FDBusiness.com

Nestle is strengthening its frozen pizza business by extending its Wagner factory in Germany. The new Eur45 million extension to the factory, located in the city of Otzenhausen, will boost production of Wagner branded frozen food products such as Big Pizza, Piccolinis and Die Backfrische.

Production is set to increase from 70 million products to 350 million products annually once the new extension is fully operational in 2013. Products include pizzas such as reduced fat, wholegrain, lactose-free and organic varieties which are produced without flavourings or additives.

The new extension is Nestle’s latest investment to expand its frozen pizza business globally. Nestle added brands DiGiorno, Tombstone, California Pizza Kitchen, Jack’s and Delissio to its portfolio in the US and Canada, after acquiring Kraft Foods’ frozen pizza business last year. The purchase makes Nestle the leader in the North American frozen pizza category, where the company only had a minor presence before.

Nestle entered a joint venture with Wagner in 2005 and increased its stake in the company to 74% in 2010. Nestle also bought the Buitoni pizza, pasta and sauce business in 1988.

Wagner’s turnover has increased by 51% since it partnered with Nestle “Nestle has proven to be the ideal partner to develop our business worldwide and to develop it in new markets. Today we are one of the largest manufacturers of frozen pizzas inEurope,” says Gottfried Hares, managing director of Wagner.

Nestle and Wagner will also continue to share technology and expertise. Wagner introduced its Stone Oven pizza over two decades ago and has continued to bring new innovative products to consumers. Nestle’s new Buitoni Piccolini pizzas use the dough technology that Wagner developed in the late 1990s. In the US, Nestle’s DiGiorno pizzas use the same self-rising crust that is used in Wagner’s Backfrische pizzas.