Wagner Introduces Extra Crisp Pizza Line;
Nestlé Increases Stake in Company to 74%

Salami with Three Cheeses and Herbs is one of six new Backfrische pizza varieties recently introduced by Wagner.

Wagner Tiefkühlprodukte GmbH has taken a number of steps to improve its position in the highly competitive German frozen pizza market.

Meanwhile, Nestlé Deustchland AG has taken a 74% stake in the company.

On January 1, Nestlé increased its share of Nonnweiler-Braunshausen-based Wagner from the 49% of the frozen pizza producer it had held since 2005, subject to approval from the Federal Cartel Office. Wagner management will remain unchanged.

“Nestlé has proved to be the ideal partner for the further development of our business in Europe and the winning of new markets,” stated Gottfried Hares, spokesman for Wagner management.

Since Nestlé’s participation began in 2005 Wagner’s turnover has increased 20%, and international business has gone from 13% to 30%.

Marketing Manager Anke Barge said that the company is targeting its new, extra-crisp Backfrische range among different markets, and appealing to children with its miniature Piccolinis. Additionally, Wagner is removing the lactose from some of the Original Balance low calorie offerings.

Barge noted that the pizza market in 2009 was “somewhat weakened” for the first time since 1999. Through September it was down 1.6% in volume compared to the comparable period in the previous year, and off 2.8% in turnover because of price reductions. This gives the company all the more reason to go after the 30% of the market that still doesn’t buy frozen pizzas.

She said that Wagner is seeking to improve on the 70% share it now has of the six-centimeter size market with the Piccolinis. It had already come out in 2008 with Piccolinis aimed at the tastes of children. The vegetarian recipes, with low fat and salt, feature games and prizes in each package.

Now it is offering them to gourmets. Piccolinis with shrimp and salmon/spinach toppings, both also with crème fraîche, are sold for limited times during the Christmas and Easter holiday seasons. They come in 180-gram packages of six, which retail at 2.49 euros.

In another move, the “Alsatian style” Piccolinis already on the market are now to be offered in a new nine-pack. Wagner has been successful in getting even North Germans to buy Flammkuchen, a pizza-like Alsatian specialty that substitutes crème fraîche and onions for tomatoes and cheese.

The lactose has been removed from the Original Balance Chicken Wok Vegetables and Grill Vegetables offerings.
“Fifteen million Germans know that they have a lactose intolerance,” said Frau

Barge. The Balance range, for dieters, reaches only a relatively small number of households, but those have a high repurchase rate.

The Backfrische range was to start 2010 with six varieties. It’s not a raw dough item, but gets its unique taste through a slow-rising sourdough with olive oil that is baked with Wagner’s stone oven techniques.

The six Backfrische varieties are: Salami with Three Cheeses and Herbs; Spinach with Goat’s Cream Cheese; Margherita with Provolone and Mozzarella Cheeses; Tuna Fish with Capers and Onions; Speciale with Pesto, and Calabrese-Salami with Grill Paprika and Pesto. Pesto is a sauce of crushed basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic, Parmesan cheese and olive oil.

Plans were to give Backfrische the biggest public tasting action in Wagner’s history, and, after March, a massive advertising campaign will be launched as well.