As reports of another new virus variant emerge and with concerns that a third COVID wave could break later in the year, our frontline workers remain our heroes.
Cape Town’s number one pizza company, Butler’s Pizza, has come up with a novel way to reward and sustain these Heroes Who Help Humanity who continue to work tirelessly to keep us safe.
South Africa’s new Piece Prize was inspired by both the Nobel Peace Prize and its 2020 winner. The 2020 Nobel Peace Prize was announced on 10 December 2020 in Rome, Italy, the historic birthplace of many culinary delights – among them the cheese-laden flatbread that came to be known as pizza, a foodie fave that is now loved the world over. In one of the globe’s gourmet capitals, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) was awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize, in a ceremony that recognized the WFP’s role in fighting hunger and fostering peace in conflict-affected areas.
Neither pizza nor the Nobel Peace Prize are strangers to South African shores. Notably, Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk were joint recipients of the globally respected accolade back in 1993. Butler’s Pizza, the Cape’s first pizza delivery service, was established in 1989 and 30 years later, remains Cape Town’s number one pizza.
For every pizza that was sold between 10 December 2020 and 15 February 2021, Butler’s Pizza is giving away one slice to Heroes Who Help Humanity – all in the name of “piece”! Considering the number of pizzas that are made and delivered by the food company every day, this prize is nothing short of significant. Butler’s Pizza has accumulated over 82 000 slices in its Piece Fund.
Butler’s Pizza’s very own “Big Cheeser Bob”, aka founder Robert Wilkinson, had this to say:
“We don’t intend this to be a stunt of any sort. We will be announcing winners in weeks to come, as well as information about nominating someone. This could be for anything from a feeding programme, to a random act of kindness.”
Historically, the Nobel Prize for Peace – and other prize categories such as physics, chemistry, literature, medicine and economic sciences – was established by 19th century Swedish chemist, engineer and industrialist, Alfred Nobel who bequeathed his financial legacy to set up the awards. Nobel is the inventor of dynamite and other explosives and may have made this move to philanthropy in a bid to shake off his reputation as “the merchant of death”.
In stark contrast, Butler’s Pizza, as a modern-day “merchant of deliciousness”, is motivated entirely by goodwill in setting up the new Piece Prize. All the flavoursome slices that customers have enjoyed over the last few months have contributed towards a charitable donation of yumminess.
Seth Rotherham of 2Oceans Vibe – the well-known personality after whom the top-selling Butler’s Rotherham pizza (a tempting combo of feta, bacon and salami) is named, states: “With a pledge of one piece of pizza to a worthy cause per whole pizza sold, Cape Town’s #1, Butler’s Pizza, ‘didn’t dream’ that they would hit 80 000 pieces of pizza. But, I did! Yup, it looks like the human spirit prevailed and Cape Town came to the party. The Piece Prize Pizza Party Prevailed, to be precise!”
Butler’s Pizza intends to award its very first Piece Prizes to frontline workers and the nominations process will soon be revealed. Join the movement and give “piece” a chance!
