Pizza doesn’t always taste nice when cooked in a pizza oven. However, traditional pizza ovens are expensive and annoying to set up. The Bertello pizza oven is an affordable alternative that is perfect for the backyard. Founders Andy and Eric Bert pitched it on Shark Tank and got a deal with Kevin O’Leary. In today’s market, Bertello is worth an estimated $2.5 million.
The Founders
Andy and Eric Bert are brothers from Woodbury, New York. They grew up together and shared an obsession with pizza. Though they had many similarities, initially they took different career paths.
Eric became a licensed structural engineer, doing bridge design and inspection in the Manhattan area for 10 years. Occasionally, he climbed to the top of the largest bridges in New York.
His brother is a finance professional who worked in open outcry trading floors for years. Andy relocated to St. Paul, Minnesota, when he got married and worked in financial services.
Starting Bertello
Eric decided to use his engineering skills on something other than bridges. As a fan of genuine Italian pizza, he was tired of the taste of frozen pizza and pizza cooked in traditional home ovens.
So, he designed a portable backyard pizza oven that could be fueled with propane, charcoal, or wood. The multiple fuel options helped the pizza cook faster. After telling Andy about his invention, the two became business partners.
The Bert brothers invested $90,000 to launch Bertello in 2017 and made $640,000 in less than two years. At the start of year two, they borrowed $70,000 and paid it off shortly after.
Shark Tank Appearance
Andy and Eric needed to raise capital to hold more inventory and appeared in season 11, seeking $120,000 for a 10% stake. The Bertello duo made an entertaining introduction and wowed the Sharks with the quality of the pizza. This and their sales performance got several Sharks interested.
After an energetic start, their energy dipped. Barbara rudely called this out and made them feel uncomfortable. Pitches can go on for over an hour and the television episodes are edited down to around 10 minutes, so it’s understandable for someone to get tired.
Barbara offered $120,000 for 25% and Chef Wonderful offered $120,000 for 30%. The founders asked him to match Barbara’s deal and he agreed. Barbara was fuming, but how do you expect to get a deal when you call someone boring? You can’t talk to people like that and expect them to accept your offer.
After Shark Tank
A day after the episode aired, Bertello sold $75,000 worth of ovens according to the tastingtable.com. The episode aired in March 2020, a week before the pandemic shut most of the world. As restaurants closed, demand for at-home cooking products surged. Bertello capitalised on this shift by pivoting further into online sales, which significantly boosted revenue.
Before the show, they had $1 million in revenue. As of November 2021, they had sales of $6.3 million according to an interview with twincities.com. The deal with Kevin closed and they’ve done over $10 million in lifetime sales thanks to help from QVC.
Today, Bertello products are available through Amazon, Walmart, and the company’s official website, Bertello.com. In addition to its flagship pizza oven, the brand has expanded into skillets and other cooking accessories, supporting repeat purchases and higher average order values.
On Amazon, their original outdoor pizza oven has an average star rating of 4.3 from 531 customers. This is a good sign that Bertello is still selling well today. Bertello makes around $2 to $3 million annually and is worth an estimated $2.5 million.
