Private label pizzas – at all costs

It is not necessarily very logical to go to a discount store for a pizza, but this is what most people do. Customers can choose between a manufacturer’s brand and a private label in all stores which belong to chains. Among pizzas, this is true literally as there is only one company which is seriously committed to brand building, while the others focus on supplying the needs of discount chains. Discount stores account for most of the 57 per cent market share held by the 401-2,500 square meter store segment. It is no real surprise, that one out of two pizzas sold are private labels. There are several reasons why discount stores and hyper markets dominate the pizza market. While the refrigerating capacity of smaller stores is limited, discount stores have smart policies. Consumers are extremely price-sensitive and now they have private label pizzas in all segments, not only the cheapest one. It is also quite fortunate for private labels to have only a single manufacturer’s brand to compete with. The market is far from being saturated. Italian type versions are still the most popular, while American-style pizzas a significantly smaller market share. We are doing our best to satisfy the needs of customers for whom low prices are not the only consideration – says Dénes Kiss from Dr. Oetker. The recipe for their market leading brand Ristorante has been up-dated recently and new flavours have also been introduced. Their brand in the American-style segment is Big Americans, while they also have a baguette, Bistro Bagett for the single serving snack segment.