Like many eat-at-home food categories, the pandemic has caused the frozen pizza aisle to expand over the last year as people dine out at restaurants less often. But instead of the lackluster, inauthentic pies that are a style all their own (Elio’s, Amy’s, Totino’s: I’m looking at you), professional pizzaiolos are jumping into the frozen category with gusto, and bringing their professionally crafted Neapolitan and New York styles with them.
“The last year we have definitely seen customers shift purchasing behaviors from restaurants to the frozen aisle due to COVID-19,” says Katherine Smiley, Category Merchant, Frozen Grocery at Whole Foods Market. “Within this shift, we have seen an increase in customers purchasing more indulgent pizzas with artisan crusts and toppings they would traditionally order in restaurants.”
Roberta’s, the famous Bushwick, Brooklyn pizzeria was one of the first artisanal pizzerias to start selling frozen versions of its beloved pies, back in 2013. Today, their frozen pies can be found in more than 3,000 stores in the Northeast and shipped nationally. Roberta’s reported a 40 percent increase in frozen pizza sales immediately after restaurants were forced to close down in the early days of the pandemic.
Including Roberta’s, Whole Foods carries more than 55 brands in the frozen pizza category, and from March 2020 through March 2021 has added 65 new frozen pizza styles, a sign that the category continues to grow. Goldbelly, a website which partners with restaurants to sell and ship their food, has 500 pizza packs from more than 45 restaurants across the country, including iconic pizzerias like Tony’s Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco, Joe’s Pizza in New York City, and Buddy’s Pizza in Detroit.
Bianca Kenworthy started La Rossi frozen pizza with her mother Martina. Credit: Courtesy of Giada Paoloni
In the last year, newcomers to the frozen and refrigerated pizza category include such acclaimed pizzerias as Antico Pizza Napoletana in Atlanta, Louie & Ernie’s in the Bronx, La Morra in Los Angeles, Del Popolo in San Francisco, Juliana’s in Brooklyn, and La Rossi, a frozen-pizza only venture from mother-daughter duo Bianca and Martina Kenworthy (Martina previously worked for Gustiamo Italian food importers and Slow Food NYC).
La Rossi, which debuted in October 2020, was in the works well before the pandemic. “We’ve spent years researching the growth of the frozen and prepared/fresh (refrigerated) food categories and Gen Z / Millennial consumer habits,” says Martina. “Frozen food has been part of the American dining experience and diet for decades, a symbol of convenience. But now we’re seeing a new, younger consumer that craves convenience without willing to sacrifice quality,” adds Bianca.
Del Popolo started experimenting with freezing pies in 2019, initially to satisfy a curiosity, and chef/owner Jon Darsky was pleasantly surprised when he realized they didn’t have to adjust their recipe much.
“We can offer the same pizza we make in the restaurant: 100 percent organic ingredients, naturally leavened and long-fermented dough, handmade and wood-fired,” says Darsky. Del Popolo started selling their small frozen pies a few months into the pandemic via their website.
Two months into the pandemic, Antico Pizza Napoletana began shipping its par-baked wood-fired frozen pies to some of its best customers outside of Atlanta. “I always said that pizza is recession-proof, quickly I learned it could also be pandemic proof,” says owner Gio diPalma. When demand took off, they signed on with Goldbelly to ship four flavors of their frozen pies, plus they’re sold at their Atlanta shop and via a retro-fitted ice cream truck driven around Atlanta by diPalama’s son Johnny.
It’s no secret that restaurants have suffered during the pandemic, and offering ready-to-heat pizzas for eating at home provided a new revenue stream for many. “We think this is purely a pivot for restaurants trying to stay alive during such a devastating time for the industry,” says Roberta’s co-owner Brandon Hoy.
Still, since Roberta’s launched their frozen pies, several brands entered the market before the pandemic started, including Talia Di Napoli, which ships Neapolitan pies from Naples to the U.S., and Brooklyn’s legendary Di Fara’s, which began selling its pies via Goldbelly in 2019.
Talia di Napoli, founded by Naples entrepreneur Edouard Freda, began shipping pizzas around Italy in 2017 and to the U.S. in March 2019 in order to share Naples’ heritage and culinary story with a larger audience.
“Obviously, the best ambassador of Naples is pizza, which has become a very important part of a Neapolitan tradition since the 18th century,” says Freda. “Many countries in the world, including the U.S., have created their own interpretation of pizza. However, Talia’s role is to show what authentic Neapolitan pizza is.”
Juliana's take-and-bake white pizza. Credit: Biz Jones for Juliana's®
Juliana’s, which is run by Brooklyn pizza icon Patsy Grimaldi, chose to enter the eat-at-home market because of the pandemic, but they felt the frozen pizza category was overcrowded and instead wanted to be the first branded pizza selling fresh New York-style pies. Consequently, they decided to offer par-baked refrigerated pies for sale via FreshDirect.
“In the past, given we work with only our single coal-fired oven, we’ve never had the capacity to provide delivery service to anyone and we could barely keep up with take-out,” says owner Matt Grogan. “But when indoor dining was paused, we observed the changes that were happening in the way people were acquiring and preparing meals, and we realized we needed to adapt as well if we going to be able to survive and keep as many of our associates working as possible.”
Although the impetus for the increase in artisanal, handmade frozen pizzas was a tragic one, many pizzerias have seen frozen pies as a way to stay afloat. And this means only one thing for U.S. consumers: better pizza, more of the time. We’ll take it—and eat it, too.
Main image of Juliana's Pizza. Credit: Biz Jones for Juliana's®