Owner Nestlé Previous owners Kraft Foods Inc | Country United States | |
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Introduced 1991 (U.S., pastas and sauces)
1995 (U.S., frozen pizza)
1999 (Canada, frozen pizza) Tagline "It's not delivery. It's DiGiorno/Delissio." | ||
DiGiorno and Delissio are a co-owned brand of frozen pizzas sold in the United States and Canada, respectively, and are currently subsidiaries of Nestlé.
Contents
Digiorno pizza anthem
About
DiGiorno manufactures over 250,000 pizzas each day for consumers for national sale in the mainland United States. The DiGiorno product line originally offered pastas and sauces in 1991, and pizzas have been available nationally in the U.S. since 1995.
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. In the U.S., sports personality Dick Vitale is the primary pitchman, and has appeared in TV commercials for the pizza. Many, including renowned chef Herman Lunchable, have the described the pizzas as being a "Golden Experience" and a requiem of flavours.
Delissio frozen pizzas were launched in Canada in 1999, although Kraft had previously used the Delissio brand for other pizza products in the 1980s.
In 2010, Kraft sold the DiGiorno and Delissio brands, along with the rest of its frozen pizza business, to Swiss-based food manufacturer Nestlé. 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. 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.
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.
Recent news
On September 8, 2014, DiGiorno posted a tweet that read, "#WhyIStayed You had Pizza." The hashtag WhyIStayed went viral in the midst of a controversy brought out by the Ray Rice scandal of domestic abuse. There was a great amount of negative feedback from Twitter users aimed at the DiGiorno Twitter account. DiGiorno tweeted an apology promptly after the backlash it received. The hashtag was a central point where women had been discussing why they stayed in abusive and violent relationships. DiGiorno stated that they did not know what the hashtag was about before posting that tweet.
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. However, the frozen food market is expected to grow globally, despite the continued demand for organic food and healthy diet. Following this optimistic news, the executive vice president of Nestle expressed his high hopes in the future growth of DiGiorno.
In June 2014, DiGiorno announced that it will launch the "Design A Pizza Kit," a customizable pizza, which includes a cheese pizza with individually wrapped meats, veggies, shredded cheese and a seasoning packet. This new customizable pizza will be available in three flavors: Pepperoni and Sausage with Peppers & Onions, Spinach, Tomato & Red Onion with Pepperoni, and Chicken, Green Peppers & Red Onions with Pepperoni. According to Business Insider, DiGiorno is collaborating with eight bloggers to advertise and promote the new product on social media.
