Bloomington, Minnesota-headquartered CJCJ Food Americas is predicting steady growth in the frozen pizza category – which currently accounts for roughly 14% of the total pizza market in the USA – fueled by innovation and continued consumer demand for convenient, stress-free, at-home meals that appeal to families.
With substantial market share in the frozen pizza category, CJ CheilJedang’s US-based food affiliates Schwan’s Company and CJ Foods USA Inc. are leaning on sales and trends data as they set the table for what comes next in frozen pizza.
“Our job isn’t to persuade Americans to love pizza, because they already do,” said Brian Schieff, president of Schwan’s Consumer Brands. “We’re tasked with making pizza even more convenient, accessible and – most importantly – delicious. We know there’s room to grow retail’s piece of the pie and we’re studying pizza consumers, learning how this beloved food can best help fuel them and their families, and innovating to find tasty, creative solutions.”
Satisfying Restaurant-Quality Pizza Cravings at Home
While many consumers in the United States and elsewhere lost access to their favorite restaurants in 2020 and part of 2021 because of government-imposed shutdowns and restrictions during the SARS-CoV-2 (coronavirus) pandemic, they didn’t lose their taste for premium, restaurant-quality pizza. As a major driver of category growth, Red Baron products helped fill this gap with the brand’s spin on a category favorite: stuffed crust pizza, but at a great value. Launched in October 2020, Red Baron Stuffed Crust Pizza features a crisp, golden-brown crust stuffed with melty mozzarella cheese in a unique and fun rectangle shape.
To answer increased consumer demand in the premium pizza category, the Freschetta pizza brand added Thin Crust products to its lineup in 2020. These new Thin Crust pizzas are designed for a discerning adult pallet and feature a flavorful, crisp crust topped with elevated ingredients like premium pepperoni, crunchy and colorful vegetables and a unique five-cheese blend topped with an herb sprinkle.
“In an ever-changing retail environment, we are innovating our product offerings and reevaluating our marketing strategies across all of our retail frozen pizza brands,” Schiegg said. “That means filling what we see are gaps in the frozen pizza market, refreshing our brands’ advertising and engaging our consumers through increased paid, social and digital media outreach with campaigns such as our recent Red Baron Pizza Backyard Movie Night giveaway.”
Single-Serve Frozen Pizza Meets Demand for Convenience
Multi-serve frozen pizza is often a go-to offering as part of a crowd-pleasing, simple family meal, but many consumers are reaching for single-serve pizza options, too. Single-serve pizzas increase the convenience factor of frozen pizza as consumers can prepare them in the microwave for any quick and easy pizza-eating occasions. With 17% of retail pizza buyers exclusive to single-serve options, this category offers a strong incremental sales opportunity for grocery retailers and saw overall growth in 2020.
Schwan’s Red Baron products, ranked as the number-one brand in frozen mainstream single-serve pizza, has innovated to meet that demand with new product offerings across dayparts, including Red Baron Deep Dish Singles as part of lunch and Red Baron Pizza Melts as part of any quick meal occasion.
“Convenience reigns when it comes to making food decisions – but not at the expense of taste,” said Schiegg. “Red Baron‘s single-serve pizza options help American consumers quickly knock one ‘to-do’ off of their ever-growing list, all while delivering on the crave-worthy flavor they’ve come to expect and to love. As Americans juggle more day-to-day responsibility at work and with their families, we expect they’ll continue including single-serve pizza in their weekly meal repertoire.”
CJCJ Food Americas plans to continue to capitalize on this trend by exploring ways to add the convenience of single-serve frozen pizzas to all eating occasions.
Pizza Melts Innovation Driven by Single-Serve Demand
Consumers in the United States love the flavor that a good pizza offers. Indeed, 98% of Americans eat pizza. They also love sandwiches, with an estimated 30% of home-prepared lunches and nearly 13% of home-prepped dinners featuring the convenient hand-held meal options. Those insights led to the recent innovation of Red Baron Pizza Melts. Launched in 2020 with three flavors – Red Baron Pepperoni Pizza Melt, Red Baron Four Cheese Pizza Melt and Red Baron Supreme Pizza Melt – they are ready in three minutes and are loaded with melty cheese, zesty tomato sauce and toppings between two crispy pieces of toast.
“While many consumers are spending more time at home, they are certainly no less busy. Red Baron Pizza Melts are the perfect solution for people who need a quick, hand-held option between meetings, have hungry teenagers at home, or simply want a fun new twist on pizza. We’ve been pleased – though not surprised –by the initial, positive sales response,” said Schiegg.
Growth Supported by Manufacturing Upgrades, Marketing
From frozen pizza place of origin to destination for future pizza innovation in both retail and foodservice, CJCJ Food Americas manufacturing facility in Salina, Kansas, is currently the largest pizza plant by volume in the United States – and it’s about to get bigger.
“Schwan’s was among the early pioneers in the frozen pizza-category, bringing delicious pizzas that originated at the Tony’s pizzeria in Salina to families across the country,” said Schiegg. “We are proud of that heritage and plan to continue to build upon that legacy of frozen pizza innovation with upgrades to our current manufacturing facility in Salina.”
Plans for the Salina manufacturing facility include a 400,000 square-foot expansion with state-of-the-art, automated production lines and equipment capable of making more than 100 million pizzas per year, as well as increased shipping and receiving docks and office space. Completion is targeted for December 2022 and is part of the company’s investment in growing its retail and foodservice markets in the United States and abroad.
Currently, the Salina site is 550,000 square feet and employs about 1,125 people. The planned expansion will result in an estimated 225 new full-time jobs by 2023.
With the increased manufacturing capabilities at the Salina plant, CJCJ Food Americas plans to grow its retail frozen pizza brands through continued innovation, as well as investments in marketing and promotion. The company recently completed a brand refresh for the Tony’s pizza line, which included a complete packaging redesign to establish the brand as accessible and family-friendly.
“We know Tony’s consumers seek value when looking for meal-time solutions that also please their kids at dinner time,” said Schiegg. “We’re eager to track the in-market response to the new look, which will all extend to the brand’s digital ads, website, social media and in-store marketing. We’ve got big plans for our other frozen pizza brands that we can’t wait to share.”
About CJCJ Food Americas
CJCJ Food Americas is made up of CJ CheilJedang’s US-based affiliates Schwan’s Company and CJ Foods USA Inc. Together they serve retail customers and foodservice operators across North America with many popular frozen products in addition to pizza, including CJ Foods’ Bibigo and Annie Chun’s, Pagoda, Minh and Kahiki Asian-style foods, Mrs. Smith’s and Edwards desserts.
