Hell’s Rabbit Pizza leads to record sales

Hell’s Rabbit Pizza leads to record sales

Hell Pizza’s controversial Gourmet Rabbit Pizza has sold-out in less than three weeks, delivering the Kiwi-owned business its best week of sales in its 18 year history.

Wellington-based Hell tried to source more smoked wild rabbit from its Southland suppliers; however, weather conditions defied the professional hunters.

“We initially thought that 600kg would suffice, but soon realised that demand for the product was far greater than we forecast,” said Hell general manager Ben Cumming.

“Regardless, we’re delighted with the result – 6,562 pizzas were sold, which, by our estimates, equates to around 13,000 Kiwis trying our Gourmet Rabbit Pizza.

“While we like to be edgy and irreverent where we can, Hell prides itself on being innovative; bringing something new to the market that lots of people haven’t experienced before is therefore really satisfying. It ultimately reaffirmed to us that our customers enjoy trying new things.”

Hell’s rabbit-skin billboard in Parnell generated much of the interest, provoking vigorous debate on social media. The discussion was also picked up in national and international media, such as Time magazine and The Daily Mail.

“The billboard had its detractors, but most people would struggle to be offended. All the positive feedback we received and our sales results overwhelmingly shows that, with a 19% increase in sales from Easter last year,” said Ben.

“We never set out to offend people with our marketing, but we accept that, while trying to make people laugh and provoke discussion, it’s unrealistic to expect a 100% positive response.”

The Gourmet Rabbit Pizza is the first in Hell’s Wild Food range – other products will be announced over the course of 2014.

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