{"id":36436,"date":"2026-03-21T22:30:31","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T22:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/36436\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T22:30:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T22:30:31","slug":"why-nestle-is-betting-on-huge-opportunity-in-frozen-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/36436\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Nestl\u00e9 is betting on \u2018huge opportunity\u2019 in frozen food"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This story was originally published on Food Dive<\/a>. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Food Dive newsletter<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Frozen is the future for Nestl\u00e9’s U.S. food business.<\/p>\n

The world’s largest food company is doubling down on frozen meals and pizzas, led by healthier offerings like Lean Cuisine and Vital Pursuit, as it predicts the core business will return to growth despite recent challenges.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s frozen pizza, meals and snacking business is a “strategically important” part of Nestl\u00e9\u2019s U.S. portfolio, said Federico Sarzi Braga, president of Nestl\u00e9 USA’s frozen division. The U.S. is the largest market for Nestl\u00e9, with its food and beverages in the region making up about 15% of its $114 billion in global revenue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Braga said Nestl\u00e9 is benefiting from the fact that many of its brands participate in the four trends driving growth in the frozen sector: taste, convenience, affordability and global cuisine.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see pockets of growth, it\u2019s not everywhere … [but they] are reassuring us on the future of the category going forward,\u201d Braga said. \u201cThe category has a brilliant future and is a huge opportunity for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Nestl\u00e9’s frozen business has posted negative growth recently, the company remains confident in its brands and future opportunities for the category.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Nestle&#x27;s Nestle’s Tombstone French Fry Style Crust Pizza <\/p>\n

Nestl\u00e9 CEO Philipp Navratil recently told analysts<\/a> that frozen has \u201cthe potential for growth\u201d and brings other benefits to its U.S. business, including strengthening the company’s competitive position in the market, boosting cash flow and deepening consumer relevance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe changes we are making are driving a turnaround,\u201d Navratil said<\/a>, insisting that Nestl\u00e9 has no plans to sell its U.S. frozen business as the company reviews its portfolio<\/a>. \u201cWe are innovating and strengthening our business, making it more valuable whatever the future may hold.\u201d<\/p>\n

Braga, a 26-year Nestl\u00e9 veteran, said Lean Cuisine and Vital Pursuit, which was launched in 2024, are among the brands delivering on consumer demand for better-for-you offerings.<\/p>\n

Vital Pursuit in particular has proven to have a wider reach than initially anticipated, Braga said. The brand is aimed at people using GLP-1 medications or seeking to maintain their weight.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But only 20% of the brand\u2019s consumers are taking GLP-1 medications, with many other shoppers turning to Vital Pursuit for its elevated levels of protein and fiber. Vital Pursuit has proven especially adept at attracting new shoppers to the frozen category, with 40% of the brand’s consumers having never purchased frozen food before, according to the company.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a confirmation of the good plan of launching something that is specific, embracing a core target, but it\u2019s more than that,\u201d Braga noted. \u201cThere are macro trends that are pretty strong in the marketplace, and you see that they are driving the growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Packages Packages of Stouffer’s Bites on a local grocery store shelf in Washigton, D.C. <\/p>\n

Frozen food sales jumped 45% to $87 billion during the 52-week period that ended in September 2025, compared with calendar year 2019, according to a report<\/a> from the American Frozen Food Institute and FMI \u2014 the Food Industry Association.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Consumers have turned to the offerings for portion control, convenience and, increasingly, their nutritional profiles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nestl\u00e9 is capitalizing on those nutritional trends by doubling down on protein. The company is launching a two new Vital Pursuit pizzas next month that contain 33 grams of protein and 17 grams of fiber \u2014 compared to the 22 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber in the brand’s original pizzas<\/p>\n

Braga said other pockets of strength in Nestl\u00e9 USA\u2019s frozen business include its three-year-old Yellowstone brand and its frozen pizza business, where the DiGiorno and Tombstone maker controls just under a third of the U.S. market.<\/p>\n

Its Yellowstone frozen meals line has attracted new households through its connection to the popular TV series and the aura of a cowboy-like culture. It was the No. 1 new frozen brand at Walmart in 2025, according to Circana data provided by Nestl\u00e9.<\/p>\n

Within pizza, Nestl\u00e9’s broad portfolio gives it more opportunities to innovate depending on the brand. Tombstone, which does more outside-the-box innovations, launched a French-fry crust<\/a> last July that has proven to be attractive with younger consumers.\u00a0 A wood-fired DiGiorno offering<\/a> has also helped woo pizza connoisseurs, many of whom are looking to save money by dining out less.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are giving choices to consumers, and will adapt according to the fluidity and the dynamism of the environment,\u201d Braga said. \u201cWe want to drive the growth of the future, and we want to shape the future of the category.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recommended Reading <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This story was originally published on Food Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36437,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[126],"tags":[20430,20433,199,21462,21461],"class_list":{"0":"post-36436","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nestle","8":"tag-frozen-meals","9":"tag-lean-cuisine","10":"tag-nestle","11":"tag-nestle-ceo","12":"tag-pizzas"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116269535940710769","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}