Pizza Express is hoping to capitalise on the fast-growing frozen pizza category with its latest range extension.
It has launched a quartet of frozen pizzas exclusively into Tesco today (6 November). They are: Margherita Speciale 455g, American Speciale 445g, Padana 500g and Pollo BBQ 500g (all rsps from £4).
A quartet of frozen pasta dishes – Lasagna, Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni, Pollo Forza Pasta and Spaghetti Meatballs (all rsps from £4/400g) – have also launched into the retailer today, along with frozen Garlic Bread with Mozzarella (rsp: from £3/340g).
The launch comes after independent research commissioned by the British Frozen Food Federation revealed last month that two in five consumers were buying more frozen food than they did a year ago.
Pizza Express retail director Rich Mills said shoppers were buying frozen pizzas “for convenience and different meal occasions to that of chilled”.
“Showcasing our commitment to innovation, our frozen range allows our customers more choice and to have something in their freezer they know they can rely on,” Mills added.
It comes after the casual dining brand overhauled its chilled pizza range in September in a bid to reduce the gap between its restaurant and retail offer.
The revamp is being backed by the company’s biggest retail marketing push to date.
Frozen pizza is currently growing at a faster rate than chilled pizza, with sales up 17.8% to £664m – compared with chilled, which is up 9.5% to £716m [Kantar 52 w/e 17 July 2023].
However, most of the growth across the category has been driven by price. Volumes of chilled and frozen pizzas are up by just 0.5% and 0.3% respectively, according to Kantar data.
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