A freezer staple will be disappearing.
Conagra announced it stopped making Celeste frozen pizza, Fox Business reported.
CEO John Brase said of the decision: “There are certain brands and categories where we simply just don’t see a future. It just makes sense to exit those small, really unprofitable brands or low-profit brands as soon as possible.”
Despite the production ending, customers may still see the pizzas in store freezers for now. They will still be sold until the remaining inventory is gone.
The Street said that they were already disappearing from some stores, with Walmart listing them as “out of stock” on Oct. 3.
Celeste pizzas are only the start. Brase said more cuts are coming.
“I think the larger opportunity, though, is what I am really calling the simplification of our core platforms,” he said. “We have over 400 single-serve meal [stock-keeping units], and I believe there is a future where we can have a much simpler, more productive assortment.”
Conagra also makes Banquet and Healthy Choice meals, Bloomberg reported. It plans to invest more in “clean label” meat sticks and Boomchickapop popcorn.
It also plans to increase costs on some of its products. The company’s Chief Financial Officer, Dave Marberger, said the company is being hit with higher transportation costs from driver shortages and rising oil prices, Bloomberg said. The company admitted higher prices may affect sales volumes.
“Mama” Celeste Lizzio and her husband created the pizza when they opened a restaurant in Chicago in 1937. They closed the restaurant in 1962, but kept selling their pizzas to other eateries. Quaker Oats Company purchased the brand in 1969.
Lizzio died in 1988 at the age of 80.
Aurora Foods bought the brand in 1996. Aurora and Pinnacle Foods merged in 2004 as part of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Pinnacle Foods sold assets to Conagra, including Celeste Pizza, in 2018, The Street reported.
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