Latest news with #DiGiorno
Miami Herald
5 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Domino's and Pizza Hut rival makes ‘first-in-decade' menu change
There was a time when people would say that any pizza was pretty good, even some of the worst takeout and frozen options. Consumers ate bad pizza (or decent pizza depending upon how you look at it) because it was the best option. Calling Domino's (DPZ) for delivery, or pulling out a frozen pizza from the back of the freezer (or maybe even stooping pizza rolls) was the best late-night option. In some markets, it was the only delivery choice. Related: Popular dessert, fast-food chain survives Chapter 11 bankruptcy Bad pizza was better than cooking, especially if you had limited ingredients to work with. Food delivery services changes all of that. Now, Uber Eats and DoorDash will bring you sushi, Italian food, Chinese, and who knows what else until fairly late hours. You can also order pizza from local places , and the competition for your food dollar has increased. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter Delivery from Uber Eats and other services, however, is expensive and many consumers have been tightening their budgets when it comes to food. People who used to order higher-end pizza, might opt for Domino's or Pizza Hut, while those chains may lose customer to frozen pizza. Now, a leading player in the space wants to give people a mix of value and gourmet that may fit the current market really well. DiGiorno has long-used the catchphrase, "it's not delivery, it Digiorno." They saw that as a positive, some customers saw it as an apology. Sure, I could have gotten delivery, but instead I opted for this frozen pizza. It's either lazy or insulting, but not person actually needs to be told they're eating a frozen pizza. DiGiorno has marketed itself as premium frozen, which it is, but it's all relative. The company offered a superior product to much of what you see on grocery shelves. It's better (to most) than Elio's, Red Baron, and many of the other offered brands. More Food: Applebee's brings back all-you-can-eat deal to take down Chili'sPopular Mexican chain reveals surprising growth plansStarbucks CEO shares plan for a whole new menu In most cases, it was equal to say California Pizza Kitchen and other premium frozen brands. DiGiorno may also be better than some freshly-made frozen in-house pizza brands, but many Publix and Fresh Market fans might argue that. DiGiorno was upscale in that it was higher-quality than most of its rivals. Now, the Nestle-owned company wants to put a flag in the sand. It does not want to just say it's better. It actually want to be better. Premium frozen pizza is a bit like saying, "that's the best gas station sushi I have ever had. Still, DoGiorno has made a real bid to offer something better. The company has added a new line, Wood Fired Style Crust Pizza. "This all-new pizza from DiGiorno features premium toppings and a perfectly crisp crust that serves up restaurant-quality taste fresh from your oven. Previously baking the crust at high temperatures to achieve a perfectly chewy and lightly charred texture, the DiGiorno Wood Fired Style Crust Pizza elevates the at-home pizza experience offering a dough with rich flavor, airy structure and the perfect bite," the company shared in a press release. Related: Popular local Dairy Queen rival suddenly closing, no bankruptcy The U.S. pizza market is nearly $55 billion, but less than 20% is frozen pizza. In a time where budgets are getting tighter, DiGiorno may be hitting a space in offering a mix of quality and value. The company will offer four flavors: DiGiorno Wood Fired Style Crust Four Cheese Pizza features a rich blend of cheeses-Romano, Asiago, Mozzarella, and Wood Fired Style Crust Italian Meat Trio Pizza includes a curated blend of pepperoni, salami, and Italian Wood Fired Style Crust Supreme Speciale Pizza is a vibrant celebration of flavors featuring generous layers of savory pepperoni and sausage and topped with a medley of colorful vegetables-green, yellow, & red peppers and Wood Fired Style Crust Premium Pepperoni Pizza is stacked with rich, zesty pepperoni on a crispy, lightly charred crust. All four DiGiorno Wood Fired Style Crust Pizza varieties will be available at retailers nationwide for an MSRP of $6.49 (prices may vary by store) starting in May. Some have hailed this as a "first-in-a-decade" change. "Frozen pizza hasn't seen a major innovation in a decade when stuffed crust hit the market, Graves said. Before that, it was rising crust, which was developed by DiGiorno in 1995," FoodDive reported. The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Washington Post
11-05-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
Why one man hopes tariffs give a boost to his Made in America Store
ELMA, New York — The Stars and Stripes lining the driveway and the giant Constitution plastered to the wall offer a very clear welcome to the Made in America Store. Here you'll find 18,000 square feet of stuff, all 100 percent made in the U.S. of A. What's for sale: Wind chimes. Tootsie Rolls. Socks. Toilet paper. Kazoos. Frozen DiGiorno pizzas. American flags. T-shirts printed with his favorite slogan, 'Because China is a Long Drive to Work!'
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
I tried 5 different frozen pizzas, and found the best-tasting pie also cooked the fastest
I tried frozen cheese pizzas from DiGiorno, Amy's, Newman's Own, Red Baron, and Tombstone. The Tombstone pizza was just OK, and the Amy's pizza crust wasn't crispy enough, in my opinion. Overall, the pizza from Newman's Own had the perfect balance of flavors, plus a tasty crust. Frozen pizza is pretty popular right now, especially amid a lot of economic anxieties. But with so many options out there, which is actually the best to pick up at the grocery store? To find out, I tasted frozen pizzas from five different brands: DiGiorno, Amy's, Newman's Own, Red Baron, and Tombstone. For consistency's sake, I chose a cheese pizza from each brand and prepared every pie in the oven following the instructions found on the respective packages. Since I reviewed these pizzas, prices have changed (and will vary by region and store), but the pies on this list typically cost between $4.50 and $14. Read on to see how these frozen cheese pizzas stacked up and which was my favorite. The first pizza I tried was Tombstone's five-cheese pie. Tombstone's pizza is the only one that didn't come in a box. Instead, it came wrapped in plastic with a circular base made out of cardboard. Cooking directions, ingredients, and nutrition facts were printed on a sticker attached to the shrink-wrap, which I accidentally threw away in my haste (and later retrieved). This pizza advertises five different kinds of cheese — mozzarella, cheddar, Parmesan, Asiago, and Romano — and a buttery, crispy crust. After 17 minutes of cooking, the crust was crispy and the cheese was nicely browned around the edges. The cooking directions recommended baking this pizza for 17 to 19 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit, but I didn't end up needing the full cooking time. It looked beautifully golden and crisp after just 17 minutes. This pizza was very middle-of-the-road for me, and the crust, level of crispiness, and overall flavors were just OK. My husband, who also tasted these pizzas, said this Tombstone pie made him nostalgic since it was his family's go-to brand when he was a kid. He suggested that chopping up extra toppings and baking them into the cheese would vastly improve the taste of this pizza (or maybe we just ought to try a Tomstone pie with toppings next time). The second pizza I tried was from DiGiorno, and it had a rising crust. I couldn't help but hear the brand's tagline — "It's not delivery, it's DiGiorno!" — in my head as I picked up this frozen pizza. DiGiorno had a few different types of crusts available in my grocery store, but I went with the rising crust because it seemed the most standard. This pizza has a four-cheese blend of mozzarella, Parmesan, Asiago, and Romano; the same cheeses on Tombstone's frozen pizza, minus cheddar. Although the other pizzas I tried were shrink-wrapped, DiGiorno's came in a "freshness wrap" that was easier to remove from the packaging. I was able to cut around the seal and simply lift the pizza out of the plastic rather than making strategic cuts across the shrink-wrap to remove the frozen pie without disturbing the cheese and getting it all over my kitchen. The pizza filled my kitchen with a pleasant, fresh-baked aroma. The directions on the box called for cooking the pizza in the oven for 19 to 22 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. I took the pizza out after 21 minutes because it looked perfect. However, everything wasn't perfect while this pie was in the oven. While the pizza was cooking, the side of it began sliding between the oven grates. I chose to open the oven and intervene, but judging by the look of the final crust (which was rather puffy), the issue likely would have corrected itself during the rising phase. Overall, I enjoyed the thick crust of DiGiorno cheese pizza, which had a yeasty flavor and managed to be fluffy and crisp at the same time. The cheese tended to slide off the pizza a bit as I took bites, but I wasn't too mad since the pie had a lot of it. The sauce's thick consistency was also nice. Next, I tried Red Baron's four-cheese pizza. Red Baron's classic-crust, four-cheese pizza is topped with mozzarella, cheddar, provolone, and Parmesan. When cooked, this wasn't the best-looking pizza, but it had a solid taste. Following the package's directions, I baked this pizza in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 18 minutes of the recommended 21, since I saw the crust and cheese had already browned to my liking. In terms of flavor, the more orange-hued pieces of cheese provided a stark, flavorful contrast to the rest of the blend. Like the previous two pies, there wasn't a distinguishable crust as the cheese and sauce extended to the edges of the pizza. Even so, I enjoyed the thin, crispy crust and salty cheese (of which there was a great amount). My husband said that, in terms of overall flavor, this pizza lacked the distinct "frozen-pizza taste" that the others had, and that made this his favorite of the bunch so far. The penultimate pie was from Amy's. Made with organic flour and tomatoes, Amy's frozen pizza also boasts a hand-stretched wheat crust. It's simply topped with mozzarella cheese. The pizza's quick bake time and tangy tomato sauce were great, but the texture let me down. I cooked Amy's pizza in the oven at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for just over 12 minutes of the recommended 14. I appreciated that it was cooked to a perfect golden-brown finish so quickly. The first thing I noticed when eating a slice was that the tomato sauce, which had an acidic flavor, dominated the overall taste. I enjoyed the sauce, but was let down by the lack of cheesy flavor and spongy texture of the crust. Although the other pizza slices held firm with their crispy crusts, this pizza sort of flopped over in my hand. The last pie I tried was the four-cheese pizza from Newman's Own. Advertising no artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives, the Newman's Own pizza is made with a multigrain crust and topped with a four-cheese blend of mozzarella, cheddar, Parmesan, and Asiago. I noticed these were the same cheeses used on several of the other pizzas, such as Tombstone (which also had Romano cheese) and DiGiorno. After just under 12 minutes, the cheese was hot and bubbly. When I peeked into the oven toward the end of the recommended cook time, which was 10 to 12 minutes in the oven at 425 degrees Fahrenheit, the cheese was hot and super bubbly. This pizza checked off all the boxes: a crunchy crust; stringy, perfectly salty cheese that didn't slide off when I bit into my slice; and a flavorful sauce that was dotted with herbs. All of these pizzas had some strengths, though I think some also had small issues. Albeit a touch too bland for me, the Tombstone pizza offers eaters an opportunity to get creative with toppings and make it their own. The DiGiorno pizza had a fluffy, yeasty crust that I enjoyed, even though I had issues with the cheese sliding off the slice as I bit into it. Red Baron's pizza had a solid taste, but I didn't like that it didn't have a distinct crust. Amy's pie had a tart sauce that I enjoyed, but the other elements of the pizza were bland by contrast — and the texture was too spongy for my liking. However, I found no faults with the perfect pizza from Newman's Own. For me, the big winner was the pizza from Newman's Own. In addition to having the shortest cook time (just under 12 minutes), this pizza also had a great flavor and texture. Plus, it had a distinct crust — something that several of the other frozen pizzas lacked — and stringy, salty cheese that didn't slide off the pizza when I bit into it. However, at the end of the day, you really can't go wrong with any of these frozen pizzas since each of them produces a cheesy meal that's ready in a short period of time. This story was originally published on February 9, 2021, and most recently updated on April 21, 2025. Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
21-04-2025
- General
- Business Insider
I tried 5 different frozen pizzas, and found the best-tasting pie also cooked the fastest
I tried frozen cheese pizzas from DiGiorno, Amy's, Newman's Own, Red Baron, and Tombstone. The Tombstone pizza was just OK, and the Amy's pizza crust wasn't crispy enough, in my opinion. Overall, the pizza from Newman's Own had the perfect balance of flavors, plus a tasty crust. Frozen pizza is pretty popular right now, especially amid a lot of economic anxieties. But with so many options out there, which is actually the best to pick up at the grocery store? To find out, I tasted frozen pizzas from five different brands: DiGiorno, Amy's, Newman's Own, Red Baron, and Tombstone. For consistency's sake, I chose a cheese pizza from each brand and prepared every pie in the oven following the instructions found on the respective packages. Since I reviewed these pizzas, prices have changed (and will vary by region and store), but the pies on this list typically cost between $4.50 and $14. Read on to see how these frozen cheese pizzas stacked up and which was my favorite. The first pizza I tried was Tombstone's five-cheese pie. Tombstone's pizza is the only one that didn't come in a box. Instead, it came wrapped in plastic with a circular base made out of cardboard. Cooking directions, ingredients, and nutrition facts were printed on a sticker attached to the shrink-wrap, which I accidentally threw away in my haste (and later retrieved). This pizza advertises five different kinds of cheese — mozzarella, cheddar, Parmesan, Asiago, and Romano — and a buttery, crispy crust. After 17 minutes of cooking, the crust was crispy and the cheese was nicely browned around the edges. The cooking directions recommended baking this pizza for 17 to 19 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit, but I didn't end up needing the full cooking time. It looked beautifully golden and crisp after just 17 minutes. This pizza was very middle-of-the-road for me, and the crust, level of crispiness, and overall flavors were just OK. My husband, who also tasted these pizzas, said this Tombstone pie made him nostalgic since it was his family's go-to brand when he was a kid. He suggested that chopping up extra toppings and baking them into the cheese would vastly improve the taste of this pizza (or maybe we just ought to try a Tomstone pie with toppings next time). The second pizza I tried was from DiGiorno, and it had a rising crust. I couldn't help but hear the brand's tagline — "It's not delivery, it's DiGiorno!" — in my head as I picked up this frozen pizza. DiGiorno had a few different types of crusts available in my grocery store, but I went with the rising crust because it seemed the most standard. This pizza has a four-cheese blend of mozzarella, Parmesan, Asiago, and Romano; the same cheeses on Tombstone's frozen pizza, minus cheddar. Although the other pizzas I tried were shrink-wrapped, DiGiorno's came in a "freshness wrap" that was easier to remove from the packaging. I was able to cut around the seal and simply lift the pizza out of the plastic rather than making strategic cuts across the shrink-wrap to remove the frozen pie without disturbing the cheese and getting it all over my kitchen. The pizza filled my kitchen with a pleasant, fresh-baked aroma. The directions on the box called for cooking the pizza in the oven for 19 to 22 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. I took the pizza out after 21 minutes because it looked perfect. However, everything wasn't perfect while this pie was in the oven. While the pizza was cooking, the side of it began sliding between the oven grates. I chose to open the oven and intervene, but judging by the look of the final crust (which was rather puffy), the issue likely would have corrected itself during the rising phase. Overall, I enjoyed the thick crust of DiGiorno cheese pizza, which had a yeasty flavor and managed to be fluffy and crisp at the same time. The cheese tended to slide off the pizza a bit as I took bites, but I wasn't too mad since the pie had a lot of it. The sauce's thick consistency was also nice. Next, I tried Red Baron's four-cheese pizza. When cooked, this wasn't the best-looking pizza, but it had a solid taste. Following the package's directions, I baked this pizza in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 18 minutes of the recommended 21, since I saw the crust and cheese had already browned to my liking. In terms of flavor, the more orange-hued pieces of cheese provided a stark, flavorful contrast to the rest of the blend. Like the previous two pies, there wasn't a distinguishable crust as the cheese and sauce extended to the edges of the pizza. Even so, I enjoyed the thin, crispy crust and salty cheese (of which there was a great amount). My husband said that, in terms of overall flavor, this pizza lacked the distinct "frozen-pizza taste" that the others had, and that made this his favorite of the bunch so far. The penultimate pie was from Amy's. Made with organic flour and tomatoes, Amy's frozen pizza also boasts a hand-stretched wheat crust. It's simply topped with mozzarella cheese. The pizza's quick bake time and tangy tomato sauce were great, but the texture let me down. I cooked Amy's pizza in the oven at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for just over 12 minutes of the recommended 14. I appreciated that it was cooked to a perfect golden-brown finish so quickly. The first thing I noticed when eating a slice was that the tomato sauce, which had an acidic flavor, dominated the overall taste. I enjoyed the sauce, but was let down by the lack of cheesy flavor and spongy texture of the crust. Although the other pizza slices held firm with their crispy crusts, this pizza sort of flopped over in my hand. The last pie I tried was the four-cheese pizza from Newman's Own. Advertising no artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives, the Newman's Own pizza is made with a multigrain crust and topped with a four-cheese blend of mozzarella, cheddar, Parmesan, and Asiago. I noticed these were the same cheeses used on several of the other pizzas, such as Tombstone (which also had Romano cheese) and DiGiorno. After just under 12 minutes, the cheese was hot and bubbly. When I peeked into the oven toward the end of the recommended cook time, which was 10 to 12 minutes in the oven at 425 degrees Fahrenheit, the cheese was hot and super bubbly. This pizza checked off all the boxes: a crunchy crust; stringy, perfectly salty cheese that didn't slide off when I bit into my slice; and a flavorful sauce that was dotted with herbs. All of these pizzas had some strengths, though I think some also had small issues. Albeit a touch too bland for me, the Tombstone pizza offers eaters an opportunity to get creative with toppings and make it their own. The DiGiorno pizza had a fluffy, yeasty crust that I enjoyed, even though I had issues with the cheese sliding off the slice as I bit into it. Red Baron's pizza had a solid taste, but I didn't like that it didn't have a distinct crust. Amy's pie had a tart sauce that I enjoyed, but the other elements of the pizza were bland by contrast — and the texture was too spongy for my liking. However, I found no faults with the perfect pizza from Newman's Own. For me, the big winner was the pizza from Newman's Own. In addition to having the shortest cook time (just under 12 minutes), this pizza also had a great flavor and texture. Plus, it had a distinct crust — something that several of the other frozen pizzas lacked — and stringy, salty cheese that didn't slide off the pizza when I bit into it. However, at the end of the day, you really can't go wrong with any of these frozen pizzas since each of them produces a cheesy meal that's ready in a short period of time. This story was originally published on February 9, 2021, and most recently updated on April 21, 2025.
Business Insider
21-04-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
The Pepperoni Price Index
Are you craving a frozen pizza lately? You're not alone. Maybe it's because the weather's warmer, maybe you're jonesing for a lazy-day treat, or maybe it's because the stock market's down and tariffs are throwing everything into chaos. The uncertainty in the economy has people on the hunt for recession indicators — not just potential labor market weakness or spending pullbacks, but also more specific signals that suggest dark times are nigh. Consumers on edge, for example, buy more lipstick as a still-affordable luxury, or they start to scoop up smaller bottles of liquor. Another peculiar sign they're feeling pinched by the economy: They buy more frozen pizza, specifically, the fancy kind. "This happens every sort of downturn in the economy — there's increased demand for premium frozen pizzas, high-priced frozen pizzas," said Craig Zawada, the chief visionary officer at Pros Holdings, a price optimization company. It's a bit counterintuitive, he added, since you'd think consumers are more cost-conscious, but it's actually a trade that makes sense because "they're replacing eating out to having a good frozen pizza at home." So next time you find yourself lingering in the frozen section, know that your hankering for DiGiorno might be due to a case of economic anxiety. When people are feeling pinched — economically, existentially — they turn to the grocery store frozen section. In 2009, in the midst of the Great Recession, frozen food sales grew by 3.1%. When the pandemic hit, frozen pizza sales spiked by nearly $1 billion from the year before, from $5.8 billion in revenue in 2019 to $6.6 billion in revenue in 2020, per the market research firm IBISWorld. "Frozen pizza has always been a good category," Alexander Chafetz, an investment banker who does dealmaking in the consumer space, said. "But it came into focus, I would say, during the pandemic, when people weren't working, money was tight, and you had to feed a family at night. Frozen pizza is a very economical way to feed your family." Michael Ryan, the owner of Tree Tavern Pizza, a frozen pizza company that operates out of New Jersey, told me that during the pandemic, his sales "went through the roof." He said that pizza as a category does well during downturns, but frozen has the extra "convenience" factor. "It is in the freezer, ready to heat. No tipping the delivery person or cold, soggy pizza," he said. Right now, with everything that's going on in the country and in the world, people are very nervous, so we're going to gravitate toward more comfort foods. Although growth has since slowed from the breakneck COVID-driven pace, people are still buying up more frozen pizzas, thanks in large part to inflation. The US frozen pizza industry generated $6.5 billion in annual revenue in 2024, per IBISWorld, and remains well above its pre-pandemic level. Tighter budgets still make that $10 frozen pie seem pretty appealing. While there's a growing amount of competition in the frozen food aisle at the grocery store, frozen pizza is still a star player, said Phil Lempert, a food industry analyst and the editor of The boxes take up a lot of space, and they're relatively attractive to display. They're also convenient for stores to offer promotions and discounts on "because of the amount of different pizza brands that are out there, I would say that every week when I look at store circulars, there's at least one pizza on sale," Lempert said. "These companies are always vying to give promotions to the retailer." Pizza is a comfort food that people tend to crave in trying times such as these. "Right now, with everything that's going on in the country and in the world, people are very nervous, so we're going to gravitate toward more comfort foods, whether it's mac and cheese, whether it's hot dogs, whether it's pizza," Lempert said. Mid-conversation, I realized I might be doing some accidental coping via comfort food lately, as I've made pizza (homemade, which was terrible) and mac and cheese (luckily, from the box) in the past few weeks, neither of which are in my normal rotation. It also probably helps frozen pizza's case that the quality has improved dramatically in recent years, and there are a lot more varieties on offer. You've got healthier options, with cauliflower crusts, for example, or you can indulge (slightly) with premium ingredients like hot honey, prosciutto, or basil. Restaurant brands have launched their own frozen offerings so people can get something that tastes like the out-to-eat experience at home. Ryan pointed out that home freezers have also gotten bigger, which makes it easier to stock up. Now, as that good old economic anxiety is stirring up once again, people are leaning toward eating at home and stocking up from the grocery store frozen aisle. David Portalatin, a senior vice president and food industry advisor at Circana, a market research firm, said that over the past year or so, consumers have been opting to buy a greater share of their meals at retail establishments — meaning grocery stores, clubs, online — than from food-service operations, such as restaurants. "That's just a reflection of several things," he said. "One is a little bit of response to inflation and the fact that food inflation away from home is still accelerating faster than at home. But it's also this sort of longer-term trend of a more home-centric consumer." When the pandemic took hold, many people had to stay home. Once the pandemic subsided, they were excited to get back out there and go to the restaurants they had eschewed for months. But that stay-at-home muscle is still stronger than it was pre-pandemic. More people are working from home, where it's easy to whip something up in their own kitchens — Ryan said that while it may seem silly, "the fact that many folks never got out of their pajamas helped spur sales." Consumers have also grown more accustomed to having fun nights in — turns out all that practice in 2020 means they've gotten better at at-home entertainment. Consumers become more price sensitive as they opt for cheaper, family-size offerings, like pizza. "People seem to be more comfortable at home. They want to do their own drinking at home," Chafetz said. "People are happy being at home, nesting. I think people nest when they're nervous, and so I think there's a lot of that going on also." "Empirical evidence suggests consumers often 'trade down' to frozen or delivered pizza during recessions. Consumers become more price sensitive as they opt for cheaper, family-size offerings, like pizza," Alex Fasciano, an analyst at CFRA Research, said in an email. He noted that pizza restaurants' marketing is anchored around value, too, such as Domino's recently launched appeal to more budget-conscious consumers: the "Emergency Pizza" promotion (a free pizza) and "Best Deal Ever" promotion (a $9.99 deal). But again, it's not necessarily just any old traded-down item people are buying as they start to worry about where the economy is headed, frozen pizza or otherwise; it's the nicer stuff. It's reflective of this overarching attitude among American consumers that we still want to treat ourselves, even as we cut back in other areas. Many people buckle down on their budgets somewhat, but they also spring for treats, whether it be a fancy latte, a weekend getaway, or a frozen pizza they tell themselves is healthy, which, maybe, don't look too too hard at the ingredients. "In general, over the last year, we've seen the headwind at restaurants and the tailwind at making meals at home because they're more affordable. Yet there are all kinds of examples where we will choose the more premium offerings," Portalatin said. "When we go to retail, we may not be choosing the lowest price point offering, recognizing that we're already saving money by cooking at home." Consumers have been battening down the hatches for a while now. Heightened concerns around tariffs have led to an acute sense of dread among many Americans about prices, economic stability, and even the safety of their own jobs. It's the type of mix that might make that stay-at-home Red Baron extra enticing. William Curtis, a senior research analyst at IBISWorld, said they're not forecasting an economic-freak-out-induced spike in frozen pizza sales like the ones in 2009 or 2020, in part because it's not clear what will happen in the overall economy. But in the event that things really start to go south, "the logic of buying the frozen pizza when you have less money would still hold," he said. Curtis added that frozen pizza is facing more competition for consumer dollars than it did 15 years ago, with more frozen options available, not to mention the proliferation of delivery services that make it possible to get all kinds of foods dropped off right to your door. Obviously, cooking at home is still cheaper, especially when you account for all the fees and the tip, but many consumers are still doing some slight splurging. "There are a lot of consumers that are willing to pay these fees just for the convenience of delivery," he said. Ryan, from Tree Tavern, said he's not really concerned about competition from delivery or restaurants, because he sees frozen as its own thing. His customers are loyal, and he's focused on quality and authenticity that he hopes will appeal to people in good times and bad. He only sells plain cheese pizza, which helps keep the price stable and gives customers the opportunity to dress the pizza up however they like. "I kid with people who ask me why I don't offer more toppings," he said. "I jokingly say, 'Buy your own damn pepperoni!'" If the economy takes a turn for the worse, customers may stick with just the cheese.
