Lean Cuisine, Delissio Pizza to Disappear From Canadian Store Shelves in Next 6 Months: Nestlé

Delissio frozen pizzas are shown in the frozen food aisle at a grocery store in Toronto on Feb. 2, 2023. Nestle Canada says it is winding down its frozen meals and pizza business in Canada over the next six months. Joe O'Connal/The Canadian Press

Some popular varieties of frozen pizza and meals will vanish from Canadian shelves in the next six months, as Nestlé Canada decides to change its strategy and focus more on other categories.

The product lines affected include Delissio, Stouffer’s, Lean Cuisine, and Life Cuisine, according to a Feb. 1 news release issued by Nestlé Canada, and will be winding down in sales over the next six months in Canada.

Nestlé said the decision was a strategic one so the company could focus on long-term business growth and “allow for reinvestment in portfolio lines.”

The new focus will include candy, coffee and beverages, ice cream, infant foods (formula) and supplements, health science products, pet food, foodservice, and premium waters.

The company said it had been historically successful because of its “ability to adapt and evolve.” Going forward, the company said it would be investing in “priority categories.”

Nestlé does not have a factory in Canada that produces its TV dinners and frozen pizza products, and said it would work with retail partners to help with the exit of the products that will no longer be available.

Delissio Pizza was one of the first on the market in 1996 with the slogan, “It’s not delivery, it’s Delissio.” While the frozen pizza dinners started as part of Kraft Foods, founded by James Kraft, who was born in Ontario, in 2010, Kraft sold their frozen pizza rights to Nestlé for US$3.7 billion.

Kraft was headquartered in Canada at the time, with 13 food processing plants and bakeries. In a Jan. 5, 2010, news release, Nestle said Delissio was the “leading frozen pizza brand in Canada,” and had estimated sales of US$2.1 billion in Canada and the US in 2009.

Delissio, sold in the United States as DiGiorno, introduced garlic bread pizza, “croissant crust pizza,” stuffed crust pizza, and crisp pan pizza in various flavours in their product lineup.