Why an Esky full of ham and orange pizza travelled 1700km across Australia
A viral ham and orange pizza has flown almost 1700km to feed a group of fans who missed out on trying it.
Brisbane local Jaz and his friends Laura, Sam and Haylee like to frequent their city's trivia competitions and participate in 'random events' every couple of weeks.
But on May 20, the four took out the trophy for the most random thing they've done yet – hop on a spontaneous flight to Melbourne to try a unique combination of ham and orange on pizza.
The dish by Bubba Pizza, a remake of the classic Hawaiian topper, popped up on Sam's social media feed a few months ago with the group agreeing it 'would be fun' to try.
Sam and Haylee, keen from the get go, convinced the other two to join them down south.
'The pizza seems like a 'meme' (interesting) and we kind of have to try it,' Jaz told NewsWire.
'We spent about a month planning this trip, and setting up an itinerary to go down for a week.'
The day before they left Melbourne, the group decided it was time and checked the website of various Bubba Pizza franchises to see if the ham and orange pizza was available, putting in an online order at the Richmond store.
'It turns out the order didn't go through,' Jaz said.
'We asked to order an orange pizza but the (worker) says 'no, we're out of oranges'.'
Jaz said he and his friends offered to go around the corner to the nearby supermarket to buy some more oranges for a pizza to be made, but was told by staff that the store was going to close soon anyway.
They asked if the store could stay open a 'little longer', but, to their disappointment, their request was denied.
'We decided to get two other pizzas … a vegetarian and a meat lovers,' Jaz said.
'We (went) back to the apartment a little bit dejected, and on the way back we were talking about a way we can get the pizza quickly tomorrow before our 1.40pm flight … and if we can get someone to Uber it up.
'If you know Melbourne, it's like 40 minutes from the airport to the CBD – there was no way that was happening.'
In an crazy turn of events, upon returning home to the Sunshine State, a friend of a friend happened to know a worker at Bubba Pizza and offered to connect them.
Managing Director Damian Hopper said it was the pizza that just 'won't go away'.
'This is the second time we tried to take it off the menu and something weird has happened,' he said.
'It's a pizza that really surprises people. When they hear about it, some people get angry, other people get really intrigued but when they try it, every single time, they go 'that they actually works'.
'We're doing a menu update for winter … we were planning on taking off. Then we get this text message from someone telling the story of these four friends from Brisbane who flew all the way down to try it, it was sold out and couldn't get it.
'First reaction was like 'I feel terrible.' I feel terrible when regular customers drive 15 minutes down to get a pizza and they can't get one, because I'd be upset myself, you know?
'The other reaction was 'that can't be possible'. Who would bother doing that?'
In a show of phenomenal customer service, Bubba Pizza decided to take the food to them.
Damian said: 'I was just like, 'what are we gonna (sic) do?' Like these guys gone through a huge amount of effort for us and we've gotta try and do something for them.
'So I thought I'd send the missus.'
An Esky full of vacuum-sealed, half-cooked ham and orange pizzas, kept cool by ice packs, boarded a Jetstar flight from Melbourne to be personally delivered to the friends by pizza 'delivery flyer' Lucy Saarelaht.
Lucy escorted the ingredients to a local pizzeria to whip up five of the creations before taking it to the friends to try in a Brisbane park on Wednesday afternoon.
When asked if interstate delivery was going to become a regular offering, Damian joked they could now serve the entire planet.
'I was thinking technically that thing would last in an Esky or maybe some sort of fridge for probably three or four day,' he said.
'That means our delivery territory now is worldwide.
'If someone wants us to deliver it to New York, I would absolutely get on plane and take it over.'
His next masterpiece is in line with the chain's 25th anniversary in the form of a 2000s themed pizza.
Damian added he would love to create the next big thing that would 'slip in' alongside the classics.
Jaz said the pizza was 'amazing' and that the group was appreciative for Bubba Pizza's efforts.
'It was really good to try and close out the adventure,' he said.
'You gotta try everything once right?'
Jaz said he would visit Melbourne again, but this time actually eat the pizza in-store.
'It all started with a Facebook ad and it's a great story,' he added.
'You'll get a weird look when you tell the story but it's kind of awesome.'
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