Baking & Snack - October 2014 - 44

PIZZA

"As awareness of our
consumers' special dietary
needs grows, so does the
effort to expand our offerings
to meet those needs.
"
Jon Wiersum, Schwan's Consumer Brands
ing your products. "I think younger families are the largest group of consumers in retail pizza," Mr. Ring said.
"But it's not the only thing you can focus on."
Even with pizza, more consumers are looking for
ways to eat the foods they love while minimizing guilt.
"I think as a society here in the US, we're starting to
watch a lot more what we're putting in our bellies," Mr.
Foran said.
A big part of that mindset, of course, is gluten-free.
Earlier this year, Freschetta unveiled its first foray into
the gluten-free market. The pizzas, which come in cheese
and pepperoni, are Celiac Sprue Association Certified.
"As awareness of our consumers' special dietary needs
grows, so does the effort to expand our offerings to meet
those needs," Mr. Wiersum said.
But while those health-minded consumers are of importance, they still aren't a major focus.
"We are seeing that, and you can't ignore that, but I
still believe that pizza is an indulgent item," Mr. Ring
said. "Overall, it's not a huge portion of consumers; however, if there is growth anywhere in the pizza category,
it's with gluten-free or natural or organic. There is definitely a growing portion of consumers looking for cleaner, overall natural labels. But I do think that, for the most
part, people want to eat pizza because it tastes good."

Ethnic and culturally inspired pizzas are trending.
Little Lady Foods

It all boils down to a pair of options, Ms. McCarty
said. Echoing Mr. Ring's thoughts, she pointed out that
people want to keep an eye on their food, but they want
to eat for pleasure as well.
"There are essentially two directions: making pizza
healthier for everyday consumers and then making
pizza more decadent and outlandish for the cheat/weekend/party types," she said. "This is where you see things
like the new three-cheese stuffed-crust pizza. Also the
dessert pizzas like the ultimate chocolate chip cookies or
the chocolate lava cakes are going in this direction."
That could be a ticket for the fast track away from
flat sales: quality pizzas that let consumers watch their
waist and the tasty gut-fillers that allow them to eat like
a kid again.
"It all comes back to the fact that everyone loves pizza,
and there are ways to push a product to even more success," Mr. Foran said. "It's always going to be in demand."

The value of variety
One thing that makes the pizza industry so
successful is the varying ways it can be purchased. Consumers can buy a frozen pizza,
a pre-made refrigerated pizza or all of the
pieces individually and assemble it themselves.
"I still think pizza remains one of the most
competitive categories in the retail sector because you can find it in nearly every section of
the store, said Justin Ring, sales manager for
"
Nation Pizza. "You can find pizza crusts in the
center aisle, you can find frozen pizzas in the
frozen aisle, and you can find refrigerated pizzas in the deli and the meat case. Everybody is

44 Baking & Snack October 2014 / www.bakingandsnack.com

competing at the retail level for that dollar.
"
While Nation Pizza provides crusts, toppings and entire pizzas, Bama Foods focuses on the dough alone. Little Lady Foods
produces pizzas for the retail and foodservice
industry while Schwan's sells frozen pizzas
through its brand names like Freschetta and
Red Baron.
"That customization factor goes a long way
for pizza, Mr. Ring said. "Regardless of what
"
you want, you can find it. You can buy a pizza
and heat it up, or you can buy a pizza crust in
the center aisle and then get all of the ingredients yourself and assemble it.
"

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