http://www.desmoinesregister.com/app...=2007706160358

D.M. grabs the upper crust for frozen pizza love

The capital city is No. 1 in the U.S. and helped sales go up 7 percent, a
magazine says.

By LARRY BALLARD
REGISTER STAFF WRITER

"Strike up the band and ready the confetti. Des Moines is No. 1 again.

Iowa's capital city tops a new list that measures how much Americans love
frozen pizza.

Not since the heady days of 1999, before Salt Lake City seized our Jell-O
crown, has Des Moines knowingly been atop the consumption rankings for a
mass-produced food product.

Now we need to decide whether it's something to be proud of.

Mayor Frank Cownie says: Why not?

"Frozen pizza is one of those diverse foods. It has vegetables, meat, dairy
and grain products," Cownie said Friday. "Des Moines is certainly a good
place for that kind of diversity. And frozen pizza is one of those things
you can throw down in front of any age group, and they like it."

Frozen Food Age magazine says Des Moines has helped lead a renaissance of
sorts in frozen pizza sales, which had been in a slump the past few years.
Sales are up 7 percent so far in 2007. The magazine calls it a "significant
turnaround" for the $2.6 billion-a-year industry.

The top 10 list is based in part on an earlier study that focused on pizzas
purchased rather than eaten.

Befitting the subject, the researchers stuck to cold, hard numbers.

They did not try to determine the reason for Des Moines' apparent love
affair with all things DiGiorno, Tombstone, Jack, Tony and Schwan.

But industry experts, like Elise Cortina at the National Frozen Pizza
Institute in McLean, Va., say it might have something to do with Des Moines'
reputation as a good spot to test-market any of the estimated 20,000 new
grocery items introduced in the United States each year.

"Our city is a great place to test anything, whether it's a political
campaign or something to eat," Cownie concluded.

The magazine ranked Des Moines ahead of Minneapolis, Milwaukee, St. Louis
and Omaha.

Readers will notice a, uh, heavy Midwest representation.

At this rate, the Corn Belt will have to be loosened a notch.

Until then, folks in Des Moines can hold their heads high.

If for no other reason than to wipe the cheese off their chins."

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http://archives.frozenfoodage.com/pu...pubId=1&id=369

"By the Numbers: Pizza Sales Strongest in Central Regions

While frozen pizza sales are strong and growing across the country, some
areas purchase more pies than others. It's worth noting that in some areas
of the country, pizza can fulfill consumers' needs as a cheap meal for the
family.

Here are some examples from national research group statistics and sales
numbers (an index of 100 is viewed as average):

The NPD Group, based in Port Washington, N.Y., is a provider of consumer and
retailer information and insights. The group created a regional profile of
frozen pizza consumption with some interesting results. In the accompanying
graph, an index of 80 to 120 is considered average. The West North Central
area of the country, including the states of Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri,
North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas indexed highest at 135. The
East South Central area (Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama) was
second highest at 126. The East North Central area was third at 110 and
includes Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio.

Rick Benner, frozen food category manager for Spartan Stores, quotes AC
Nielsen's Category Development Index rankings to show frozen pizza strength
in the Midwest. "The Central Region ranked at a 170 index, followed by the
Grand Rapids region (Spartan Stores' headquarters) at 124 and Detroit at 78.
Spartan's retail trading area is ranked at 106. The Eastern region of the
country ranks at 68, the West region at 74 and the South at 99."

According to sales numbers from Information Resources Inc. (IRI) for 2006,
out of over $2.6 billion in total frozen pizza sales (excluding Wal-Mart),
sales in the Great Lakes Region segment were over $596 million, the highest
of any region. The next closest was the Northeast at $391 million. The
lowest regional sales were $224 million in the South Central area. Sales for
other regions include: Mid-South $365 million; Plains $303 million;
California $223 million; Southeast $312 million; and West $257
million. -D.G.F."

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