DiGiorno (previously sold in Canada as Delissio) is a brand of frozen pizzas sold in the United States, and is a subsidiary of Nestlé. In 2023, Nestle discontinued sales of Delissio pizzas in Canada.
Description
DiGiorno manufactures over 250,000 pizzas each day for consumers for national sale in the mainland United States. Total revenue from pizza sales in 2017 was just over $1 billion.[1] The DiGiorno product line originally offered pastas and sauces in 1991, and pizzas have been available in the U.S. since 1995, and were formerly sold in Canada.[citation needed]
The brand's slogan is "It's not delivery. It's DiGiorno/Delissio," which suggests that their frozen pizzas are of high enough quality that they might be mistaken for fresh pizzeria pizzas.[citation needed]
DiGiorno rebranded to Delissio in Canada in 1999, although Kraft had previously used the Delissio brand for other pizza products in the 1980s.[2]
In 2010, Kraft sold the DiGiorno and Delissio brands, along with the rest of its frozen pizza business, to Swiss-based food manufacturer Nestlé.[3] The move helped to finance Kraft's bid for Cadbury, while also effectively ensuring that Nestlé would not submit a competing bid for the confectionery company.[4] Since Nestlé acquired Kraft's frozen pizza business, the DiGiorno brand has expanded to include bonus appetizers in a box, including breadsticks, boneless chicken pieces called Wyngz, and Toll House cookies.[citation needed]
In 2013, DiGiorno's dairy supplier, Foremost Farms USA, dropped Wiese Brothers Farm after the animal rights organization Mercy for Animals released undercover footage showing workers there beating, dragging, and whipping dairy cows, some of which appear unable to walk, while others have infected or freely bleeding wounds. Nestlé and Foremost Farms USA denied any knowledge of the abuse.[5]
In 2013, DiGiorno had reached a four-year low sales growth, and the company decided to sell some of its assets to revamp its portfolio.[6] However, the frozen food market is expected to grow globally, despite the continued demand for organic food and healthy diet.[7] Following this optimistic news, the executive vice president of Nestle expressed his high hopes in the future growth of DiGiorno.[8] Later that year, DiGiorno announced that it would launch the "Design A Pizza Kit," a customizable pizza which included a cheese pizza with individually wrapped meats, vegetables, shredded cheese and a seasoning packet.[9]
In May 2018, DiGiorno took part in a social media competition campaign run by internet entertainers Kinda Funny titled "1st Annual Best Friend Tournament". The Twitter poll–based competition saw DiGiorno beating competition such as Napa Smith Gallery, Portillo's Restaurants and Oreo. The frozen pizza brand reached the semifinals where they were narrowly beaten by Rooster Teeth employee Barbara Dunkelman, who received 55% of 72,820 votes cast.[10]
In February 2023, Nestle Canada announced their intentions to wind down and exit the frozen meals and pizza business within the next six months.[11]
^Watrous, Monica. "Nestle Not Thwarted by Thaw in Frozen." Baking Business. Baking&Snack, 17 Oct. 2014. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.
^Peterson, Hayley. "DiGiorno Has A New Tactic For Luring Customers Back To The Freezer Aisle." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 27 June 2014. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.
1 Currently manufactured by General Mills in the U.S. and Canada. Produced by Cereal Partners under the Nestlé brand elsewhere. 2 Brand owned by General Mills; U.S. and Canadian production rights controlled by Nestlé under license. 3 U.S. production rights owned by The Hershey Company. 4 U.S. rights and production owned by the Smarties Candy Company with a different product. 5 U.S. rights and specific trade dress owned by Nestlé; rights elsewhere owned by Associated British Foods. 6 Produced by Cereal Partners, branded as Nestlé. 7 Produced by Cereal Partners and branded as Nestlé in the U.K. and Ireland. Produced by Post Foods elsewhere. 8 Philippine production rights owned by Alaska Milk Corporation. 9 Singaporean, Malaysian and Thai production rights owned by Fraser and Neave. 10 Used only in Indonesia, Thailand, and Cambodia. 11 Used only in the Philippines. 12 U.S. production rights owned by the Ferrara Candy Company. 13NA rights and specific trade dress to all packaged coffee and other products under the Starbucks brand owned by Nestlé since 2019. 14 Brand owned by Mars, sold by Nestlé in Canada. 15 Produced by Froneri in the U.S. since 2020.
