Over the past four months since our last analysis of the pizza category, retail sales have taken a slight dip. Frozen pizza dollar sales were down 0.75 percent for the 52 weeks ending January 22, 2017 to $4.6 billion, per IRI, Chicago. Only one company has maintained positive performance, with Palermo Villa up 4.84 percent to $122.9 million, anchored by its Screamin’ Sicilian brand (up 9.82 percent in dollar sales to $70.9 million)—a testament to the staying power of the super-premium segment. Private label is also still capturing growth, up 8.95 percent to $580.3 million.
Other standouts in frozen pizza for the period include The Schwan Food Co. brand Tony’s (up 14.16 percent to $77.3 million) and Nestlé brand Lean Cuisine (up 16.82 to $69.9 million).