Loblaw Hand-Tosses Its Store-Branded Pizza in Italy

Food retailer redefining what quality means for private label

8/16/2023

PC Black Label unveils authentic hand-tossed pizzas straight from Italy.

Consumers have long viewed private label brands as being of lesser quality than national brands. Canadian food retailer Loblaw Cos. Ltd. aims to change that perception by introducing a game-changing addition to the frozen pizza aisle: President’s Choice Black Label Frozen Pizzas. According to Loblaw, every pizza is hand-tossed by skilled pizzaiolos in Italy and made with premium ingredients.

“The hand-tossed pizza crust is what makes Italy known for its pizzas – those delicious, fresh ingredients, combined with a crispy crust and soft inner dough, make your mouth water just thinking about it,” said Heather Fadali, VP of Loblaw Brands at Loblaw Cos. “That was our goal when we started creating the PC Black Label Pizza. And that light and airy crust we know our customers are looking for is what you can now get at your table in less than 20 minutes.”

PC Black Label Frozen Pizzas are also an ideal at-home pizza solution for customers looking to save amid the high costs associated with restaurant operators.

The new line of frozen pizzas offers three varieties:

Margherita: Topped with a blend of cheeses and finished with cherry tomatoes
Diavola: Features Ventricina salami, smoked provola cheese, red onion and spices
Funghi: A mix of three mushrooms and black truffle, completed with a velvety sauce.

At CAD $7.99 each, these stone-baked pizzas are now available in stores nationwide wherever PC products are sold.

Loblaw’s push for cost-efficient quality store brands comes after top execs noted that the company is receiving more unjustified price increase requests from large global brands.

During the company’s recent second-quarter earnings call, CFO Richard Dufresne said that, since inflation began, one of Loblaw’s largest vendors had submitted price increase requests totaling a quarter of CAD $1 billion.

Dufresne mentioned that the company is pushing back against price increase requests, noting that the cost of transportation, wheat, flour, paper and plastic have descended from their 2022 highs.

Having its own control brands allows Loblaw greater insight into how supplier costs are evolving, according to Chairman and President Galen G. Weston.

Loblaw Cos. Ltd. operates nearly 2,500 stores and national e-commerce options – including more than 1,050 grocery stores that span the value spectrum from discount to specialty – with 190,000-plus full- and part-time employees, making it one of the country’s largest private-sector employers. The Brampton, Ontario-based company is No. 11 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.