Dan Abbate is a fan of the grill. What he’s not a fan of is having his hot dogs roll off the grill.
So the entrepreneur came up with a wacky idea: A Big Hot Dog.
Source: gorillatango.com
His product is 16 inches long and has a four inch diameter and when sliced makes at least 30 hot dog slices that can be placed flat on the grill like a burger.
Including shipping, the big hot dog comes out to about $50, which isn’t bad. And the word of mouth has certainly helped business.
“One person sees it and then they tell 20 people about it,” Abbate said. “It’s hard not to talk about. We’ve doubled our sales since the weather got nice. We’re selling 40 to 50 a day.”
The Fourth of July isn’t the biggest holiday for Abbate. He says Christmas still ranks as No. 1, even though it isn’t prime grilling time. That’s especially the case, considering the fact that most of Abbate’s customers come from the Midwest, where he’s located, as well as the Northeast.
Business might soon come from traditional hot dog vendors who are looking to differentiate themselves. Abbate says he has received several inquiries from vendors who plan to take his Big Hot Dog and cut them into individual sandwiches for customers.
Source: gorillatango.com
His company, Gorilla Tango Novelty Meats, recently unveiled a big bratwurst and huge veggie and turkey dogs are on the way.
One thing that Abbate is still working on is the perfect hot dog bun for the monster meat.
Said Abbate: “We’ve had several bakeries try to make it and it’s just so hard to make it that big and keep the consistency.”
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