Kraft Foods Inc. will report its third quarter results on Nov. 3. But some preliminary numbers show that frozen pizza has been a winner for the company, even at the expense of quick-service takeout giants, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The largest frozen pizza purveyor in the United States, Kraft makes DiGiorno, the nation's most popular frozen pizza, as well as Tombstone and Jack's. It also makes California Pizza Kitchen's frozen wares.
These brands have nabbed consistent growth for Kraft, which has garnered seven consecutive quarters of double-digit sales growth in the category. For the fiscal year that ended Oct. 4, Kraft's frozen pizzas grew 7 percent over the previous 52-week period.
Kraft, unlike other branded pizza makers, has held up well against private labels. From the Tribune:
DiGiorno has been the beneficiary of a different kind of trade down, this one from pizza chains like Domino's and Pizza Hut to the supermarket freezer case.‘The quality of frozen pizza has grown dramatically in the past few years, and DiGiorno is really high quality,' said Darren Tristano, an analyst with restaurant consultant Technomic Inc. Plus, DiGiorno is cheaper than takeout pizza, a notion Kraft has relentlessly promoted over the past year.
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