Wood-fired pizzeria accuses Brixx of ‘false advertising’

We found this article very interesting as Brixx Wood Fired Pizza is a Wood Stone Customer. We have been discussing it internally and thought we would give others the opportunity to weigh in. We would love to hear from you, leave a comment.

Pizzamarketplace.com

14 Dec 2009

Knoxville wood-fired pizzeria Hard Knox is going after Charlotte, N.C.-based Brixx pizzeria for what it calls false advertising that hurts Knox’s business, according to Knoxvillebiz.com.

Hard Knox has filed a cease and desist order for the rival pizzeria to stop calling its pizzas “wood fired” in advertisements. Lawyer Michael McSunas issued a complaint in late October, saying the Knoxville Brixx uses gas burners to cook its pizza, giving potential Hard Knox customers the wrong idea about how wood fired pizza tastes.

From Knoxvillebiz:
‘Hard Knox does in fact use wood-fired ovens to cook its pizzas,’ McSunas said. ‘Pizzas made from wood-fired ovens differ in flavor and taste than those made from gas-fired pizza (ovens) due to the maximum achievable temperature in each oven. By falsely claiming that Brixx is using wood-fired ovens to cook its pizzas, Brixx is damaging Hard Knox’s business and good will, and confusing consumers into thinking that there is no difference in the manner in which Brixx and Hard Knox cook their respective pizzas,’ the Hard Knox letter continued.

In a statement, Brixx Wood Fired Pizza Managing Partner Jeff Van Dyke said, ‘Brixx Wood Fired Pizza uses a wood-burning oven, which is ignited and temperature-controlled by gas. The wood gives our pizza its great taste, while the gas maintains a consistent temperature.’