Dive Brief:
- Albertsons and Safeway have launched a line of premium wood-fired, Neapolitan-style pizzas from Italy under their Signature Reserve brand, according to an emailed press release.
- Made in Meduno, Italy, the new frozen pizzas come in four flavors: caprese; mushroom and truffle; sopressata; and gorgonzola and bacon with pear chutney.
- The new pizza offerings continue to build Albertsons’ selection of private brands at a time when high food prices continue to draw consumers to grocery stores for meal options.
Dive Insight:
The new Italian pizzas under Signature Reserve, which joins Safeway and Albertsons’ Own Brands frozen pizza assortment, tap into consumer appetite for global flavors with meal offerings, making private brands stand out even more among grocers’ foodservice options.
The new pizzas are made with a 24-hour pizza dough leavening technique that involves baking the pizzas on a lava stone from Sicily’s Mt. Etna, the announcement noted.
The press release said the pizzas have “restaurant-style toppings” — indicating that frozen aisle options are also serving as opportunities for grocers to compete with restaurants along with their prepared and made-to-order offerings.
In a nod to appealing to consumers’ dietary and nutrition preferences, Albertsons highlighted that two of the pizza varieties — the caprese and the mushroom and truffle ones — are non-GMO with no high fructose corn syrup. The sopressata pizza also does not have high fructose corn syrup.
The pizzas follow Albertsons’ extensive work earlier this year to revamp and consolidate its private brands portfolio.
In March, Albertsons announced the expansion of its Open Nature brand with 12 new plant-based products. Later in the spring, Albertsons shared that it revamped its O Organics line with redesigned packaging and announced that the company would bring Signature Farms, Signature Care and Signature Cafe private label products under its flagship Signature Select house brand.
