The story behind Pizza Braai
Pizza Braai began with one simple question: could the fire we already love be used for more? That question led to years of experimenting, refining and building what would eventually become Pizza Braai.
Chapter one
Where it began
In 2009, the Viljoen family were busy running a restaurant, wedding venue and guest farm in Worcester. Somewhere between the work and the gatherings around the braai, Andries began wondering whether the fire above the grid could be used for more.
He wasn't trying to invent a product. He was simply curious—and determined enough to keep experimenting until the idea worked.
Chapter two
From idea to invention
The journey did not move quickly, and that is an important part of the story. Pizza Braai spent far more time around the family's own fire than it did in a workshop built for customers.
Life was already full for the Viljoen family, who were running a restaurant, wedding venue and guest farm. Still, Andries kept returning to one practical question: could the heat from a braai fire be used in a completely different way? There was no business plan behind it—only curiosity and a problem he wanted to solve at home.
After years of experimenting with grinders, arc welders and hand-built prototypes, Andries finally built a Pizza Braai that worked as he had imagined. The family began using it for their own meals and gatherings. As far as they were concerned, the project was finished.
For the next eight years, Pizza Braai wasn't a business. It was simply part of life around their own fire. It cooked pizzas, roasts and family meals, and was shared with friends and guests. Small details were refined along the way, but no one imagined it would one day become a product.
Over time, more people began asking where they could buy one. Andries and Marja realised that the design their family had quietly relied on for years might be useful to other families too. Together they took the step from a well-used family invention to a family-run business, and Pizza Braai officially launched in 2020.
The first Pizza Braais left South Africa for customers abroad. It was a quiet but meaningful milestone for an idea that had begun beside one family's braai in Worcester.
Chapter three
Eight years of everyday use
For eight years, Pizza Braai belonged only to ordinary family life: meals after long days, gatherings at the venue and food shared with friends around the fire.
Those years mattered. They gave the design time to become familiar, useful and trusted before anyone thought of putting it in a box and selling it.
Chapter four
Proudly South African
Pizza Braai's story is rooted in Worcester and in the way South Africans gather around a fire. It was imagined here, patiently developed here and is still manufactured in South Africa today.
For Andries and Marja, keeping it close to home means more than a label. It means being able to stand behind something that carries their family name.
Developed in the Western Cape around the way South Africans already braai.
A family-owned and family-run business led by Andries and Marja Viljoen.
Locally manufactured for homes, gatherings and weekends around the fire.
Key product designs are protected through South African Registered Designs.
What began around our own fire has become something other families now gather around too.
Andries and Marja Viljoen
Pizza Braai™ is proudly designed and manufactured in Worcester, South Africa.
