking questions about the cutting board. I discovered later that the questions was for an article.
When I finished talking to the people from the pizza trade magazine, I turned around and to my surprise, there were about eight people standing behind me. I thought they were waiting to talk to the exhibitor, so I apologized for taking so long. They responded by asking where could they buy a Portion PadL.
I’ve seen that reaction before. It was the same reaction when I would create a unique pizza. One that’s not on the menu. An experiment pizza, using a unique blend of dough, sauce, spices and toppings, then offering the a slices to my customer’s to try. It was at that very moment, that very same reaction, I knew that the item I created for an issue I that had in my pizza business was also going to solve an issue for many other pizza businesses in the pizza industry.
In July, I will be celebrating the five year anniversary of my very first Portion PadL sale, to Domino’s. Since then, I have sold over six thousand Patented and Patent Pending Portion PadLs. I have designed a series of No HandL Portion PadLs that can be made custom made for round, square, rectangle pizzas. They are also made for fresh compressed yeast, submarine sandwiches and breads. The twenty eight inch pizza is a milestone for the Portion PadL, with more milestones to come.
I think what makes the Portion PadL so successful is that it was designed by a pizza business owner. A pizza maker, someone in the industry who understands the importance of making a piece of equipment for them self and for the industry that is simple for employees to use, while improving efficiencies and providing a great return on their investment.