Woodfired pizza has become the speciality of two Inverurie brothers who run a food truck together.
Rory and Craig Thomson took a leap back in 2021 and when they took over the running of Pizza Box.
But this was a no brainer for the brothers – teenagers at the time – who weren’t enjoying college.
“We always loved cooking and baking with our granny,” says Rory, now 21.
“So we decided to jump in the deep end and give it a try.
“And this is so much more ‘us’ than what we were doing at college.
“We talk about it sometimes. If you’d told me in high school now I’d be making pizzas in an old horse box, I wouldn’t have believed you.”
Quitting college ‘the best decision’ the brothers have made
Back in 2021, the brothers realised that studying at college wasn’t for them.
“I remember sitting in college, on my computer doing graphic design,” recalls Rory.
“And me and other students were sat one computer away from each other.
“But everyone was just sitting in silence.
“And it was pretty soul-destroying.
“But now we’re out socialising, going to these cool locations, talking and laughing with regular customers.
“It’s the best decision we’ve made.”
The brothers love getting to know the regular customers who keep coming back to try their woodfired pizza.
“I’ve enjoyed making a loyal customer base,” says 20-year-old Craig.
“We have customers who show up at our different pop-up events.
“You get to know them over time and you build a friendship with them.”
Rory adds: “People actually want to come and support us because they like our food.
“That’s really nice, it feels like quite a compliment.
“Loads of people come back and say they’ve never had a better pizza.
“And when you hear that, you’re like ‘wow’.”
Craig adds: “We’re always biased, we love our pizza.
“But it’s always nice to hear it from someone else.”
Brothers enjoy serving pizza to their Inverurie community
The Inverurie light switch-on has particular meaning for the brothers, who have attended the event with the horse box for the last four years.
“That’s a special event,” says Craig.
Rory adds: “When we first took over the business, that was one of the first big events we did back in 2021.
“And I just remember panicking at how many people there were.
“We do it every year, and it’s like a milestone reminder each time year of how far we’ve come.
“When we first did the event, we saw a queue of 15 people and we just panicked.
“Now we know to just take it one pizza at a time and stay calm.”
During the summer months, the brothers can attend as many as four events in one weekend. Now, Craig tells me “things work like clockwork”.
What goes into making the Pizza Box Scotland pizzas?
Working with his brother has “pros and cons”, Craig says with a laugh.
“We clash sometimes,” he admits.
“But at the same time we work very well together because we know each other so well.
“I’d say we’ve become a lot closer because we are spending so much time together.”
At Pizza Box, Rory and Craig divide up the workload to make their popular woodfired pizzas.
In the box, Rory takes orders from their customers, rolls out the dough and pops on the toppings.
While Craig is in charge of the fire, cooking up the pizza and getting it to the customers.
The pizzas they have created over the years include a fajita pizza, Pad Thai pizza and the Billy Goat pizza, which is topped with beetroot, red onion, goat’s cheese and chilli jam.
Conversation