Milling & Baking News - June 25, 2013 - 32

Pizza Update 

Pizza popping up everywhere
Quick-casual restaurant chains taking the baton from frozen pizza providers

izza has been on an interesting path
over the past few years. What once
was a category dominated by large
pizza chains such as Pizza Hut, Domino’s, Papa John’s and Little Caesars, in
the mid-1990s yielded ground to a burgeoning movement within the frozen
food aisle.
Companies such as Nestle USA Inc.
and Schwan Food Co. through their respective DiGiorno and Freschetta brands
promised frozen pizza products that
could deliver restaurant quality at a fraction of the cost. Consumer acceptance
was exceptional.
In 1995, the year before DiGiorno
and Freschetta hit the market, total U.S.
frozen pizza sales were approximately
$1.6 billion. Two years later, that figure
climbed to nearly $2 billion, and in
the 52 weeks ended May 19,
2013, total dollar sales in
the category stood at about
$4.3 billion, according to Information Resources, Inc.,
a Chicago-based market
research firm. DiGiorno,
which is just a few years shy
of its 20th anniversary, is the
leading frozen pizza brand
with sales of nearly $1.1 billion, accounting for more
than 25% of total category dollar
sales, according to I.R.I.
Nestle and Schwan continue to pace
innovation efforts in the category. Earlier this year Nestle introduced a line
of pizzeria-style frozen pizzas in four
varieties: four-cheese, pepperoni and
cheese, supreme, and Italian meat trio.
Each pizza has a crust drizzled with olive oil and a sauce made with tomatoes,
garlic and herbs. Premium toppings
include caramelized onions, Genoa salami and mozzarella, fontina, Parmesan
and pecorino romano cheeses.

Pizza Hut Firebaked Style Flatbread Pizzas.
32 / June 25, 2013 Milling & Baking News

Meanwhile, Schwan expanded the Freschetta line with Freschetta Brick Oven
Chicken Club Pizza, Freschetta Naturally
Rising Margherita Pizza, and Freschetta
Naturally Rising Sausage and Pepperoni
Pizza. Each pizza is made with cheese, olive oil and sea salt.
Both companies hope the new products reinvigorate sales that are beginning to give ground to yet another new
category for pizza growth: quick-casual
restaurants.
Chili’s Grill & Bar, a unit of Dallasbased Brinker International, is in the
midst of an aggressive pizza roll-out
designed to generate 8% to 10% menu
share from pizzas and flatbreads. Prior to
this year the company had never offered
pizzas, but the addition of ovens in the
restaurant chain’s kitchens
has made the menu addition possible. So far, pizzas
have been an “interesting
roll-out,” said Guy Constant, executive vice-president and chief financial
officer for Brinker.
“I don’t think it necessarily surprised us, but
pizzas have tended to be
more attractive to our core
guests,” Mr. Constant said
during the Goldman Sachs
Lodging, Gaming, Restaurant and Leisure Conference held June 4 in New York.
“They tend to be more attractive to male
guests. And they tend to be more used as
an entree.”
The pizza is available in four varieties:
five-cheese, pepperoni, Southwestern
chicken and taco. Available in 6-inch and
9-inch sizes, the baked-to-order pizzas
feature a crust with a crisp finish. Toppings include mozzarella, Monterey and
pepper Jack cheeses, seasoned ground
beef, pesto, pico de gallo, and cuminlime sour cream.
Another company hoping to grab a
piece of the pizza pie is Cosi, Inc., Deerfield, Ill. The company, which operates
more than 100 restaurants in 16 states
and the District of Columbia, has added
handcrafted hearth-fired pizzas as part of
its effort to become more inviting across
all day-parts in its menu innovation.
While Cosi has offered pizzas in the
past, two new pizzas — Smoky BBQ
Chicken and chicken and spinach — are
examples of the company’s move to incorporate more options for consumers.

Cosi chicken and spinach pizza.

With competition heating up from frozen food makers and quick-service restaurant chains, large pizza chains are not
sitting idly by. Dallas-based Pizza Hut, a
business unit of Yum! Brands, Inc., last
week rolled out Firebaked Style Flatbread Pizzas, which appear to be a direct
response to the pizzas being offered by
Chili’s and Cosi. Pizza Hut’s flatbreads
include a slightly crispy “wood-fired
style” crust, cheese and toppings that
extend right to the edges, according to
Pizza Hut. The Flatbreads come six to a
box, and may be topped three different
ways with up to three toppings each.
“We wanted to give our fans a lighter
crust experience that doesn’t skimp on
flavor and believe we’ve delivered that
with our Firebaked Style Flatbread Pizzas,” said Kurt Kane, chief marketing officer at Pizza Hut. “We take pride in our
food innovation chops. Our latest creation is yet another example of how we
pay close attention to what consumers
want and bring it to them in a very accessible, convenient and value-focused
way.”
The launch of the flatbread pizzas come
just a few months after Pizza Hut introduced
Crazy Cheesy Crust pizza. The product features a ring of cheese-filled dough pockets
that may be removed and eaten separately
or as part of the slice. Earlier, Pizza Hut
launched Big Pizza Sliders, customizable
miniature pizzas. The sliders are made with
pan pizza dough and contain up to three
toppings each and are available in orders of
three for $5 or nine for $10. MBN
— Eric Schroeder
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

http://www.bakingbusiness.com http://www.world-grain.com

Milling & Baking News - June 25, 2013

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