Although most reported shortages of supplies during the coronavirus pandemichave pointed to empty shelves formerly filled with toilet paper and a lack of hand sanitizer, there's one coveted essential item that's also been flying out of stores at an unprecedented rate: frozen pizza.
Panicked shoppers have not only been stocking up on canned tuna, they've also been tossing large piles of boxed pizza into their freezers, operating under the assumption that frozen pizza can hardly go bad. Plus, pizza is undeniably peak comfort food, so while it should come as no surprise that you can still find fresh produce in the grocery store, frozen pizza is a much rarer find.
Many frozen pizza factories are trying to keep up with high demand, often equating it to Super Bowl Sunday. According to Ad Week, Newman's Own COO Dave Best reported that his frozen pizza sales are up by 190% since the pandemic began, and many frozen pizza companies are reporting similar numbers. The data analytics firm IRI has determined that from March to April, Americans bought some $275 million worth of frozen pizza, a 92% increase compared to the same time last year.