Dr. Oetker Introduces New Stone Oven Pizzas; Pizza Bus Rolls and Podcasts Publicize Lines

Here’s an Oetker’s Tradizionale stone oven-baked pizza.

Dr. Oetker hits the road with its colorful Pizza Bus to promote the product line.

Germany’s Dr. Oetker is heavily promoting a new stone oven pizza of a type that, it claims, hasn’t yet been on the market. Meanwhile, it is sending a Pizza Bus out on the road to promote pizzas.

With the newly launched Steinofen Tradizionale, the company hopes to repeat the success of its unbaked Ofenfrische pizza, which enlivened the market a decade ago, luring new customers and extending its leading market position.

Steinofen Tradizionale “is baked directly on stone and gives the consumer at home a new pizza taste experience,” said Hans-Wilhelm Beckmann, the Bielefeld firm’s frozen food marketing manager. Six different varieties are being offered.

The production process uses a special conveyor made from “Serpentino Verde,” an Italian black marble that holds heat well. It moves the dough base with tomato sauce into a very hot oven for a short baking time, after which the topping is added and the whole pizza is frozen.

“The direct contact of the pizza base with the stone and the high baking temperature result in the special aroma of the stone oven pizza,” said Dr. Udo Spiegel, director of frozen food research and development. It looks hand made, with the typical browning from the stone oven; crisp on the outside, loose and moist on the inside.

Packaging graphics communicate a yearning for both tradition and modern tastes. The title uses a traditional typeface below which is a “film strip” depicting the Italian way of life, sophisticated tradition and skilled handwork. Each of the varieties has a background of a different color and there is a seal declaring that the product is “baked directly on stone.”

The six varieties are Speciale, with salami, ham, mushrooms and Edam cheese; Salame, with Edam cheese; Tonno, with tuna fish, capers, onions, black olives and Edam cheese; Mozzarella, with cocktail tomatoes and pesto sauce; Diavola, with Calabrese Salami, red and green peppers and Edam cheese, and Spinaci, with spinach and Gouda cheese. The suggested retail price is EUR 2.69.

Dr. Oetker will support the introduction of the new product with TV and radio spots, point of sale actions, prize drawings, an offer of a frozen food bag with the purchase of two Steinofen Tradizionales, and appearances by Dr. Oetker’s Pizza bus.

The converted public transportation vehicle was already being used to promote its Ristorante and Ofenfrische pizzas, and the means for preparing and serving them. Once it is parked, an awning comes out from the roof to shade a stand-up table. Ristorante is the Bielefeld-based firm’s Italian-style pizza with a thin crisp base, while Ofenfrische is unbaked and meant to be prepared at home by the consumer.

Dr. Oetker has also put 12 podcasts on pizza production and marketing online at www.tv-pizza.com. The sound is German, but the pictures show things like making the dough, differences in bases, national preferences, consumer research and the assembly line.