According to Technomic’s 2018 Pizza Consumer Trend Report, 83 percent of U.S. consumers eat pizza at least once per month, with 43 percent opting for pizza every week. And considering the growth evident in the current data from Chicago’s IRI, more of those pizza eating occasions are taking place at home.
According to IRI, sales of frozen pizza rose 3.2 percent to reach $5.1 billion in the 52 weeks ending December 29, 2019. Nestlé has a commanding lead in the category, with $2.0 billion in sales for the year, but didn’t see growth. Schwan’s Co. sits in the second slot and had more upward activity, with its Red Baron brand growing 11.5 percent to $700.6 million, Freschetta growing 2.0 percent to $166.2 million, and Tony’s growing 5.2 percent to $112.3 million, per IRI.