"On Special" is a monthly look at evolving store categories with insights on how different grocers are capitalizing on top trends.
Pizza has long occupied a place of honor in the American diet, with consumers consistently dishing out billions of dollars per year on the cheesy food at retail locations, sit-down restaurants and fast food establishments.
As they look to improve their foodservice offerings, supermarket chains have invested in their pizza offerings to take advantage of shoppers’ desire for the food. From drawing attention to their in-store pizza ovens to partnering with local restaurateurs that specialize in the food, here’s how food retailers are looking to get a bigger slice of pizza sales.
Data insights
Frozen pizzas have lately moved off grocery store shelves at a solid clip. Shoppers spent $7.4 billion on frozen pizza alone during the year that ended in July — up just under 1% year over year and more than on frozen breakfast foods, snacks or baked goods — according to data collected by Circana and published by 210 Analytics.
Frozen pizza commanded $549 million in sales during July, up just under 1% from the previous year, and the number of units sold grew by nearly 2%, the data shows. Consumer interest in frozen pizza was up in July even as sales of other types of frozen meals, including entrees and breakfast items, lost ground in sales.
Globally, frozen pizza sales jumped 11% in 2023, due in part to retailer promotions, according to figures from Market.us Media.
By comparison, consumers spent $85 million on deli prepared pizza in July, up about 4% year over year, according to Circana data cited by 210 Analytics. Spending on deli prepared pizzas came in at $1.3 billion for the year that ended in July, an increase of 6.7%, Circana found.
Standout grocers
Dishing up pizza partnerships
In January, Giant Food struck a deal to sell pizzas from Maryland chain Ledo Pizza in some of the Mid-Atlantic supermarket chain’s stores. Shoppers have the option of taking the food home in a box to warm up in their own ovens or asking an employee to heat up a pizza to eat on the spot, a reflection of the Ahold Delhaize-owned chain’s efforts to dedicate more space in its new stores to ready-made meal choices.
In July, meanwhile, Mt. Gatti’s Pizza unveiled plans to bring 92 pizza shops to Walmart stores in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Kentucky, a move the Texas-based chain said would nearly double its footprint.
Destination pizza
Specialty grocer The Fresh Market has positioned its stores as prime pizza destinations, announcing in May that it has rolled out a new selection of “authentic Neapolitan-style pizza” that it said would make mealtime easier for customers. The retailer’s chefs designed the recipes, which include BelGioioso cheese, Italian tomatoes grown from “fertile volcanic soils” and crusts made from “highly esteemed Neapolitan flour.”
The Fresh Market’s focus on pizza comes as the chain looks to build ties with customers by highlighting its prepared food options. Several of the chain’s stores include “an expanded kitchen focus” on dinner items that includes a range of restaurant-quality options including hot and freshly prepared pizza.
Serving up a slice of deals
Harris Teeter put a spotlight on pizza when it announced in May that it would include pizza in its “$5 Meal Days” program, which it positioned as a way to attract budget-minded shoppers reeling from the rising cost of eating out. On Mondays, customers could get whole cheese and pepperoni pizzas — freshly baked and “take & bake” — as part of the program.
What's trending?
Grocers have looked to take advantage as people stock up on frozen pizzas. Last fall, Albertsons rolled out a premium wood-fired pizzas imported from Italy under its Signature Reserve private brand.
Also this year, Giant Eagle struck a deal with The 1870 Society, an organization that supports athletics at The Ohio State University, under which the chain said its Ohio stores would sell frozen pizzas featuring student athletes who play for the university.
In keeping with demand by shoppers for foods they can store at home easily and get on the table quickly, SpartanNash included frozen pizzas in its “Finest Reserve by Our Family” private label line, which launched in February. The brand centers on items that include “fresh and authentic ingredients,” according to SpartanNash.
