Young entrepreneur Elliott Booth gets claws into BBQ market

Serial Brisbane entrepreneur Elliott Booth has got his ... claws into the latest BBQ trend and has plans for major growth.

The Wonder Claws in action on a roast chicken

Elliott Booth is a bit of an expert when it comes to the flesh. But the 29-year-old entrepreneur, who runs Lazco Tattoo Removal at Stones Corner, is now branching out into meat of a different kind as the manager of a new company called Wonder Claws.

Wonder Claws is starting to take the barbecue world by storm with its meat tearing implements that allow large chunks of cooked meat to be reduced to bite-sized pieces ready for the table. It also allowed hands-on cooking without the messy fingers.

Mr Booth said the Wonder Claw, a fist-sized utensil that features fork-like prongs, may look like a prop from Wolverine but he is already selling several hundred online each week.

His ambition is to get the product, which is manufactured and packaged in China, into major retail chains including Bunnings. Coles and Woolworths. He also is seeking the endorsement of a celebrity chef to push sales of the product.

Mr Booth already has a distributor in Victoria that supplies the Wonder Claws to barbecue shops but wants a big deal with a major retailer to obtain the required scale.

“I’m contacting all the right people in those companies but it is really hard as you can imagine,” Mr Booth said.

Elliott Booth with his Wonder Claws. Picture David Clark

“Being small I am trying to get some leverage nut not being a big name like Weber, which has their own stores, it is challenging. I’m also in contact with a few celebrity chefs to gain their endorsement so we can put their photo on the packaging.”

Mr Booth said the popularity of American-style barbecue is “blowing up” meaning a popular utensil like the Wonder Claw had the potential to sell hundreds of thousands of units each year. He adds a dollar from the sale of each set of Wonder Claws, which retail at $29, would go towards a domestic violence charity.

Later this month, Mr Booth will attend Melbourne Meatstock, Australia’s largest barbecue festival, to promote Wonder Claws and talk to potential distributors.

Meatstock includes two days of live music, barbecue and grilling competitions, low and slow barbecue, butcher wars and demonstrations.

He said while his tattoo removal business remained strong, Wonder Claws had more potential in the long-term to be more profitable.

“With my tattoo removal business, I am capped at how many clients I see each day,” Mr Booth said. “With Wonder Claws, the potential is huge.”

Mr Booth also plans to develop an app for Wonder Claws that will provide recipes and content for barbecue fans. “The whole idea of the app is to build a community around cooking and recipes, he said.

The Wonder Claws in action on a roast chicken

Originally published as Young entrepreneur Elliott Booth gets claws into BBQ market