Frozen Food Age
April 25, 2007
By D. Gail Fleenor

Another Vermont Original: Putney Pasta
It all began in a Vermont horse barn…seriously. Joining the ranks of Ben & Jerry's and Vermont Mystic Pie Company, Putney Pasta was founded in that barn in 1983 by Carol Berry and her husband, Jonathan Altman, with the goal of creating an all natural, restaurant-quality pasta.

Twenty years later, Putney Pasta is known along the East Coast and throughout New England. The product is distributed in over 35 states, primarily in stores like Whole Foods and Wild Oats but also carried in some areas by Wegmans, Food Lion and Giant.

"Consumers are looking for a quick, restaurant quality family meal with preparation under 15 minutes for under twenty dollars," says Greg Royal, vice president of sales, Putney Pasta, Brattleboro, Vt. "We offer varieties you can't make at home like Butternut Squash Ravioli with maple syrup or Spinach and Feta Ravioli. It spices up the evening."

Five varieties of ravioli and five of tortellini are currently offered by Putney Pasta. The company is focusing on 10 core items, including two 16-oz. family packs which are up 40% in sales over 2006.

Many changes have come to the company recently, due to its purchase by new investors. "Everything is brand new. We have new packaging in bright colors," Royal says. There's also a new, fun and funky web site: www.putneypasta.com, which includes recipes. "We are recreating our brand, re-establishing our spot on the shelves."

Back to Stay
After being labeled "off limits" during the low carb diet craze, frozen pasta is back in a big way with new varieties and flavor profiles for consumers who want a quick, hearty meal.

Pasta has long been the center of a hearty meal, with generations of recipes to fill books and cooking shows. Sales of the traditional fare suffered during the Atkins diet craze, but when consumers tired of low carb diets, sales began climbing again. Frozen pasta has again taken its place on the table as a tasty, satisfying meal for busy families who appreciate the ease and speed of its preparation.

"The Atkins diet put a stranglehold on all forms of pasta," says Joel Conner, chairman and CEO, Michelina's, Duluth, Minn. "People didn't resume their regular carb intake right away so it took time to rebound. Manufacturers, retailers, everyone had to recover. It took time for retailers to be willing to create space again."

"Pasta is back. Everything we see happening points to this, like the many Italian cooking shows on the Food Network," says Maris Ehlers, Michelina's vice president of innovation. "Newer flavors and varieties are becoming more mainstream, which contributes to higher sales. The variety, availability, and quality of ready-made sauces also contribute to this increase."

Michelina's makes about two million meals every day, according to Conner, plus a limited number of multi-serve meals. "We are seeing nice growth, up five percent in each of the last two years."

"We use new ideas to refresh our core line," Ehlers says. "The concept of regional Italian cuisine is popular now. Our new Tuscan items are very flavorful with ingredients like capicola ham." Michelina's newest entrees are Tuscan-inspired Alfredo, Tuscan-inspired Chicken, Garlic Tuscan-inspired Chicken, and Chicken Castellina. "Response from buyers has been extremely positive," Ehlers says. "We are looking at Sicilian flavors next." Michelina's has about 200 varieties of individual entrees.

"Consumers have come back to pasta. Sales have rebounded and grown," says Brian McNulty, president, Mama Rosie's, Boston. "The category fits with today's consumers who are looking for healthy meals with convenience and value." Creating ‘healthy pasta' is a goal of Mama Rosie's, which prides itself on using all natural ingredients.

"We offer a whole grain ravioli which is low-fat," McNulty says. "We feel confident we will add to the category incrementally. Consumers are focusing on adding fiber to their diets. We feel whole grain products will appeal to a broad demographic including young families and baby boomers."

Mama Rosie's recently celebrated 30 years in business, McNulty says. Originally available only in New England, the brand now covers the Northeast. The company has just rolled out its new 2-pound family-size, heat-and-eat entrees including lasagna, spinach, and manicotti and stuffed shells, all with sauce. These larger sizes join the single-serve heat and eat entrees introduced a couple of years ago.

Cavatelli, ravioletti, and agnolotti are three of the many types of pasta offered by Seviroli Foods, a family company which made pastries prior to manufacturing pasta. "Seviroli uses many original recipes and is one of the nation's largest producers of filled pastas," says Glen S. Christofaro, senior vice president, sales and marketing, Seviroli Foods, Garden City, N.Y.

"We believe that consumers are coming back to the frozen pasta category due to a more balanced view of the role that carbohydrates play in a healthy diet. Also, manufacturers have created excitement and demand in the category with new items, a variety of taste profiles and ease of preparation," Christofaro says.

New items from Seviroli include a line of seafood pasta featuring shrimp and crab ravioli, shrimp and roasted garlic ravioli, and lobster ravioli. "The products have been extremely well received by customers and consumers alike," Christofaro notes. The company is also introducing new package graphics to convey a quality image, he adds.

"We carry frozen ravioli and fettuccine Alfredo," says Mike Sullivan, category manager, dairy and frozen, K-VA-T Food Stores, Abingdon, Va., which operates the Food City chain. "Currently, only stand alone meals or entrees really sell in our market area but we see an opportunity for future growth in frozen pasta."

Not all areas of the country may have seen a large increase in frozen pasta sales yet. "We carry our own label of frozen pasta under Grand Selection, it's an upscale product. We also carry Louisa frozen pasta," says Dennis Milnes, frozen food buyer, Hy-Vee Inc., West Des Moines, Iowa. "A lot of the frozen pasta business seems to have gone to refrigerated pasta. Actually, frozen pasta sales are flat right now."

The Quality Proposition
"From our point of view, the quality proposition is what has caused the increase in frozen pasta sales," says James Koch, vice president sales, marketing and business development, Rosina Food Products, Inc., Buffalo, N.Y.

"People are getting away from the most inexpensive pasta and opting for quality. Since the last week in July, we're the number one pasta producer in the country, according to AC Nielsen," says Koch.

In July 2006, Rosina acquired Italian Village, Floresta and Gina Italian Village from High Liner Foods. "The beauty for us was the acquisition gave us some new production capabilities and new SKUs like Italian Village's rigatoni and gnocchi," he says. "Italian Village joins Celentano as Rosina's major brands. The other part of the acquisition, Floresta, is a brand sold in the Chicago and Denver markets.

"I'm very positive on the frozen pasta category," Koch says. "We have already covered the country with Celentano. Now, we have expanded distribution in new markets." While the company hasn't opted to add whole grain pasta to its line-up, all Rosina items are all natural, according to Koch.

Rob Foskett of Louisa Foods isn't shy about his company's sales increases. "What I believe is driving the sales increase in pasta is that our sales are helping the category," says Foskett, director of retail sales, Louisa Food Products, Inc., St. Louis.

"We're seeing serious sales increases but we're not looking to grow geographically. We focus on taking care of the customers we have. Until we have maximized their sales, we don't move on." Louisa Foods covers 15 states in the Midwest.

"Taste the fresh difference" is Louisa's slogan, which was approved by the USDA. "We use fresh vegetables and the highest quality meats," Foskett says. "We grate our own cheese in-house, things our competition doesn't do. This is important when you are competing for space on the consumer's dinner table at night. We sell anywhere from 25 to 45 cents per unit higher than competitors and the consumer is willing to pay extra. We have all the business in town."

Toasted ravioli is Louisa Foods' specialty. The ravioli is covered in a bread and herb coating and then toasted for a unique taste. "We are the main producers of this delicious dish; not many other companies make it. St. Louis is known for toasted ravioli," Foskett says.

"One of the reasons sales of frozen pasta have increased is because Italian is the most popular ethnic food in the United States," says Joe Kent, director of marketing, Michael Angelo's Gourmet Foods, Inc., Austin, Texas. "Italian is very popular in the grocery channel with frozen Italian having 60% household penetration and growing. Out of the frozen entrée category nationally, 50% of dollar sales come from what are considered ethnic items with 75% of those items categorized as Italian."

Kent says innovation is driving the popularity and sales increase in frozen pasta. "New flavor profiles are proving popular with consumers, and the addition of higher quality entrees to the category has helped," he says.

Michael Angelo's double-digit growth is due to the authentic "family" Italian recipes it uses and fresh ingredients, which "produce high quality, great tasting products," says Kent.

Michael Angelo's focuses primarily on the single serve and family or multi-serve categories.

"We have seen exceptional growth in multi-serve," Kent says. The company is launching three new multi-serve items this month: a 36-oz. Baked Ziti with Meatballs, a 32-oz. Tuscan-style Garlic Chicken with Pasta and a 20-oz. Shrimp Scampi with Pasta.

The "Other" Pasta
Sales of frozen egg noodles sometimes follow the weather or the weather's influence on consumer cravings. "Reames Egg Noodles is a great product to complement soups and casseroles, so we see consumption really grow during the fall to winter period" says Schrade Radtke, senior marketing manager, frozen foods, T. Marzetti Company, Columbus, Ohio.

"Marzetti provides great-tasting recipes, using Reames, which have been a great help in driving sales," says Radtke. "We've also discovered that our customers create their own unique uses for Reames in recipes. For example, in some regions our egg noodles are served on top of mashed potatoes as a special treat, especially around Easter."

"We do a pretty good job with Reames and they also do two SKUs of private label for us," says Hy-Vee's Milnes. "Their plant is here in Des Moines so our market area is very well developed. We showed an increase for the category last year."

"Sales of our egg noodles have been particularly strong the past several years with the shift back to in-home cooking," Radtke says. Reames, the best selling frozen egg noodle, is sold primarily across the Plains and Upper Midwest areas. Aunt Vi's, another Marzetti brand, sells primarily in the Iowa market.

Mrs. T's Pierogies, the centuries-old combination of whipped potatoes wrapped inside a pasta shell, is a Polish specialty now enjoyed across the country. Today, more than 11 million pierogies in a variety of flavors and combinations leave Mrs. T's factory each week.

Sales of Mrs. T's are strong and up over last year. "We are starting to move more of Mrs. T's pierogies," says K-VA-T's Mike Sullivan. "In our area, it's an educational process for consumers, learning about pierogies."

"Mrs. T's is the only nationally distributed and advertised brand of pierogies," says Gary Lauerman, director of sales and marketing, Ateeco Inc., Shenandoah, Penn. "We offer nine varieties including Potato and Cheddar, and Sour Cream and Chives. Our pierogies are available in two sizes: full and mini."

"Quick Ones," heat and eat pierogies, are the latest from Mrs. T's. "The microwaveable product is ready in five minutes," he says. "There's no messy clean up. Simplifying meal preparation for consumers is a continuing goal for Mrs. T's."