DiGiorno’s Italian Flavor Goes Ultimate; California Pizza Kitchen Raging for Cajun
Report By JOHN M. SAULNIER QFFI, Chief Editor & Publisher

It’s Ultimate and Supreme, this new Ultimate Supreme Pizza under the DiGiorno Ultimate for Oven-Fresh Pizzeria Pizza range from Kraft Foods.

Fresh baked restaurant taste, Cajun-style, is what this new California Pizza Kitchen offering serves up.

“With DiGiorno Ultimate pizza, we’re redefining the frozen pizza case once again – marrying the finest authentic Italian-inspired ingredients with our delicious rising crust to create the true taste of neighborhood pizzerias,” said Katie Williams, senior brand manager of Glenview, Illinois-USA-based Kraft Pizza Company (KPC).

Available under North American retail frozen pizza brand leader DiGiorno’s banner is the Ultimate Oven-Fresh Pizzeria Pizza line. Its four initial offerings, selling at a suggested retail price of $6.99, weigh in at 748 grams and are formulated to appeal to a sophisticated palate. The assortment ranges from Supreme (topped with Italian sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, red onion strips, plus green and red peppers) to Four Meat (Genoa salami, bacon, sausage and pepperoni), Four Cheese (mozzarella, brick, fontina and reggiano parmesan) and Pepperoni.

Kraft has high hopes that the Ultimate range will further boost the DiGiorno product line, which rang up over $434 million in sales last year.

Meanwhile, momentum continues to build for California Pizza Kitchen’s (CPK) expanding menu of frozen products distributed by KPC. It is now worth more than $100 million in business annually.

A Cajun recipe has been added to the unit’s offering of restaurant-quality pizza, which includes Hawaiian, Garlic Chicken and Mushroom, Pepperoni & Sausage. Selling for $6.49, the 348-gram Cajun specialty features Creole-style sauce as well as blackened chicken meat, spicy smoked andouille sausage, roasted peppers, onions and mozzarella cheese.

Kraft produces the line of California Pizza Kitchen frozen pizza in collaboration with CPK Management Company. The Los Angeles, California-based casual dining chain operates 183 company-owned restaurants and 32 franchised or licensed units internationally. Last year a new franchised outlet opened in Mexico City, as did a fourth franchised restaurant in Hong Kong. The menu in both locations runs the gamut from California Club Pizza and Jamaican Jerk Pizza to Kung Pao Spaghetti and Thai Crunch Salad.

CPK, which hooked up with Kraft Foods to produce and distribute its frozen pizzas in 2004, has benefited nicely from Kraft’s contractual agreement to spend five percent of sales revenues on marketing the brand. Revenues for the calendar year that ended on Oct. 7, 2007, were $107.7 million, according to Information Resources Inc.

“Now Kraft sells more pizza than the restaurants,” commented Sarah Grover, CPK’s senior vice president of marketing and public relations. “It gives people a way to get to know us if they don’t have a restaurant in their town.”

At the Heart of Valentine’s Day Gift List: How About Mangia Chicago Stuffed Pizza? Roses are red, candy is dandy, perfume is fragrant, and diamonds are a girl’s best friend – but perhaps it will be Mangia Chicago heart-shaped stuffed pizza that will get the temperature rising like none other come this February 14. The product, which has typically sold at a rate of about 3,000 units in the vicinity of Austin, Texas, alone on Valentine’s Day during recent years, is now available overnight throughout the continental USA via a special arrangement with FexEx. “I know for some people – us guys especially – Valentine’s gifts can sometimes be a problem,” said Jeff Sayers, founder of the six-restaurant chain in the Lone Star State that makes the pies. “Our product is unique, and whether it’s given by itself or as a complement with something else, it’s a special gift that will be remembered for a long time. We assure freshness by flash-freezing the half-baked pizzas and storing them in a freezer overnight before shipping the next day.” Retailing at $20 per pop, plus the cost of shipping, three different fillings are available: pepperoni, spinach, and veggie. Each pizza features a layer of bottom crust and another layer of dough that tops off the heart-shaped treat. A special Mangia sauce, which the customer applies before baking, comes with the kit.