We economise on pizza too

The frozen pizza category has always been price-sensitive and the market has been shrinking since 2007. Despite consumers’ spending more time with cooking at home, frozen pizza sales are not improving. However, Dénes Kiss, marketing manager of Dr Oetker thinks that there is potential in frozen ready-made meals in the long run, be it Italian- or American-type pizzas or ‘French’ baguettes. There is room for growth, as last year 73 percent of the adult population did not buy frozen pizza at all and average consumption is only 0.33 kg per capita, while in Germany it is 2.7 kg. Only 20 percent of food stores sell some kind of frozen pizza. Buyers are loyal to the market leading Ristorante brand and cheap private labels, but turned away from lesser-known and expensive producer brands. Dr Oetker thinks that the economic climate is not right for introducing more expensive innovative products. In the autumn, they launched their Guseppe pizza family and Ristorante is now also available in duopack version.